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Gerda Lerner

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Also known as Gerda Hedwig Lerner

Austrian-American women's history scholar (1920-2013)

Key facts

Born
Gerda Hedwig Kronstein , ( 1920-04-30 ) April 30, 1920, Vienna , Austria
Died
January 2, 2013 (2013-01-02) (aged 92), Madison , Wisconsin, U.S.
Education
The New School ( BA ), Columbia University ( MA , PhD )
Occupations
Women's history scholar and author
Employer s
Long Island University , Sarah Lawrence College , University of Wisconsin–Madison , Duke University , Columbia University
Organization s
Organization of American Historians , Congress of American Women , National Organization for Women
Notable work
Black Women in White America: A Documentary History (1972), The Creation of Patriarchy (1986), The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to 1870 (1993), Fireweed: A Political Autobiography (2003)
Political party
Communist Party USA
Spouses
Bobby Jensen ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1939 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1940 ) ​ Carl Lerner ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1941 ; died 1973 ) ​

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Hedwig
Family name
Lerner
Gender
female
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Vienna
Place of death
Madison
Occupation
translator
Position held
president
Educated at
The New School
Languages spoken
English language
Native language
German
Official website
gerdalerner.com
Image
UW-Madison history professor Gerda Lerner.jpg
Show 8 more facts
date of birth
1920-04-30
date of death
2013-01-02
Commons category
Gerda Lerner
name in native language
Gerda Lerner
birth name
Gerda Hedwig Kronstein
partner in business or sport
Joan Kelly
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~15 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Gerda Hedwig Lerner (née Kronstein; April 30, 1920 – January 2, 2013) was an Austrian-born American historian and woman's history author. In addition to her numerous scholarly publications, she wrote poetry, fiction, theatre pieces, screenplays, and an autobiography. She served as president of the Organization of American Historians from 1980 to 1981. In 1980, she was appointed Robinson Edwards Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she taught until retiring in 1991.

Lerner was one of the founders of the academic field of women's history, known as the "godmother of women's history." In 1963, while still an undergraduate at the New School for Social Research, she taught "Great Women in American History", which is considered to be the first regular college course on women's history offered anywhere.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gerda Lerner” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.