Battling Bella: The Protest Politics of Bella Abzug*
Channel: US National Archives
Date: 2019-12-12

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1970, Bella Abzug became a galvanizing force in the Democrats’ “New Politics” insurgency and advanced the feminist agenda in ways big and small. In Battling Bella, historian Leandra Ruth Zarnow discusses how Bella Abzug’s promotion of women’s rights, gay rights, universal childcare, social justice, and more provoked not only fierce opposition from Republicans but caused a split within her own party. A book signing follows the program.  

*Programs presented in conjunction with our exhibition: Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote. Rightfully Hers is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of Unilever, Pivotal Ventures, Carl M. Freeman Foundation in honor of Virginia Allen Freeman, AARP, AT&T, Ford Motor Company Fund, Facebook, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Fund at the Boston Foundation, Google, HISTORY ®, and Jacqueline B. Mars. Additional support for National Outreach and Programs provided by Denise Gwyn Ferguson, BMO Financial Group, Hearst Foundations, Maris S. Cuneo Foundation, FedEx, Bernstein Family Foundation, and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation/Ambassador Fay-Hartog Levin (Ret.).