The Remembered Gate: Origins of American Feminism: The Woman and the City, 1800-1860

by Barbara J. Berg

Maintains that the historical roots of modern feminism are found in the complex responses to the social change that accompanied the urbanization and industrialization of America in the early nineteenth century

Genres: History

334 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Research and writing have always been essential aspects of Barbara's career. Her books are widely respected and quoted. She has also written for THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE BALTIMORE SUN. Her feature articles have appeared in both scholarly and popular magazines, PARENTS, MS., WORKING WOMAN and LADIES' HOME JOURNAL among them.

Barbara has repeatedly been engaged in nationwide speaking tours, discussing such topics as women's health, parenting, balancing family and work, childbirth and adoption. Her extensive television appearances throughout the United States and Canada have included the morning talk shows in most major cities, CBS MORNING SHOW, THE DONAHUE SHOW, CNN and OPRAH.

She has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Yale Medical School, Columbia University's Physicians and Surgeons, The Academy of Medicine, Marymount College and The Horace Mann School where she started a women's history program. As a consultant to PBS, the National Endowment for Humanities, The Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women, and The Rockefeller Foundation, Barbara has worked to get women's issues the attention they deserve.

The recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, her biography is included in the recent book, FEMINISTS WHO CHANGED AMERICA (University of Illinois Press, 2006).

Barbara is the mother of two daughters and a son. She lives in New York City with her husband where she is a member of Mount Sinai Hospital's Community Board, the Board of the New York Correctional Association and a variety of women's organizations.

Reviews

[S. Wigget]

bel hooks mentions this book, by a second wave white feminist, in her book Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. She sites it as one of those books in which the white feminist author doesn't question racism. This is important to keep in mind while reading it.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept was as women became more urban they were able to form associations to aid their destitute sisters. They did this in response to the plight of sailors wives left with children but no support. It was not the abolition movement but this earlier shift in self perception that began to lay the foundations of American Feminism.