Jo Freeman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jo Freeman
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Jo Freeman at a peace protest in 2006
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| Born | August 26, 1945 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
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| Other names | Joreen |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Thesis | The politics of women's liberation: a case study of an emerging social movement and its relation to the policy process (1973) |
| Academic work | |
| Main interests | feminism, political science, law |
Jo Freeman (also known as Joreen), born on August 26, 1945, is an American feminist, political scientist, writer, and lawyer. A feminist is someone who believes in equal rights and opportunities for all genders.
In the 1960s, while studying at the University of California, Berkeley, she became very active. She joined groups that worked for civil liberties (basic rights and freedoms for everyone) and the civil rights movement (a movement that fought for equal rights for African Americans).
Later, she helped people register to vote and organized communities in Alabama and Mississippi. She was also one of the first people to help start the women's liberation movement. This movement worked to gain more freedom and equality for women.
Jo Freeman wrote many important articles about feminism and how social movements (large groups of people working for change) and political parties work. She has also written a lot about women, especially about laws and government policies that affect women, and women's roles in politics.
Contents
Jo Freeman's Early Life and Education
Jo Freeman was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1945. Her mother, Helen, had served in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. After Jo was born, her mother moved to Los Angeles, California.
Jo Freeman graduated from Granada Hills High School in 1961. She then went to the University of California, Berkeley, and earned her bachelor's degree in political science in 1965.
She continued her studies at the University of Chicago in 1968, earning her PhD in 1973. Later, she decided to study law. She attended New York University School of Law and became a lawyer in 1983.
Since 1979, Jo Freeman has lived in Brooklyn, New York.
Student Activism at Berkeley
At Berkeley, Jo Freeman was an active student leader. She joined the University Young Democrats and a campus political group called SLATE. SLATE worked on important issues like ending nuclear testing and allowing different speakers on campus.
SLATE also believed that students should have the same rights to speak out on campus as they did off campus. The university had rules that limited student political activities. This became a big issue when the civil rights movement started in the area in 1963. Students wanted to support the movement both on and off campus.
In 1964, students set up tables on campus to raise money and recruit for political action, even though it was against the rules. This led to arrests and protests. The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was formed by student groups to fight for their rights.
Jo Freeman was part of the FSM's main committee. In December 1964, she was one of about 800 students arrested for protesting inside the main administration building. This was a very large arrest in California's history. Because of the public attention, the university changed its rules, allowing students to discuss political issues on campus.
Fighting for Civil Rights
When the civil rights movement began in San Francisco in 1963, people protested against businesses that did not hire Black workers. Jo Freeman joined demonstrations at places like the Sheraton-Palace Hotel and a Cadillac dealership. She was arrested at both protests.
After graduating from Berkeley, Jo Freeman joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1965. She worked to help people register to vote in Alabama and Mississippi. She spent some days in custody in both states.
In 1966, a newspaper in Mississippi published an article about her, suggesting she was a "professional agitator." This article was based on information given to the newspaper by a state commission. Because of safety concerns, the SCLC sent Jo Freeman to Atlanta. She later worked as an assistant to Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.
After her work with SCLC, she tried to find jobs as a journalist in Chicago. She was told that "girls can't cover riots." Eventually, she found work as a writer and editor.
Leading the Women's Liberation Movement
In 1967, Jo Freeman attended a course about women at the University of Chicago. She then helped organize a women's workshop at a big political conference in Chicago. At this conference, a group of women, including Jo Freeman, tried to present their ideas for women's rights. However, they were told their ideas were not important enough to discuss.
One of the conference leaders even told a woman, "Move on little girl; we have more important issues to talk about here than women's liberation." This event made Jo Freeman and other women realize they needed to organize themselves.
After the conference, Jo Freeman and others started the first women's liberation group in Chicago. It was called the Westside group. A few months later, Jo Freeman started a newsletter called Voice of the women's liberation movement. This newsletter was sent all over the country and helped give the new movement its name. Many women from this group went on to start other feminist organizations.
In 1968, Jo Freeman started graduate school. She wrote many papers about women's issues, which were later published. She also helped examine women's experiences at the university and in academic careers. She taught a course on women's legal and economic position and helped organize a conference on women.
She also helped create the Women's Caucus for Political Science in 1969. This group worked to support women in the field of political science.
Jo Freeman traveled through Europe in 1970 and 1971, sharing feminist writings. Her lecture in Norway is said to have started the first new feminist group there. Her writings also helped feminists in the Netherlands.
Jo Freeman wrote four important feminist papers using her movement name, "Joreen." One of her most famous papers is The Tyranny of Structurelessness. In this paper, she argued that even groups that seem to have no rules or leaders actually do. She said that power can be hidden if there are no clear rules. She believed that all groups need clear responsibilities to be fair and democratic.
Her 1973 PhD paper looked at two different parts of the women's movement. She explained that one part was started by younger women who had been involved in civil rights and anti-war protests. The other part was started by older women who had worked with government commissions on women's status. Her book based on this work, The Politics of Women's Liberation, won an award for the best scholarly work on women in politics.
Career in Law and Political Science
After getting her PhD, Jo Freeman taught at the State University of New York. She then worked in Washington, D.C., focusing on public policy. Since she found it hard to get a full-time teaching job, she decided to study law.
She became a lawyer in 1983 and had her own law practice in Brooklyn, New York. She often helped women who were running for political office.
Jo Freeman has written 11 books and hundreds of articles. Most of her writings are about women or feminism. She also writes about social movements and political parties. Her book Women: A Feminist Perspective was a leading textbook for women's studies for many years. Another book, A Room at a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics, also won an award.
She continues to attend major political conventions, but now as a journalist. Many of her articles and photographs of political events can be found on her website.
Books by Jo Freeman
- The Politics of Women's Liberation: A Case Study of an Emerging Social Movement and Its Relation to the Policy Process (1975)
- Women: A Feminist Perspective, editor (1975, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1995)
- Social Movements of the Sixties and Seventies, editor (1983)
- Waves of Protest: Social Movements Since the Sixties, editor with Victoria Johnson (1999)
- A Room at a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics (2000)
- At Berkeley in the Sixties: The Education of an Activist, 1961–1965 (2004)
- We Will Be Heard: Women's Struggles for Political Power in the United States (2008)
See also
In Spanish: Jo Freeman para niños
