Barbara Egger Lennon: Teacher, Mother, Activist

This biography of Barbara Egger Lennon artfully demonstrates how individual women negotiated the demands of family and friends as they moved toward the independence and autonomous thinking the New Woman celebrated. Lennon s long career as an educator and labor activists is a shining example of how the New Woman carried her identity into the workplace.
Tonia Compton, assistant professor of History, Columbia University

Praise for the Lives of American Women series:
Finally! The majority of studentsby which I mean womenwill have the opportunity to read biographies of women from our nation s past. (Men can read them too, of course!) The Lives of American Women series features an eclectic collection of books, readily accessible to students who will be able to see the contributions of women in many fields over the course of our history. Long overdue, these books will be a valuable resource for teachers, students, and the public at large.
Cokie Roberts, author of “Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty”

Facets of Barbara Egger Lennon s life depict an ordinary white Midwestern woman of her time: teacher, wife, mother. Her work as a union organizer and political activist, however, complicate that picture. The way in which Egger Lennon balanced these roles illustrates how many women of her time shaped their lives in the face of three significant forces: work, family, and politics. Enriched by years of her detailed diary entries, “Barbara Egger Lennon: Teacher, Mother, Activist” deepens our understanding of the ways in which work and political activism existed alongside the traditional role of women in the early 20th century.

Tina Stewart Brakebill is an instructor at Illinois State University whose classes focus on the experiences of women and minorities. She recently won the highest honor bestowed on teachers: the “Outstanding University Teaching Award.” Her first book ” Circumstances are Destiny: An Antebellum Woman s Struggle to Define Sphere” received the “William and Henry Harrison Award” for the best book for an Ohio related family history.
Series Editor Carol Berkin is a well-known women s historian and the author of many popular and scholarly books, including “Civil War Wives.” She is Professor of History Emerita at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and she is a member of the Society of American Historians.
“