Gerda Lerner is Robinson-Edwards Professor of History, Emerita, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Review
"There can be no doubting the deep thoughtfulness that informs [Lerners] every page. And expressing this
attitude is a firm, forceful, utterly clear and unpretentious voice. Lerner has set a standard that few of her
fellow scholars will ever match."
--John Demos, The New York Times Book Review
"The peace-seeking warrior's summation of what is worth fighting for....Lerner argues lucidly, energetically,
and with authority....Once again, her history-making rings out to urge, to cajole, to bring us our past in order
to bring us to our senses and sweeter powers."
--Catharine R. Stimpson, The Nation
Oxford University Press Web Site, May, 2000
Summary
In Why History Matters, Gerda Lerner sums up her thinking and research of the last sixteen years, combining
personal reminiscences with innovative theory that illuminate the importance of history and the vital role women
have played in it.
We read first of Lerner's coming to consciousness as a Jewish woman, of her experiences in Nazi Germany, as well
as her decision to become a historian. The second section focuses on more professional concerns. Included here
is a fascinating essay on nonviolent resistance, tracing the idea from the Quakers, such as Mary Dyer, to abolitionists,
to Thoreau's essay Civil Disobedience, then across the sea to Tolstoy and Gandhi, before finally returning to America
during the civil rights movement of the 1950s. The highlight of the final section of the book is Lerner's bold
and innovative look at the issues of class and race as they relate to gender. Why History Matters contains some
of the most significant thinking on history of this distinguished historian.
Table of Contents
Pt. I History as Memory
1. A Weave of Connections
2. In the Footsteps of the Cathars
3. Living in Translation
4. Of History and Memory
Pt. II History: Theory and Practice
5. Nonviolent Resistance: The History of an Idea
6. American Values
7. The 20th Century: A Watershed for Women
8. Looking Toward the Year 2000
9. The Necessity of History
Pt. III Re-visioning History
10. Differences Among Women
11. Rethinking the Paradigm
I Class
II Race
12. Why History Matters
Notes
Index
