Caroline Bird

Caroline Bird was born on April 15, 1915 in New York City. Her father, who had been a
crusading journalist, inspired her by his example and encouraged her to write. Bird majored in
economics at Vassar College, but left after her junior year to marry Edward A. Menuez, a teacher, in
1934. While raising a daughter, she earned a B.A. at the University of Toledo and an M.A. in
comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin. During World War II, she worked as a journalist
and held several research and editing jobs. Her marriage ended in 1945. Bird moved from editorial
positions to freelance magazine writing. She Married Tom Mahoney, also a writer, in 1957. In 1966,
Bird published her first book, The Invisible Scar, which was a socioeconomic study of the Great
Depression. It was hailed by the American Library Association as one of the most significant books of
the year, and it established her reputation as a careful and compelling writer. Her second book, Born
Female (1968), established her as one of the founding mothers of the feminist movement. In 1975,
Bird published her most controversial book, The Case Against College, which continues to be a
subject of debates and discussions on college campuses today. In it, she argues that college is, for
many students, an overpriced waste of time. Widely known as a lecturer and TV commentator, Bird
played a leading role in the womens movement of the 60s and 70s. She died on January 11, 2011 in
Nashville, Tennessee.
The 1970s was a decade characterized by cynicism and bitterness. The aftermath of the Cold
War, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal damaged Americans faith in their government and
leaders. The burdens of the country were exacerbated by the economic recession. The United States
suffered a stagflation high unemployment coincided with high inflation. This was triggered by the
Arab oil embargos that eventually caused a global oil and energy shortage. The 1973-1974 stock
market crash, one of the worst in modern history, was a major event of the recession, and affected all
the major stock markets in the world. The unemployment rate reached 8% in 1975, the highest in the
decade. Many Americans saw this decade as a period of confusion and frustration marked by an
overwhelming feeling that the country had lost its direction. Americans had lost their faith and
confidence in its government and did not believe that it could solve these problems.
The 1970s was a continuation of the activism of the 1960s, particularly for women. The
womens movement of the 70s campaigned for both political and economic equality. In the 1960s,
women were expected to follow one path: marry, start a family, and devote their lives to homemaking.
The women of the 70s sought to defy this role and battle discrimination. They campaigned for laws
that supported equal opportunities, salary, and access to jobs.
References
Hall, D. & Emblen, D.L. (1982). A writers reader (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (2014). America in the 1970s. Retrieved from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/
more-subjects/history/us-history-ii/from-nixon-to-carter-19681980/america-in-the-1970s
Lewis, C.H. (2002). The 1970s and Americas crisis of confidence. Retrieved from http://
www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/anxiety.htm
Vassar College Libraries. (n.d.). Guide to the Caroline Bird papers, 1915 1995. Retrieved from
http://specialcollections.vassar.edu/findingaids/bird_caroline.html