Judith Nies

A MUST READ POLITICAL HISTORY FOR OUR TIMES

At the height of the Vietnam War protests, Judith Nies held “the most interesting job in Washington” as the chief staff assistant to a core group of anti-war congressmen. A graduate of John Hopkins School of Advance International Studies (SAIS) with an impressive international resume, Nies had everything she needed to succeed in Washington except for one obvious characteristic: she was the wrong gender.

In THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND: A Narrative History of the 1960’s and How Women Transformed America (Harper Collins, June 3, 2008), Nies chronicles her struggle to cope with and finally overcome the limited opportunities for women in society and politics. Shocked to find herself the focus of an FBI investigation due to her political activities, Nies traded in her role as a dutiful wife and marginalized employee to become one of a growing number of brave women who carved out a new path toward social reform.

A daring political activist and writer, Nies expertly intermingles her personal journey with insightful depictions of the pivotal events that shaped the civil rights era, such as:

• The 1961 protest of 50,000 housewives across the nation that helped bring the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to the forefront of Congressional focus

• The 1968 women’s liberation protest of the Miss America Pageant, which effectively ended male-only newsrooms (and sparked the birth of the term “bra burners”).

• Telling portrayals of the women who led the Feminist movement – from Gloria Steinem to Congresswoman Bella Abzug

At the same time, Nies played a key part in modernizing the political tenor of the late-1960’s herself – exposing the institutionalized sexism on Capitol Hill in her first published article, orchestrating the removal of the separate “Ladies Gallery” overlooking the House floor, and leading the Women in Fellowships committee, which would entitle women to become Rhodes Scholars and Nieman recipients for the first time in history.

THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND is a compelling and perceptive biography for our current political landscape that presents the underpinnings of the civil rights era in a fresh and personal way.