This book was conceived shortly after the birth of my daughter Lauren,

and finished some scven years later after the arrival of her sister Rachel.

As my research progressed, Lucy Mitchell s history came to serve as a

model, or alternatively, as a warning, for 1 saw myself grappling with

many of the same personal and professional struggles that informed her

life. I emerged from the writing of this book with a much clearer under.

standing of the complicated dimensions of work/family and parent/child

relationships.

The contributions of my husband, Stephen, both to this book and to

the well-being of our family, have been vital. His enthusiasm for the

subject and his incisive questioning of all aspects of the emerging text

prodded me to refine my ideas. Above all, the resilience, verve, and

good nature of my daughters and my husband allowed us to laugh to-

gether even in the midst of the most vexing family or work emergency.

The book has profited enormously from my association with many

scholars and colleagues. At the Mary I. Bunting Institute of Radcliffe

College, where from I977-79 1 was a Research Associate funded by the

Lilly Endowment, Inc., and again, at Radcliffe s Schlesinger Library and

Henry A. Murray Center, where in 1982-83 I was a fellow funded by the

Mellon Foundation, 1 encountered many scholars whose research con-

ceming women in American society enriched my own. Each of these in-

stitutions provided ideal working conditions for the pursuit of historical

work about women, including a collegial environment that made my so-

journ at Radcliffe an intense and exciting experience. Brandeis Universi.

ty s Mazer Fund provided a grant for travel and other research sup-

port. My colleagues in Brandeis Department of American Studies and