Book by Fenzi, Jewell, Nelson, Carl L.

Married to the Foreign Service: An Oral History of the American Diplomatic Spouse (Twayne's Oral History Series)

Politics & Social Sciences

Fenzi, Jewell

Nelson, Carl L.

Politics & Government

Twayne Pub

Until the 1970s, the spouses, virtually all of them female, of U.S. diplomats sent abroad were traditionally regarded as unpaid employees. Expected to perform countless social duties - and often enduring considerable hardship and even peril in the course of serving husband and nation - spouses made significant contributions to foreign relations. Yet for all their efforts, they received scant if any recognition. Spurred by the women's movement, these "unofficial diplomats" have improved their status dramatically while continuing to fight for their roles to be fully acknowledged as paid positions within the diplomatic corps. Married to the Foreign Service is a compelling account of spirited and courageous women, a history that for the first time systematically documents their story and provides a rare glimpse into the social and personal side of foreign policy. Drawing on 170 interviews with the wives of U.S. diplomats, oral historian Jewell Fenzi and writer Carl L. Nelson weave an engrossing narrative spanning nine decades of diplomatic history. Here, in their own words, the interviewees offer candid and revealing testimony about the lives and roles of foreign service spouses. Some of their stories are dramatic - accounts of living in Hitler's Berlin or of fleeing political turmoil in the Middle East. Some of their stories come from well-known figures - Julia Child, the "French Chef," or Marvin Breckinridge Patterson, a Europe-based broadcaster for Edward R. Murrow during World War II. But whether prominent or not so well known, these voices together produce an invaluable chronicle of twentieth-century American foreign policy from a woman's perspective. Complemented by 24 photographs and an informative preface by Lewis L. Gould of the University of Texas, Married to the Foreign Service offers readers a missing piece of diplomatic history.

Based on more than fifty oral history interviews, the book is a humorous, engaging and at times poignant memoir of the women, past and present, who have made the Woman's National Democratic Club a force in Washington politics. No tedious recitation of balanced ledgers or board meetings, the book takes a candid look at abortion, racial integration, the women's movement, the 1960s sexual revolution, Watergate and World War II. It is a must read for Democratic political junkies.

Democratic Women (WNDC Educational Foundation oral history series)

History

Black, Allida

World

WNDC Educational Foundation

This is the way we cook! =: Asina nos ta cushiná : recipes from outstanding cooks of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba

Thayer-Sargent Publications

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fenzi, Jewell. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Fenzi, Jewell