Juggling: A Memoir of Work, Family, and Feminism

Part autobiography, part feminist treatise and sociological study, this book recounts Gould's childhood, marriage and her work at Barnard College, where she rose from a part-time assistant to head of the Alumnae Advisory Office and became a founder of the Women's Center. Early in her marriage, in the 1940s, Gould realized that she wasn't content to stay home with her two children. Even as she moved around the country to different army bases, Gould always found volunteer spots working unofficially as a social worker. Her career advancement began with many unpaid positions until she began working as an assistant in Barnard's alumnae office. Her role there reinforced Gould's desire to help other women successfully work in traditionally male-dominated fields. Gould's description of her struggles are honest and emotional: her husband died at age 51 and one of her children has serious emotional problems. But Gould remained determined to make a difference--not just in her own life--but in the lives of other women graduating college. Her success is evident in the prestigious Women's Center at Barnard and its annual ""The Scholar and the Feminist"" seminars. While some of the later chapters detailing the disagreements between feminists and the Barnard administration may have less appeal to the general readership, overall this is a strong personal chronicle of both the women's movement and one woman's progress. (Sept.)