Character Is Destiny: The Autobiography of Alice Salomon

by Andrew Lees Dr

Overview

In her autobiography, the remarkable feminist and social worker Alice Salomon recounts her transition in the 1890s from privileged idleness to energetic engagement in solving social problems. Salomon took the lead in establishing the profession of social work, and built a career as a social reformer, activist, and educator. A prolific author, Salomon also played a key role in the transatlantic dialogue between German and American feminists in the early twentieth century. Her narrative concludes with the account of her expulsion from Germany by the Nazis in 1937.
Salomon's formative influence on the field of social work makes her story crucial for the history of the discipline. This work will also appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of the feminist and socialist movements or the political and social history of twentieth-century Germany. The volume also includes several of Salomon's essays on social work and women's issues, along with photographs of Salomon, her students, and her colleagues.
Andrew Lees is Professor and Chair of the History Department at Rutgers University, Camden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780472113675
Publisher:	University of Michigan Press
Publication date:	01/20/2004
Series:	Social History, Popular Culture, And Politics In Germany
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Andrew Lees is Professor and Chair of the History Department at Rutgers University, Camden.

Table of Contents

	Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	1
1.	A Child with a Garden, 1872-1889	11
2.	Apprenticeship, 1893-1899	24
3.	Widening Horizon	37
4.	London-Berlin	48
5.	The Aberdeens, Scotland, Ireland, 1904-1908	61
6.	Two Jobs for Life, I: The School for Social Work, 1907-1913	68
7.	Two Jobs for Life, II: Officer of the International Council; Canada and First Glimpse of U.S.A.	81
8.	Brief Harvest before the Storm	89
9.	"The Evidence of Things Not Seen," 1914	101
10.	Patriotism Is Not Enough, 1914-1916	105
11.	In the War Office, 1917-1919	112
12.	Fourteen Years of Democracy, I: Years of Chaos, 1919-1924	121
13.	Fourteen Years of Democracy, II: My Foreign Affairs, 1920-1933	133
14.	Fourteen Years of Democracy, III: Social Reconstruction, 1924-1929	150
15.	Fourteen Years of Democracy, IV: Then Came the Collapse	159
16.	The Golden Ring of Friendship	165
17.	The Stream of Lava	173
18.	The Mystery of Individual Adjustments	181
19.	A Spy Stands behind You	188
20.	Exit Modern Woman	191
21.	The Strong and the Weak	201
22.	God and Caesar	209
23.	The Pastors ... Martin Niemoller	214
24.	New Lease on Life	220
Appendix A.	The Significance of the Women's Movement for Social Life	231
Appendix B.	The Revolution of the Mother	239
Appendix C.	Preface to an Early Version of Salomon's Autobiography	247
	Notes	249