Because Reasons
I’m sure some people will read this and say “well he’s not really out of date,” but I am actively deciding not to accept that in this fictional version of history. As far as I’m concerned, sexism was out of date when mitochondrial Eve gave birth to Y-chromosomal Adam’s distant, distant ancestor. Keep reading to see where I stand on racism, though I bet you can guess.
All that said, I’ve certainly noticed that Miskatonic U hasn’t yet, and may never, pass the Bechdel Test, much less the DuVernay Test. I think expanding the world to pass those tests can happen some day (also be alert for a Vito Russo Test) but suffice it to say right now I’m telling a story from a place of white male cis-het privilege, selling the hope that college is a place to start getting better.
A university at the beginning or the 20th Century is not a place of social progress. They were barely into scientific and technological progress. Latin and Greek literature were the classic (usually mandatory) reading of the day. Physics was all complete except for a few decimal places here and there. God sat in the dining hall and evolution was accepted with grave reservations.
Fear not! Your character of Lilliana has always seemed right in place based on some undergraduate studies I had of the worldwide prewar peace movement (and larger suffragette movement). As stated in the rather grand summary at https://www.womenshistory.org/resources/general/short-history-activism , “Many of the early suffragists were also ardent abolitionists”.
Um. Should that read “anyone not male or white” instead? Or did I miss something?
Oops! Good catch, fixing it now.