A Pioneer in Writing Women's History

Summary:

A conversation with Prof. Gerda Lerner, a foremother of women's history.

Timely on:

May: Women's history month

Tones:

Personal, Rough, Thoughtful

Language:

English

Description:

The history of women has existed as long as we have been here, but it was not until the last half of the 20th century that women's history received recognized academic attention.

Professor Gerda Lerner is a pioneer in the study of women's history and a founder of the movement to study and record the history of women. Her academic work has from the outset been characterized by the attention she drew to differences among women in class, race and sexual orientation.

Dr. Lerner grew up in Vienna, Austria and suffered in the Nazi persecution of the European Jews. She came to the United States as a teenager, married a writer who was subsequently blacklisted for his political beliefs in the 1950's. She entered Columbia University in 1958 originally to take a few classes, and by 1966 had earned her doctorate in history.

Her recent book, "Fireweed, A Political Autobiography" she tells her life's story up to the time enrolled at Columbia University. Her other books reveal her academic work.

When I spoke with her from her home in Wisconsin she began by describing why the distinctions among women by class, race and sexual orientation are important.

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