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Bella Abzug: An Oral History
"I've been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prize fighter, a man-hater, you name it. They call me Battling Bella, Mother Courage, and a Jewish mother with more complaints than Portnoy. There are those who say I'm impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane, brash, and overbearing. Whether I'm any of those things, or all of them, you can decide for yourself. But whatever I am--and this ought to made very clear--I am a very serious woman."
For more than fifty years, Bella Abzug championed the powerless and disenfranchised, as an activist, congresswoman, and leader in every major social initiative of her time—from Zionism and labor in the 40s to the ban-the-bomb efforts in the 50s, to civil rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements of the 60s, to the women's movement in the 70s and 80s, to enviromnemtal awareness and economic equality in the 90s. Her political idealism never waning, Abzug gave her final public speech before the U.N. in March 1998, just a few weeks before her death. Presented in the voices of both friends and foes, of those who knew, fought with, revered, and struggled alongside her, this oral biography will be the first comprehensive account of a woman who was one of our most influential leaders.
For more than fifty years, Bella Abzug championed the powerless and disenfranchised, as an activist, congresswoman, and leader in every major social initiative of her time—from Zionism and labor in the 40s to the ban-the-bomb efforts in the 50s, to civil rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements of the 60s, to the women's movement in the 70s and 80s, to enviromnemtal awareness and economic equality in the 90s. Her political idealism never waning, Abzug gave her final public speech before the U.N. in March 1998, just a few weeks before her death. Presented in the voices of both friends and foes, of those who knew, fought with, revered, and struggled alongside her, this oral biography will be the first comprehensive account of a woman who was one of our most influential leaders.
375 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 27, 2007
11 people are currently reading
481 people want to read
About the author
Suzanne Braun Levine
13 books5 followersSuzanne Braun Levine’s recent book, How We Love Now: Women Talk About Intimacy After Fifty, continues her exploration of a new stage of life for women that began with Inventing the Rest of Our Lives and Fifty Is the New Fifty. Levine was the first editor of Ms. magazine and editor of the Columbia Journalism Review.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 16, 2015
Oh, love, love, love!
How inspiring! I will be more like her.
Wow. I am outraged that we aren't taught about her accomplishments in grade school history class!!
How inspiring! I will be more like her.
Wow. I am outraged that we aren't taught about her accomplishments in grade school history class!!
November 13, 2008
I finished this book a while ago and just haven't updated things. But thinking of it now, it makes me that much more thankful that Obama was elected President.
Palin is no Hillary and Hillary isn't Bella. Then again, few of us are.
One aspect of this book that I found particularly enjoyable (when I fully expected the opposite) was the method that was used to describe Bella. Relatively short paragraphs of comments from people who knew her. In effect, the book was so many snapshots of the woman that at the end, you had an idea of who the woman was.
Palin is no Hillary and Hillary isn't Bella. Then again, few of us are.
One aspect of this book that I found particularly enjoyable (when I fully expected the opposite) was the method that was used to describe Bella. Relatively short paragraphs of comments from people who knew her. In effect, the book was so many snapshots of the woman that at the end, you had an idea of who the woman was.
February 17, 2026
This is a wonderful oral history that not only demonstrates WHY Bella Abzug was such an important political figure, but reveals how underestimated she was. She unsettled Norman Mailer even though she was clearly a hell of a lot smarter than he was. For every office she held, she was an extraordinary woman who not only worked at all hours, but who boned up big time on procedure so she could be the most effective leader imaginable. And because she was so blunt and tough-talking and fearless, many people falsely maligned her formidable intelligence, as well as her appeal with her constituents. Carter learned this the hard way when he ignominiously fired her to appeal to a centrist voting bloc in the 1980 election, little realizing that he had opened up the floodgates to a primary challenge from Ted Kennedy and a rebuke from Bella's many allies and supporters. What's truly incredible and dispiriting about this book is how the crusty and gutless "tactics" of the Democratic Party in the 1970s are almost indistinguishable from their timidity in 2026 America. Congress needed women like Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm. Hell, AMERICA needed them. And while we can look upon their extraordinary achievements decades later with admiration, reading history reminds us why it's so important to stick up for the valiant fighters tirelessly toiling today.
April 24, 2010
I did not know a single thing about Bella Abzug before I read this book, but now I am filled with admiration for her and sad that I went so long without knowing about her.
The structure of this book is unique, in that it is little snippets of interviews put together to tell Bella's story. At first I was skeptical, but the authors did a great job of a creating a narrative thread out of it. This book is really interesting and inspiring.
The structure of this book is unique, in that it is little snippets of interviews put together to tell Bella's story. At first I was skeptical, but the authors did a great job of a creating a narrative thread out of it. This book is really interesting and inspiring.
November 19, 2016
Being from the Pacific Northwest and of a later era, Bella Abzug didn't mean much to me. But this book captures what a trailblazer she was and it offers a nice background into 1960s feminism. I thought the oral history format that the author's chose was creative and interesting and it worked well in highlighting Abzug's colorful character.
Want to read
January 5, 2008god, i love her.
April 11, 2017
What an incredible woman. We need more like her today, more than ever. Her absence and the absence of people like her are how we got to Trump.
September 1, 2020
Bella Abzug's story makes for interesting reading. An oral history, each section begins with a chronology of important events, then arranges the commentary of people in Bella's life to create a fully-drawn narrative. For those who can remember them, figures like Ed Koch, Tip O'Neill, Ted Kennedy, Gloria Steinem, and Shirley MacLaine, among others, give the book the feel of watching a documentary as imagination brings them to life.
How movements coalesce and divide is interesting: seen in women's suffrage, for instance, the movement began as the abolition and women's rights movements coalesced. Initially, suffragists prioritized abolition over women's suffrage. However, suffragists were divided over the Fifteenth Amendment, falling into camps of those who believed it was important to support the Fifteenth Amendment versus those who opposed its passage, wanting to hold out for inclusion of women in the wording. (Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were in the latter group and felt betrayed by those who promoted its passage.) Later, the women's suffrage movement divided into women who wanted to work for the vote gradually, within the confines of the legal system, and those who wanted to use more radical tactics. As the 19th Amendment inched toward ratification, among those who fought most bitterly against it were women, a story told beautifully in The Woman's Hour.
So, the story of the ERA seems very familiar, its coalescing, its divisions, its opponents. Like Anthony for women's suffrage, Abzug was a familiar spokesperson for the passage of the ERA. (Abzug's working relationship with Mim Kelber has been compared to that of Anthony and Stanton, front-person and behind-the-scenes facilitator.) Within the feminist movement, there was broad support for the amendment, but as in women's suffrage, the ERA met with some of its strongest resistance from women. Phyllis Schlafly, an opponent of the feminist movement, organized and mobilized opposition. Groups with names like Women Who Want to be Women spear-headed the fight against the ERA, and the women's movement officially divided itself into halves opposed to each other.
Meanwhile, in 1977 with Abzug at the helm, International Year of the Women meetings were being held in every state, leading up to the first National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas, during which an agenda of women's issues was to be set. Unfortunately, state meetings became chaos, as conservative women in attendance vocally opposed ratification of the ERA along with other goals of the progressive feminist agenda. The progressive agenda passed at the national conference, but didn't reflect conservative views. (Conservative women had held their own convention at a nearby venue.) After the Houston meeting, President Carter was presented with a report, The Spirit of Houston detailing the planks that came out of the conference, including ratification of the ERA, job and economic parity, and educational parity among others. As co-chair of President Carter's National Advisory Committee for Women, Abzug expected to be able to be involved in making those planks reality.
That expectation was crushed when Carter fired Abzug. Perhaps her agenda was too progressive as he looked ahead to his re-election campaign. With the rising popularity of the conservative agenda, he may have wanted to position himself more in the middle. While the ERA had been speeding toward ratification, things went in the opposite direction. It languished, then failed to be ratified by its deadline, a casualty of the liberal/conservative divide.
Nevertheless, Abzug made her mark as an activist turned legislator, turned activist again. Her causes ranged from nuclear disarmament to taking on Jim Crow, to defending those caught up in McCarthy's dragnet, to women's rights, to linking the women's movement with environmental and economic justice. All in all, a noisy, colorful, trailblazing life.
How movements coalesce and divide is interesting: seen in women's suffrage, for instance, the movement began as the abolition and women's rights movements coalesced. Initially, suffragists prioritized abolition over women's suffrage. However, suffragists were divided over the Fifteenth Amendment, falling into camps of those who believed it was important to support the Fifteenth Amendment versus those who opposed its passage, wanting to hold out for inclusion of women in the wording. (Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were in the latter group and felt betrayed by those who promoted its passage.) Later, the women's suffrage movement divided into women who wanted to work for the vote gradually, within the confines of the legal system, and those who wanted to use more radical tactics. As the 19th Amendment inched toward ratification, among those who fought most bitterly against it were women, a story told beautifully in The Woman's Hour.
So, the story of the ERA seems very familiar, its coalescing, its divisions, its opponents. Like Anthony for women's suffrage, Abzug was a familiar spokesperson for the passage of the ERA. (Abzug's working relationship with Mim Kelber has been compared to that of Anthony and Stanton, front-person and behind-the-scenes facilitator.) Within the feminist movement, there was broad support for the amendment, but as in women's suffrage, the ERA met with some of its strongest resistance from women. Phyllis Schlafly, an opponent of the feminist movement, organized and mobilized opposition. Groups with names like Women Who Want to be Women spear-headed the fight against the ERA, and the women's movement officially divided itself into halves opposed to each other.
Meanwhile, in 1977 with Abzug at the helm, International Year of the Women meetings were being held in every state, leading up to the first National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas, during which an agenda of women's issues was to be set. Unfortunately, state meetings became chaos, as conservative women in attendance vocally opposed ratification of the ERA along with other goals of the progressive feminist agenda. The progressive agenda passed at the national conference, but didn't reflect conservative views. (Conservative women had held their own convention at a nearby venue.) After the Houston meeting, President Carter was presented with a report, The Spirit of Houston detailing the planks that came out of the conference, including ratification of the ERA, job and economic parity, and educational parity among others. As co-chair of President Carter's National Advisory Committee for Women, Abzug expected to be able to be involved in making those planks reality.
That expectation was crushed when Carter fired Abzug. Perhaps her agenda was too progressive as he looked ahead to his re-election campaign. With the rising popularity of the conservative agenda, he may have wanted to position himself more in the middle. While the ERA had been speeding toward ratification, things went in the opposite direction. It languished, then failed to be ratified by its deadline, a casualty of the liberal/conservative divide.
Nevertheless, Abzug made her mark as an activist turned legislator, turned activist again. Her causes ranged from nuclear disarmament to taking on Jim Crow, to defending those caught up in McCarthy's dragnet, to women's rights, to linking the women's movement with environmental and economic justice. All in all, a noisy, colorful, trailblazing life.
March 22, 2017
Book #9 in my Library Biography Challenge.
2.5 rating.
This book was in an oral history format - which, I personally dislike. I only perservered because I couldn't believe that I have never heard of Bella Abzug before. She was a true fighter and feminist. The book highlights what she set out to do and accomplish - but in reflective memories of others. I will admit that it gets better as her active life develops. The first half of the book just seemed like criticisms of Bella - that she is loud and used to storm in and yell. I would have liked to read about her in a more productive narrative, as she is so important to the women's rights history of the United States.
2.5 rating.
This book was in an oral history format - which, I personally dislike. I only perservered because I couldn't believe that I have never heard of Bella Abzug before. She was a true fighter and feminist. The book highlights what she set out to do and accomplish - but in reflective memories of others. I will admit that it gets better as her active life develops. The first half of the book just seemed like criticisms of Bella - that she is loud and used to storm in and yell. I would have liked to read about her in a more productive narrative, as she is so important to the women's rights history of the United States.
September 30, 2020
The timeline is a bit wonky, but wonderful
December 12, 2010
I always had a very negative impression about Bella Abzug as a bra burning extremist that most feminists shied away from. And though I did find some of her stances extreme and so on, she really was a force to be reckoned with and made a big difference in a lot of ways in her time in the House and out of it. Now I ahve respect for her.
And I have to say, I really liked the WAY the story was told - all quotes by those around her telling how things really were happening. Made me think a lot
And I have to say, I really liked the WAY the story was told - all quotes by those around her telling how things really were happening. Made me think a lot
May 18, 2012
The oral history format, with successive excerpts from interviews and documents, isn't my preferred style of reading a biography. But it is the only book I could get about a hero of mine. I admire her intelligence and aggressiveness and wanted to learn more about her. I did learn about her and surreptitiously got a better appreciation of the recent fights for women's rights and the fact that we cannot be complacent. The authors could have improved the book had they introduced or summarized the key issues.
February 9, 2014
I feel like Bella Abzug deserves a wider legacy than she currently has. She was one of the earliest politicians to support gay rights and an important figure in the women's movement. The problem might be that she was also somewhat unlikeable - brash, loud and pushy. Then again, that's how you get things done when people want you to shut up. I enjoy oral histories but they are hard to pull off really well, especially when you aren't doing any interviews of your own and just working with available material. So I enjoyed the book but felt like a lot was left out.
January 16, 2015
Interesting. I was too young to understand Bella's glory days, and so there's a lot I didn't know about her, and about her contribution to the various movements. She sure could elicit strong reactions in people. Reading about her reminds me of an old friend and mentor, now deceased, who could be wonderful and sweet and strong and savvy, but also had her less pleasant moments, some of which cost her dearly.
An informative book about a great lady and some of the other great characters of my time.
An informative book about a great lady and some of the other great characters of my time.
March 10, 2008
Reading this book and hearing the perspective of old school hell raisers like Ann Richards - kind of reminds that while it's a sign of progress that we have a viable female presidential candidate, I just don't think Hillary's all that great.
Want to read
January 2, 2015I want to figure out how to use this in my women's history classes.
February 13, 2009
This collection of snippets from interviews and other sources tries to recreate this activist's life as seen through the eyes of people who admired her.
August 9, 2009
This book reads more like a blog than an biography but it's surprisingly engaging and I learned a lot about Bella. Now I want to ready a proper critical biography.
April 7, 2013
A fascinating oral history look at an amazing force to be reckoned with. It's a perfect book up start if you don't know about Bella beyond a few quotes.
February 7, 2016
What an amazing woman. I really enjoyed this format of an oral history as not such a lover of biographies.
Very inspiring and amazing.
Very inspiring and amazing.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews