Reinventing Marriage: The Love and Work of Alice Freeman Palmer and George Herbert Palmer (Women in American History) [Hardcover]

Lori Kenschaft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2005 | Series: Women in American History

At age twenty-six Alice Freeman became the world's first female college president (at Wellesley College). Before going on to become the first Dean of Women at the University of Chicago, she married Harvard professor of philosophy George Herbert Palmer in 1887. A full generation before most educated women began to dream of combining marriage and professional work, George and Alice were working together to forge a new type of union that would make satisfying careers possible for both partners. Drawing on more than a thousand letters written before and after their wedding, Lori Kenschaft traces the changing relationship between Alice and George, offering a multifaceted study of their decision to marry, the dynamics of their relationship, and their understanding of marriage.As their relationship matures, their life-shaping decisions reflect and reveal their thoughts and feelings about work, love, sex, equality, and the purposes of education. Lori Kenschaft's beautifully written "Reinventing Marriage" illuminates not only the personal experiences of two remarkable individuals, but also the complexities and contradictions that lie at the roots of modern ideals of marriage. Lori Kenschaft holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Boston University and was a lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She is the author of "Lydia Maria Child: The Quest for Racial Justice". This is a volume in the series "Women in American History", edited by Anne Firor Scott, Susan Armitage, Susan K. Cahn, and Deborah Gray White.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

At age twenty-seven Alice Freeman became the world's first female college president (at Wellesley College). Before going on to become one of the founding deans of the University of Chicago, she married the Harvard philosophy professor George Herbert Palmer in 1887. A full generation before most educated women began to dream of combining marriage and professional work, George and Alice together tried to create a new type of union that would make satisfying careers possible for both partners.

Drawing on more than a thousand letters written before and after their wedding, Lori Kenschaft traces the changing relationship between Alice and George, offering a multifaceted study of their decision to marry, the dynamics of their relationship, and their understanding of marriage. As their relationship matures, their life-shaping decisions reflect and reveal their thoughts and feelings about work, love, sex, equality, and the purposes of education.

Lori Kenschaft's beautifully written Reinventing Marriage illuminates not only the personal experiences of two remarkable individuals, but also the complexities and contradictions that lie at the roots of modern ideals of marriage.

From the Back Cover

"Reinventing Marriage is a wonderful book, and I enjoyed it immensely. Offering a novel and complex view of Alice Freeman and George Herbert Palmer's marriage, it makes an important contribution to our understanding of the history of the family, the history of higher education, nineteenth-century middle class culture, and to the history of sexuality and modernism." -- Ellen Fitzpatrick, author of Endless Crusade: Women Social Scientists and Progressive Reform

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; First Edition edition (September 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252030001
• ISBN-13: 978-0252030000
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,025,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent, literate, and thought-provoking, September 15, 2005

By 

Kristin Gilbert - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reinventing Marriage: The Love and Work of Alice Freeman Palmer and George Herbert Palmer (Women in American History) (Hardcover)

Beautifully written and thought-provoking, _Reinventing Marriage_ tackles the large and complex issues of gender equality, the history of American attitudes towards love, romance, marriage, and work, the complicated interplay of idealism and reality, and the peculiar burdens of a privileged life lived in the public eye; and does so all through the examination of one particular late nineteenth century marriage of two intelligent, appealing, and literate partners. Their letters to one another are a joy to read, and Kenschaft's thoughtful commentary consistently frames the relevant issues in ways that make them always accessible -- and never oversimplified. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, and wish for others to have the same pleasure.