Oral History Interview, Linda Gordon (1477)

Abstract

Linda Gordon was born in Chicago, IL in 1940. She grew up with two siblings in a home with very liberal views. She aspired to become a professional ballet dancer but attended Swarthmore College instead (1957-1961). Gordon began graduate work at Yale shortly after her time at Swarthmore. In 1968, Gordon began teaching at University of Massachusetts- Boston. During her time at UM-Boston, Linda taught several classes, was involved in several influential Women’s Movement groups, such as Bread and Roses, she began writing her first book, Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: The History of Birth Control in America, played important role in starting the Women’s Studies program at UM-Boston, and raised her daughter. In 1984, Gordon accepted a position at UW-Madison in the history department. In her time at UW-Madison, Gordon taught several women’s history courses, directed many dissertations, served on multiple committees in the WS program, was awarded the most prestigious chair professorship, the Vilas Research Chair, and made life-long friendships. Gordon left the program in 1999 and moved to New York City with her husband. There, she teaches in the history department at NYU. In the political sphere, Gordon served on the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services Advisory Council on Violence Against Women for the Clinton administration. Gordon has won many awards including Guggenheim, NEH, ACLS, Radcliffe Institute and the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center fellowships. Other published books penned by Linda Gordon include: “Heroes of Their Own Lives: The History and Politics of Family Violence”, “Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare”, “The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction”, “Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits”, and “Cossack Rebellions: Social Turmoil in the Sixteenth-Century Ukraine”. She currently resides in New York City during the school year and returns to Madison each summer.