From Publishers Weekly
When Landes (1868-1943) became Seattle's mayor in 1926, she was the first woman elected to lead a major U.S. city. In a carefully researched study of Landes's political career, Haarsager, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Idaho, focuses on the women's club movement, which blossomed in the early 1900s and provided wives and mothers like Landes an opportunity to develop sophisticated administrative and organizational skills. Earlier in her career, Landes was elected to the Seattle city council and served as its president. As acting mayor, she shocked her colleagues by firing a corrupt chief of police. As mayor, she fought for social and municipal reform. Haarsager posits that Landes's bid for reelection was unsuccessful because of gender bias and negative campaigning. She provides an interesting analysis of women and power based on the theories of French philosopher Michel Foucault. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Haarsager (communications, Univ. of Idaho) provides a much-needed biography of the first woman elected mayor of a major American city. Responding to the "Year of the Woman" and drawing upon the electoral experiences of 1992, Haarsager provides a richly detailed narrative that is as much a chronicle of Seattle and America early in this century as it is a biography of Landes. Knight's brief tenure as Seattle's mayor, from 1926 to 1928, is fit into the context of the Progressive era's municipal reforms and the growing activism of women in America's political life. The importance of women's clubs to those sociopolitical changes is a central theme of the book. While the conclusions Haarsager draws from Michel Foucault's relational power and Victor Turner's social change theories may appeal primarily to feminist scholars and political theorists, her book provides important insights into social and political change in urban America. In that regard, it will be a valuable resource and interesting reading for urban studies scholars and informed lay readers.
- William L. Waugh Jr., Georgia State Univ., Atlanta
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- William L. Waugh Jr., Georgia State Univ., Atlanta
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
