Spotlight on the Economists' Papers Archive: Barbara Bergmann (1927-2015)

 

"Preposterous" is what Barbara Bergmann called Gary Becker's theory of the family in a 1996 essay in Challenge. And in a 1999 essay in that same publication, Bergmann argued that the Nobel Prize in economics should be discontinued. Such were the unaccommodating views of Barbara Bergmann (1927-2015), a professor of economics at the University of Maryland and American University, as well as a staff economist for President Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisers.

Bergmann's papers, which the Rubenstein Library acquired as a gift in 2017, consist of writings by Bergmann, largely published versions, as well as some draft materials, project files, and research materials. The contents of the collection speak to the breadth of Bergmann's interests in economic approaches -- including mathematical modelling, microsimulation, and government regulations -- as well as her wide ranging interests in sex and race discrimination, child care, poverty, affirmative action, economic aspects of parenting, education, domestic labor, wage discrimination, social security, and numerous other topics within the broad definition of feminist economics.

The Writings Series predominantly consists of publications--essays, articles, chapters, and books--written by Bergmann. There are also copies of her testimonies to Congress on poverty and child care. The Project Files Series contains files from some of Bergmann's ongoing professional work, including a substantial amount of research and anecdotal evidence collected about marriage, intended for an unfinished book on the decline of marriage in America. The Project Files series also contains materials about Bergmann's economic activism, relating to her work identifying gender discrimination practices by Giant Foods, Inc., and her consulting role for the Service Employees International Union representing nurses in an anti-trust lawsuit against hospital salary practices in the 2000s.

The Bergmann collection is open for research, except original audiovisual and electronic records are closed. For more information on the collection, please visit the Rubenstein Library website.