Gerda lerner biography channel

Austrian-American scholar

Gerda Hedwig Lerner (née Kronstein; Apr 30, – January 2, ) was an Austrian-born American annalist and woman's history author. Interpose addition to her numerous cultured publications, she wrote poetry, fable, theatre pieces, screenplays, and aura autobiography. She served as presidentship of the Organization of Dweller Historians from to In , she was appointed Robinson Theologiser Professor of History at primacy University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she taught until retiring in ^[1]

Lerner was one of the founders of the academic field penalty women's history. In , one-time still an undergraduate at honourableness New School for Social Enquiry, she taught "Great Women make happen American History", which is ostensible to be the first common college course on women's depiction offered anywhere.^[2]

She taught at Squander Island University from to She played a key role conduct yourself the development of women's world curricula and was involved play a role the development of degree programs in women's history at Wife Lawrence College (where she categorical from to and established significance nation's first master's degree promulgation in women's history) and dispute the University of Wisconsin-Madison, situation she launched the first Ph.D. program in women's history. She also worked at Duke Academy and Columbia University, where she was a co-founder of decency Seminar on Women.^[3]

Early life

She was born Gerda Hedwig Kronstein entail Vienna, Austria, on April 30, , the first child foothold Ilona Kronstein (née Neumann, , Budapest–, Zürich)^[4] and Robert Kronstein (, Vienna–, Vaduz),^[5]an affluent Individual couple. Her family are originating and relating to Breslau, Songwriter, Léva&#;[hu] (German: Lewenz, Levice&#;[sk]), Turdossin&#;[hu] (Turdos, German: Turdoschin, Tvrdošín&#;[sk]) (Upper Hungary), Helishoy (German: Holleschau, Holešov&#;[cs]) (Moravia), and Reichenberg (Liberec&#;[cs]) (Bohemia). Her father was a apothecary, and her mother an genius, with whom Gerda, according accede to her autobiography, had a fidgety relationship as a child. Gorilla an adult, Gerda believed prowl her mother Ilona struggled since she did not fit infringe the role of a Viennese wife and mother.^[6] Gerda difficult to understand a younger sister, and they attended local schools and gym.

Following the Anschluss, Kronstein became involved with the anti-Nazi power of endurance. She and her mother were jailed that year after accumulate father had escaped to Liechtenstein and Switzerland, where he stayed during the war. Gerda Kronstein occupied a cell for hexad weeks with two Christian division held on political grounds. They shared their prison food become apparent to her because Jews received contain rations.^[7][8] In , her native moved to France, and Lerner's sister relocated to Palestine. Wander year, Gerda immigrated to depiction United States under the patronage of the family of Policeman Jensen, her socialist fiancé.^[9]

Career

Settling bear hug New York, Kronstein married Writer. She worked in a number of jobs as a attendant, salesperson, office clerk, and X-ray technician, while also writing legend and poetry. She published four short stories featuring first-person banking of the Nazi annexation authentication Austria.^[10]

Her marriage with Jensen was failing when she met Carl Lerner (–), a married fleeting director who was a associate of the Communist Party Army. They both established temporary dwelling in Nevada and obtained divorces in Reno; the state offered easier terms for divorce prevail over did most others. Kronstein queue Lerner married and moved inclination Hollywood, where Carl pursued graceful career in film-making.^[10]

In , Gerda Lerner helped found the Los Angeles chapter of the Period of American Women, a Politico front organization. The Lerners spoken for in CPUSA activities involving the exchange of goods unionism, civil rights, and anti-militarism. They suffered under the mold of McCarthyism in the tough, especially the Hollywood blacklist.^{[citation needed]}

The Lerners returned to New Royalty. In , Gerda Lerner collaborated with poet Eve Merriam swearing a musical, The Singing be more or less Women. Lerner's novel No Farewell was published in She registered at the New School provision Social Research, where she orthodox a bachelor's degree in She has said that her current status made her think make out "people who did not have to one`s name a voice in telling their own stories. Lerner's insights at last influenced her decision to sunny a Ph.D. in history contemporary then to help establish women's history as a standard legal discipline."^[6] In , she offered the first regular college general in women's history, which undergo the time had no significance as a field of the act of learning or a room for learning in academia.^[11]

In the early merciless, Lerner and her husband coauthored the screenplay of the pelt Black Like Me (), supported on the book by bloodless journalist John Howard Griffin, who had reported on six weeks of travel in small towns and cities of the Wide South passing as a grey man. Carl Lerner directed decency film, starring James Whitmore.^[12]

Lerner spread with graduate studies at River University, where she earned both the M.A. () and Ph.D. (). Her doctoral dissertation was published as The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina: Rebels Admit Slavery (), a study be more or less Sarah Moore Grimké and Angelina Grimké, sisters from a practice family who became abolitionists of great consequence the North. Learning that their late brother had mixed-race successors, they helped pay to school the boys.

In , Lyricist became a founding member admire the National Organization for Cadre (NOW), and she served gorilla a local and national emperor for a short period. Inferior , she received her head academic appointment at Sarah Writer College. There Lerner developed smart Master of Arts Program knoll Women's History, which Sarah Writer offered beginning in ; skilful was the first American mark off degree in the field.^[13] Lyricist also taught at Long Resting place University in Brooklyn.

In position s and s, Lerner obtainable scholarly books and articles focus helped establish women's history despite the fact that a recognized field of discover. Her article "The Lady with the Mill Girl: Changes necessitate the Status of Women squeeze the Age of Jackson", accessible in the journal American Studies, was an early and valuable example of class analysis spontaneous women's history. She was amongst the first to bring spiffy tidy up consciously feminist lens to distinction study of history.

Among become known most important works are excellence documentary anthologies Black Women provide White America () and The Female Experience (), which she edited, along with her structure collection, The Majority Finds Secure Past ().^{[citation needed]}

In , Lyricist chaired The Women's History College, a fifteen-day conference (July 13–29) at Sarah Lawrence College, co-sponsored by the college, the Women's Action Alliance, and the Smithsonian Institution. It was attended get by without leaders of national organizations senseless women and girls. When picture Institute participants learned about illustriousness success of the Women's Life Week celebrated in Sonoma Colony, California, they decided to ragged similar commemorations within their particle organizations, communities, and school districts. They also agreed to piling an effort to secure spiffy tidy up "National Women's History Week".^[14][15] That helped lead to the resolute establishment of Women's History Month.^[14][15]

In , Lerner moved to say publicly University of Wisconsin at President, where she established the nation's first Ph.D. program in women's history. At this institution, she wrote The Creation of Patriarchy (), The Creation of Meliorist Consciousness (), parts one come to rest two of Women and History;Why History Matters (), and Fireweed: A Political Autobiography ().^[10]

From give explanation , Lerner served as chief of the Organization of Dweller Historians.^[16] As an educational president for the organization, she helped make women's history accessible build up leaders of women's organizations streak high school teachers.^[10]

Selected works

Black Detachment in White America

Lerner edited Black Women in White America: Capital Documentary History (), which annals years of black women's hand-outs to history, despite centuries make a fuss over being enslaved and treated thanks to property. It was one succeed the first books to fact the contributions of black squadron in history.

The Creation rivalry Patriarchy

In The Creation of Patriarchy (), volume one of Women and History, Lerner ventured drawn prehistory, attempting to trace interpretation roots of patriarchal dominance. She concluded that patriarchy was cloth of archaic states forming in bad taste the 2nd millennium BCE. Lyricist provides historical, archeological, literary, explode artistic evidence for the concept that patriarchy is a traditional construct. She believed that excellence main strength of patriarchy was ideological and that in curry favour with societies it "severed the union between women and the Divine".^[17]

The Creation of Feminist Consciousness

The Thing of Feminist Consciousness: From dignity Middle Ages to () is her second volume countless Women and History. In that book, she reviews European the populace from the seventh century owing to the nineteenth centuries, showing excellence limitations imposed by a male-dominated culture. After the seventh 100, more of women's writings began to survive, and Lerner uses these to show the condition of what she defines tempt feminist thought. She demonstrates influence numerous ways that women "have bypassed or redefined or weakened 'male thought'".^[17] She examines place in detail the educational deprivation slow women, their isolation from myriad of the traditions of their societies, and the expressive route many women have found get a move on writing. Often beginning in scrupulous or prophetic writing, this was a way for women extinguish engage in what Lerner calls "ideological production", including defining alternate futures and "think themselves emboss of patriarchy". ^[17]

Fireweed: A State Autobiography

Fireweed: A Political Autobiography () is a detailed account accord Lerner's life from her youth in Vienna through war prep added to emigration, to That year, she began her formal studies hatred the New School for Public Research in New York, sketch institution established by numerous Denizen refugees from the Nazi persecution.^[6] She believed that education limit life work were critical fight back women's self-realization and happiness.

Legacy and honors

Death

Lerner died on Jan 2, , in Madison, River, at the age of ^[21] She was survived by relation grown children Dan and Stephanie Lerner.

Other works

Musical

Screenplays

• Prayer Pilgrimage transfer Freedom ()
• Black Like Me ()
• Home for Easter (n.d.)

Books

• No Farewell () an autobiographical novel; originally fall German under the pseudonym Margaret Rainer: Es git keinen Abschied ()
• The Grimké Sisters from Southbound Carolina: Rebels against Authority ()
• The Woman in American History [ed.] ()
• Black Women in White America: A Documentary History ()
• The Ladylike Experience: An American Documentary ()
• A Death of One's Own (/)
• The Majority Finds Its Past: Degree Women in History ()
• Teaching Women's History ()
• Women's Diaries of rendering Westward Journey ()
• The Creation rejoice Patriarchy ()
• The Creation of Reformist Consciousness: From the Middle Edge to Eighteen-seventy ()
• Scholarship in Women's History Rediscovered & New ()
• Why History Matters ()
• Fireweed: A Civil Autobiography (Temple University Press, )
• Living with History/Making Social Change ()

References

Notes

Biographies

• Ransby, Barbabra. "A Historian Who Takes Sides"Archived October 17, , at excellence Wayback Machine, The Progressive, September.
• Lerner, Gerda. "Life of Learning", River Homer Haskins Lecture for
• MacLean, Nancy. "Rethinking the Second Wave", The Nation, October
• Gordon, Linda; Kerber, Linda K.; Kessler-Harris, Ill feeling. "Gerda Lerner (–). Pioneering Diarist and Feminist", Clio. Women, Making love, History.
• Keller, Renata. "Why Women Entail to Climb Mountains - tenderness a journey through the character and vision of Dr. Gerda Lerner"[1]

Further reading

• Daum, Andreas W., "Refugees from Nazi Germany as Historians: Origins and Migrations, Interests unthinkable Identities," in The Second Generation: Émigrés from Nazi Germany importation Historians. With a Biobibliographic Guide, ed. Daum, Hartmut Lehmann, Apostle J. Sheehan. New York: Berghahn Books, ISBN&#;, 1‒
• Felder, Deborah G., and Diana Rosen. Fifty Individual Women Who Changed the World. New York: Citadel Press (Kensington Publishing), pp.&#;–
• Scanlon, Jennifer, and Shaaron Cosner. American Women Historians, s–s: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Colony, and London: Greenwood Press, pp.&#;–
• Weigand, Kate. Red Feminism: American State socialism and the Making of Women's Liberation. Baltimore and London: Artist Hopkins University Press. (Multiple references, indexed.)

External links

• Jewish Women and honourableness Feminist Revolution from the Individual Women's Archive
• Gerda Lerner - Corporatizing Higher Education
• Papers, –Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Papers, –Schlesinger Enquiry, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Additional document of Gerda Lerner, –Schlesinger Swotting, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Gerda Lyricist Family Collection, AR archival grade at the Leo Baeck Academy, New York