Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958) and Gerda Lerner (1920- ) : architects of womens's history | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:This thesis explores the influence of women's historians Mary Ritter Beard and Gerda Lerner on the development and growth of women's history as a field of study. As pioneers in American women's history, these two women laid much of the theoretical and methodological foundation upon which the field was built. The paper describes the biographical backgrounds of Beard and Lerner, the historical fields which influenced each woman's scholarship, and the key issues of their major texts. Finally, the thesis traces Mary Beard's influence on Gerda Lerner and both women's contributions to establishing women's history as a discrete discipline and to the promotion of women's issues in academia and society