552 pages
54 photographs, 1 illustration, 2 appendixes
As a 1950s housewife and League of Women Voters volunteer who spearheaded the city of Lincoln’s switch to a “strong mayor” form of government, Helen Boosalis (1919–2009) never anticipated that she herself would one day be that strong mayor and chief executive of Nebraska’s capital city.
Helen Boosalis’s story, told by her daughter, Beth Boosalis Davis, is that of a true pioneer of women in politics. The daughter of Greek immigrants, Boosalis achieved national prominence as the first woman president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and as an outspoken advocate for economically distressed cities facing President Reagan’s “new federalism.” Winning the Democratic nomination for governor of Nebraska in 1986, Helen Boosalis ran against Kay Orr in the first gubernatorial contest between two women in U.S. history. The interwoven tales of conflict and challenge, from the mayor’s office to the campaign trail, combine personal insight into one woman’s trailblazing political history with a compelling memoir of a half century of public service and private devotion shared by two remarkable women, mother and daughter.
List of Illustrations 000
Note on Sources and Structure 000
Acknowledgments 000
Introduction 000
Flash Forward: Calling Me Home 000
1. Call to Action 000
Flash Forward: Down to Two 000
2. Madame Mayor 000
Flash Forward: May the Best Woman . . . 000
3. This Is Not Your Father's City Hall 000
Flash Forward: Money Talks 000
4. Roll Up Her Sleeves 000
Flash Backward: Roots--All Greek to Me 000
5. Expect the Unexpected 000
Flash Forward: Getting to Know You 000
6. Everything Old Is New Again 000
Flash Forward: One False Move and . . . 000
7. Mayors' Mayor 000
Flash Forward: Issues, Debates, Polls, and Other Irrelevancies 000
8. Another Time Around 000
Flash Forward: Trails End 000
9. Life (After) Is Politics 000
Afterword 000
Photo Acknowledgments 000
Appendix: Lincoln City Councils, 1975<EN>1983 000
Notes 000
Interviews 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000
