Fireweed: A Political Autobiography

This is an autobiography of Gerda Lerner, a political activist who later became an early women’s historian and teacher, before she became a historian in her early 40s. Lerner, who was born and raised in Vienna, vividly tells the story of her of survival during the Nazi regime, as an immigrant to the United States and as a social radical here through the 1950s. For many years she felt as an outsider; since Austria was under Nazi rule, Gerda was required to have a German instead of an Austrian passport even though she never lived in Germany; she was robbed of her identity. Ms. Lerner was only permitted to enter the United States by marrying her fiancée nearly as soon as she arrived; the marriage strained throughout and she became show more divorced within a few years. Soon after her divorce, she met and married Carl Lerner, who was blacklisted (or gray-listed as she calls it) for his political activity during the McCarthy years. Mr. Lerner, a play and movie script-writer, was often unemployed, and the family had to depend upon the money Gerda earned as an Xray technician.

Gerda describes the political situation in the United States World War II and the 1950s, and her feelings concerning various discriminatory government actions. She clearly describes her way of life, including her activism in different arenas including political canvassing, labor and school issues, and later the women’s international peace movement.
Learning English and becoming a writer were also Gerda’s goals. Her autobiography ends in 1958 when she decided to go back to school. She initially thought she would write fiction, but became interested in women’s history. She very briefly outlines the rest of her life: her education and her career as a women’s historian. show less