Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
6-2025
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Program
History
Advisor
Dagmar Herzog
Committee Members
Anne Valk
Joan Scott
Philip Napoli
Subject Categories
History
Keywords
Holocaust consciousness, American Jewish history, oral history, feminism, gender, sexuality
Abstract
This dissertation examines the political and intellectual dimensions of feminist approaches to Holocaust studies and memorialization projects as they developed between the 1970s and the 2000s, with a particular focus on the work and contributions of Joan Ringelheim. Given Ringelheim’s extensive career as a professor, researcher, and staff expert at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Ringelheim’s various endeavors illuminate robust networks of scholars, survivors, feminist activists, and museum professionals who collaboratively pursued feminist inquiry. The project addresses the numerous controversies that surrounded feminist approaches, which many viewed as highly subversive. By recovering the controversies within which Ringelheim’s research unfolded, we are forced to reconsider both what was at stake in the rise of Holocaust consciousness in the United States and feminist scholars and activists’ roles in advancing an alternate form of that consciousness. Through an analysis of pro-, non-, and anti-feminist arguments and their evolution over time, “The Flesh of the Facts” provides insights into the changing terms of debate. To understand both the enthusiasm and hostility directed toward feminist inquiry, this dissertation historicizes Ringelheim’s efforts within contemporary contexts including American Jewish debates about the Jewish family, feminist debates about sexuality and women’s history, and greater public awareness about the Holocaust in the United States. As this dissertation demonstrates, the development of a feminist Holocaust consciousness led to numerous complicated questions about identity, including Jewish identity, women’s identity, and lesbian identity. As Ringelheim interrogated various historical categories of identity and worked to pluralize narratives of the Holocaust, her work called into question the ways group identification worked and how individuals drew lessons from the past for the present.
Recommended Citation
Snyder, Carli, ""The Flesh of the Facts": Toward a Feminist Holocaust Consciousness" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6335
