Radical union gender, personality, and politics in the marriage of Meta and Victor Berger /

by Abnet, Dustin A.

RADICAL UNION: GENDER, PERSONALITY, AND POLITICS IN THE MARRIAGE OF META AND VICTOR BERGER by Dustin A. Abnet For over thirty years, Victor and Meta Berger lived, fought, and campaigned together as two of the most prominent American socialists. During their marriage, Victor co-founded the American Socialist Party, served on its Executive Committee, successfully ran for Congress, published the leading Socialist daily newspaper, and led Milwaukee’s powerful socialist machine. During the same period, Meta served five terms on the Milwaukee school board and led numerous women’s and socialist organizations while serving as Victor’s wife. Though they were important political figures, Meta and Victor were also important because of how they experienced, as a couple, two of the most transformative developments of the early twentieth century: a crisis of masculinity and the rise of feminism. Using their personal letters, papers, and Meta’s autobiography, this thesis reconstructs their relationship, showing how Victor’s responses to a crisis of masculinity related to Meta’s formation of a feminist consciousness. Radical Union: Gender, Personality, and Politics in the Marriage of Victor and Meta Berger A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University In partial fulfillment of The requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of History By Dustin A. Abnet Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2006 Advisor__________________ Mary E. Frederickson Reader___________________ Allan M. Winkler Reader___________________ Dan La Botz