Women's Rising Star: An Oral Histofv of Women's Theater in the Women's Liberation Movetnent Interviewer: Sally Kiernan Interviewee: Leslie Jacobson Instructor: Mr. Haight OH KIK 2002 Kiernan, Sally Table of Contents 1: Statement of Purpose 1 IE Biography 2 ni: The Changing Role of Women in the 1970's 4 IV: Interview Transcription 12 V: Interview Analysis 49 VI: Appendix 1 54 VII: Appendix 2 55 VIII: Appendix 3 56 IX: Appendix 4 57 X: Appendix 5 58 XI: Appendix 6 59 XII: Appendix 7 60 XIII: Appendix 8 61 XIV: Appendix 9 62 XV: Appendix 10 63 XVI: Appendix 11 64 XVII: Appendix 12 65 XVII: Appendix 13 66 XVIII: Appendix 14 67 XIX: Appendix 15 68 XX: Appendix 16 69 XXI: Appendix 17 70 XXII: Works Cited 71 ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL INTERVIEWEE RELEASE FORM: Tapes and Transcripts J /^^•=^he 'Jixcch^^aj do hereby give to the Saint Andrew^s Episcopal name of inteniewee School all right, title or interest in the tape-recorded interviews conducted by CXMl\i tC'^^Yfinri on 12/2 1/QI. Iunderstand that these nameofimen'iewer ' dd'te(s) interviews will be protected by cop>Tight and deposited in Saint Andrew's Library' and Archives for the use of future sludents, educators and scholars. I also understand that the tapes and transcripts may be used in public presentations including, but not limited to, audio or video documentaries, slide-tape presentations, exhibits, articles or the world wide web at the projects web site www.doingoralhistor>'.org. Tliis gift does not preclude any use that I myself want to make ofthe information in these transcripts or recordings. The interviewee acknowledges that he/she will receive no remuneration or compensation for either his/her participation in the interview or for the riglits assigned hereunder. CHECK ONE: Tapes and transcripts may be used \\'ithout restriction Tapes and transcripts are subject lo the attached restrictions (Typed) INTmVIEWEE: INTERVIEWER: 1/ Signature of Irf^fviewee STgnaUueH ^ L(I '-> Ii e^ cj(^c<^<^ to l>o >n Typed Name Typed Name Address Address ' 7 Date Date 8801 Postoak Road • Polonnic, Maryland 20854 • (301) !)83-5200 • Fax: (301) 983-4710 • htlp:/Avww.saes.orj Kiernan 1 Statement of Purpose The purpose of interviewing Leslie Jacobson about her involvement in the womeivs liberation movement as the creator, producer, and director of a women's theater was to gain a different perspective ofthe women's movement ofthe 1960's and 70's and the role that different forms ofthe media, such as plays and television, played in it. Orally interviewing a person about a particular event instead of just researching that event provides an entirely different kind of information and understanding of that time in history. This oral intei'view is an important historical tool because it provided not only information about the events ofthe women's rights movement, but it also incorporated the emotional and peisonal experiences that would not have otherwise been heard. Kiernan 2 Biography Leslie Jacobson grew up in Great Neck, NY, a suburb of New York City. She lived with her father, mother, and older brother. Her father was a successful lawyer and her mother a homemaker whose talent as a pianist drew her daughter toward the arts at an early age. As a child, her family often drove into nearby New York City to see shows, another thing that Mrs. Jacobson feels contributed to her interest in the arts. Leslie Jacobson attended public elementaty school and public high school. After graduation she went on to attend Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. At Northwestern, Mrs. Jacobson studied drama, but was also enrolled in a number of liberal arts courses. Wlien, as a senior, she directed a Gilbert and Sullivan show, she became the first woman ever to direct a play at Northwestern. After graduating from Northwestern, she attended Boston University for graduate school. At Boston University, Mrs. Jacobson studied directing and directed many plays. As a student at Boston University, she met her husband and was married. After completing her graduate studies, she and her husband moved to Washington, D.C. in January of 1973. As a newcomer on the D.C. theatre scene, Mrs. Jacobson, as a woman, had to create opportunities for herself because there had not been many women directors in the area before her. She paved many roads for both herself and other women directors after her by becoming the first woman hired at the Harlequin Dinner Theatre and the first woman ever asked to direct the Hexagon Show, a local, semi-professional show done for cliarit)'. Mrs. Jacobson became a part ofthe Washington Ai'ea Feminist Theatre, which she worked with until its end in 1976. In 1977, she began working at George Washington University in D.C, where, in 1995, she was promoted to the position of Chair ofthe Theatre and Dance Department. Also in Kiernan 3 1977, she helped to create the ProFemina Theatre, which was changed to the Horizons Theatre after a bad public response to the first name. Throughout her career, Mrs. Jacobson has produced, written, and directed many plays and musicals that have won her a great deal of critical acclaim. In 1988, she won the Helen Hayes Award for "A.. .My Name Is Alice," and she has been nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Best Direction three times. She has also received recognition from the Dramatists Guild for producing plays at Horizons Theatre. Mrs. Jacobson has also been a part of numerous other important theatrical events in the D.C. area. She currently lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband and children and works in the D.C. area. Leslie Jacobson has had a vety successftil and recognized career and will continue to be an asset to the theatre community for many years. Kiernan 4 The Changing Role of Women in the 1970's Burning bras, haiiy legs, protests, pins', posters^, and Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman." These images instantly come to mind with the utterance ofone word, feminism. The I970's were a time of extreme change in the role that women played in society. Historians have coimnented that "In many respects, the 1970's.. .provided an ideal barometer for measuring the impact on women's status ofthe changes that had occurred during the postwar era" (Chafe 214). The Women's Liberation Movement, as the campaign for women's rights came to be called, started in the late sixties. Acknowledgement that changes needed to be made in the social structure of society came with the publishing of Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mvstique in 1963. Friedan's book rekindled feminism, which had been stifled during the 1950's. Unhappiness with life in the fifties led to the desire for change and the eagerness to fight for k. From that point on, feminism became a greatly debated topic that many people felt very strongly about. Wlkle, it would be natural to assume that all women would support feminism because they would be the ones to benefit from the movement, many opposed it. Femimsts were marginalized and called demeaning and insulting names such as "bra-less bubbleheads" (Douglas 163). Many historians have noted that "feminist" became a dirty word m society because ofthe biased news coverage ofthe movement. As a result, many women were afraid of facing such great opposition (Douglas 165). Wliile some women were afraid ofthe consequences of joining the feminist movement, others simply did not agree with the ideology of feminists. The most controversial subjects were ' Sec appendix 1 through 4. " See appendix 5 ihrough 16. Kiernan 5 childcare, abortion, greater sharing of household opportunities, and ratification ofthe Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution (ERA) (Chafe 211). Because there was such a severe divide between feminists and anti-feminists, "support for the ERA became the equivalent of making war against all the traditional values that had made America a great nation" (Chafe 217). Those opposing feminism tried to put an end to the women's liberation movement by making it out to be both un-American and anti-American, when the real puipose ofthe movement was to create an equal foofing for every American citizen. The women's liberation movement brought women of all kinds together. Women with nothing else in common despite the fact that they were women, were bound together by the movement that, whether they supported it or not, would benefit them ali. Historian Susan Douglas wrote that, "There is much that women my age don't have in common. Yet we do have a shared history of listening to the Chiffons, watching Bewitched, wearing miniskirts, idolizing Diana Ross, singing "1 Am Woman," watching Charlie's Angels, being converted by Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, and Betty Friedan, hooting over Dallas and Dynasty (but not missing a single week), and, as a result, becoming women with a profound love-hate relationship with the mass media, and with cultural values the mass media convey" (Douglas 18). As expressed by Douglas, the media played a pivotal role in the women's movement. While news coverage ofthe rallies and protests ofthe movement helped spread its effects and gain support for it in areas that it had not yet reached, negative press also had a big impact on the support that it received. News programs often shed a negative light on the Kiernan 6 women's liberation movement, by interjecting negative comments into news reports as ABC anchor Howard K. Smith did when he said on air that, "Three things have been difficult to tame. The oceans, fools, and women. We may soon be able to tame the ocean, but fools and women will take a little longer" (Douglas 163).