Linda Kaufman Kerber (born January 23, 1940, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

) is an American

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, a political and

intellectual historian Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

, and educator who specializes in the history and development of the democratic mind in America, and the history of women in America.

Early life and education

The daughter of Harry Hagman and Dorothy Haber Kaufman, Kerber graduated from Forest Hills High School in Queens, New York, and married Richard Kerber in 1960. She received a BA from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

(1960), an MA from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(1961), and her PhD from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(1968) under the supervision of

Richard Hofstadter Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier histo ...

Career

Kerber joined the faculty at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

in 1971, and is currently the May Brodbeck Professor in Liberal Arts & Sciences, and also lecturer in the College of Law. Kerber published her first book, ''Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and Ideology in Jeffersonian America,'' in 1970. One of the first historians to interpret the history of the early United through the lens of women's history, she published ''Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America'' in 1980. In this path breaking book, Kerber introduced the concept of "

Republican Motherhood "Republican Motherhood" is an 18th-century term for an attitude toward women's roles present in the emerging United States before, during, and after the American Revolution. It centered on the belief that the patriots' daughters should be raised ...

." In 1998, Kerber published ''No Constitutional Right to be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship,'' a political history of women and the law that spans the history of the United States from the early Republic to the late twentieth century. She also published essays and books on the feminism and history and on women's intellectual history. From the beginning of her career, inspired by the women's movement, Kerber played an active role in enhancing the status of women in the historical profession. An early member of the

Berkshire Conference of Women Historians The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians (also known as the "Little Berks") is an organization for female historians. The Conference welcomes women historians from all fields and historical eras, not just the history of women and gender. The B ...

, she began to attend meetings of the newly formed Coordinating Committee for Women in the Historical Profession. In the early 1970s, when the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

appointed a Committee on Women Historians to provide recommendations as to how to improve the professional positions of women, she was among its first members and also served as its chair. Kerber served as the president of the

American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization founded in 1951. It is the oldest scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. culture and history. The ASA works to promote meaningful dialogue about t ...

in 1988, the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

in 1996–97, and the

in 2006. She was the Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 2006–2007, delivering the Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Memorial Lecture at Oxford on November 16, 2006. She has received fellowships from, among others, the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

three times, the National Humanities Center, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

. She is an elected member and serves on the Council of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, and a Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Kerber serves on the international advisory board of the feminist academic journal '' Signs.''

Works

* ''Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and Ideology in Jeffersonian America'' (Cornell University Press, 1970, pbk reprint, 1980
read online
* ''Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America'' (University of North Carolina Press for Institute for Early American History and Culture, 1980, and later paperback reprints

* ''Women's America: Refocusing the Past'' (with

Jane Sherron De Hart Jane Sherron De Hart (born 1936) is an American feminist historian and women's studies academic. She is a professor emerita at University of California, Santa Barbara. De Hart has authored and edited several works on the history of women in the ...

) (Oxford University Press, 1995; 6th ed. 2004)
read online
* ''U.S. History as Women's History: New Feminist Essays'' (University of Carolina Press, 1995) (with

Alice Kessler-Harris Alice Kessler-Harris (June 2, 1941, Leicester) is R. Gordon Hoxie Professor Emerita of American History at Columbia University, and former president of the Organization of American Historians, and specialist in the American labor and comparative ...

and Kathryn Kish Sklar
read online
*''Toward an Intellectual History of Women: Essays by Linda K. Kerber'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1997

*''No Constitutional Right to be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship'' (New York: Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998 and pbk reprint)

Received two prizes from the

: the Littleton-Griswold Prize for the best book in U.S. legal history, and the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize for the best book in women's history.

References

External links

*Linda Kerbe
Department of History, University of Iowa
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerber, Linda K. 1940 births Living people American women historians Barnard College alumni Columbia University alumni Presidents of the American Historical Association University of Iowa faculty Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professors of American History Women's historians Feminist historians Members of the American Philosophical Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 21st-century American women