Ann Dexter Gordon
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Ann Dexter Gordon is an American research professor in the department of history at
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
and editor of the papers of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
and Susan B. Anthony, a survey of more than 14,000 papers relating to the pair of 19th century women's rights activists. She is also the editor of the multi-volume work, ''Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony'', and has authored a number of other books about the history of the
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
movement. She worked with popular historian
Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...
on his 1999 book and appears in his documentary film about Stanton and Anthony. Since 2006, Gordon has repeatedly weighed in on the
Susan B. Anthony abortion dispute Susan B. Anthony was a leader of the American women's suffrage in the United States, women's suffrage movement whose position on abortion has been the subject of a modern-day dispute. The dispute has primarily been between Anti-abortion movement, ...
stating that "Anthony spent no time on the politics of abortion. It was of no interest to her."


Early career

Gordon received a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree at
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
in Massachusetts, then went to the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
for post graduate work. While there, the editors of ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' published a letter she wrote in May 1967 as a sharp response to a Paul Goodman piece sympathetic to
draft-card burning Draft-card burning was a symbol of protest performed by thousands of young men in the United States and Australia in the 1960s and early 1970s. The first draft-card burners were American men taking part in the opposition to United States involvem ...
by isolated individuals. She earned a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree and a
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in American history, writing in 1975 a doctoral dissertation entitled ''The College of Philadelphia, 1749–1779: Impact of an Institution''. Between 1975 and 1982, Gordon worked on the editorial staffs of two projects, one publishing the papers of
Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...
, the first American woman Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the other the papers of President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
.


The Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Papers Project

In 1982, Gordon joined the
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Papers The Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Papers project was an academic undertaking to collect and document all available materials written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, two early leaders of the women's rights movement. Th ...
project which was then forming at Rutgers, and helped the project produce a microfilm volume in 1991 of 14,000 relevant historical documents cataloged and described, composed equally of published texts and of manuscripts. Since then, more texts have been received and cataloged. Led by Gordon as editor, the project determined to produce six volumes of ''The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony'', to "record the first half century of women's campaign for political rights in the US and provide the primary reference point for examining women's political history in the nineteenth century." All six have now been published: *''In the School of Anti-Slavery, 1840–1866''. (1997) *''Against an Aristocracy of Sex, 1866 to 1873''. (2000) *''National Protection for National Citizens, 1873 to 1880''. (2003) *''When Clowns Make Laws for Queens, 1880 to 1887''. (2006) *''Their Place Inside the Body-Politic, 1887 to 1895''. (2009) *''An Awful Hush, 1895 to 1906''. (2013) Screenwriter Geoffrey Ward helped bring Gordon's work into the 1999 documentary film, '' Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony'', directed and produced by
Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...
. Gordon appears in the film and assisted Burns and Ward in writing an accompanying book, which includes a section by Gordon titled, "Taking Possession of the Country".


Other writings

In 1971, Gordon joined with Mari Jo Buhle and Nancy E. Schrom to author "Women in American Society: An Historical Contribution", an article that appeared in the journal ''Radical America''. The article was "conceived as a response to the conceptual problems confronted by all who seek to comprehend the historically rooted sources of today's oppression" of women in America. With
Bettye Collier-Thomas Bettye Collier-Thomas (born Bettye Marie Collier, February 18, 1941) is a scholar of African-American women's history. Early life and education Collier-Thomas was born the second of three children of Joseph Thomas Collier, a business executive an ...
, professor of history and the Director of the
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
Center for African-American History and Culture, Gordon edited ''African American women and the vote, 1837–1965'', a book describing major turning points for women in African-American history. Gordon wrote in the introduction that the 1997 book originated as papers submitted in 1987 at the University of Massachusetts for the conference "Afro-American Women and the Vote: From Abolitionism to the Voting Rights Act". Gordon noted that the milestones set down in the book differ significantly from similar ones marking the history of white American women, including 1837 in New York City as the first time African-American women formally "define their roles independent of men", predating the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention as the touchstone used by Stanton and Anthony to mark the start of the American woman suffrage movement. In 2000, Gordon reviewed ''Spectacular Confessions: Autobiography, Performative Activism, and the Sites of Suffrage, 1905–1938'', a book by Barbara Green about British suffragists, the review published in ''Biography'' journal. Gordon has written two electronic books, published online: ''The Trial of Susan B. Anthony'' and ''Travels for Reform: The Early Work of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1852–1861''. The 2005 work ''The Trial of Susan B. Anthony'' was completed in collaboration with the
Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of respo ...
, as a training aid for students of legal history. The book discusses Anthony's trial and felony conviction in 1873 for her 1872 vote cast illegally in that year's presidential and congressional elections. Earlier in 1999, Gordon worked with Ann Pfau, Tamara Gaskell Miller, and Kimberly J. Banks to edit ''Travels for Reform: The Early Work of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1852–1861'', a book about the first decade of Anthony's partnership with Stanton and their travels around New York State to promote women's rights causes, primarily women's right to vote. The book was prepared with Model Editions Partnership, University of South Carolina, from microfilm documents, images of original documents, and portions of Volume I of ''Selected Papers''.


Anthony and abortion

Since 2006, Gordon has written and spoken out against pro-life organizations such as
Feminists for Life Feminists for Life of America (FFL) is a non-profit, anti-abortion feminist, non-governmental organization (NGO). Established in 1972, and now based in Alexandria, Virginia, the organization publishes a biannual magazine, ''The American Feminist'', ...
(FFL) and Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) that maintain that 'Anthony was an outspoken opponent of abortion'. Gordon holds that Anthony "never voiced an opinion about the sanctity of fetal life" and that "she never voiced an opinion about using the power of the state to require that pregnancies be brought to term." In October 2006, Gordon stated that she was beginning to see college students who only knew Anthony as an activist opposed to abortion, a view she said was "based more on fiction than fact". Gordon stated that "comparing the debate over abortion today with the debate that was taking place in the 19th century is misleading." For the ''North Adams Transcript'' in February 2010, Gordon said "I've watched the anti-abortion movement make these assertions since 1989. It's pretty far fetched". In a May 2010 opinion piece in '' The Washington Post's'' "On Faith"
blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
, co-authored with Lynn Sherr, Gordon noted that Anthony's statements on abortion are limited to a single, ambiguous diary entry, and concluded that, "Anthony spent no time on the politics of abortion. It was of no interest to her, despite living in a society (and a family) where women aborted unwanted pregnancies."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Ann Dexter 21st-century American historians Historians of the United States Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Rutgers University faculty Smith College alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American women historians 21st-century American women writers