Book Review: “Mayor Helen Boosalis: My Mother’s Life in Politics” by Beth Boosalis Davis
“Mayor Helen Boosalis: My Mother's Life in Politics”
Author: Beth Boosalis Davis
Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press
Mayor Helen Boosalis, My Mother’s Life in Politics” is the story of a woman successful in politics at a time when societal prejudices made it difficult for a woman to be successful in a great many careers. First elected to the Lincoln City Council in 1959 (and reelected three times), Helen’s involvement in the political life of our state of Nebraska and the country stretched forward for nearly half a century. In 1975, she became the first woman to serve as mayor of Lincoln (and only the second woman nationally to serve as mayor of a city larger than 100,000). She served for eight eventful years. During that period, she impressed not only her local constituency but a national constituency. In 1980, she became the first woman ever elected president of the prestigious U.S. Conference of Mayors. The book details her activities in all of these roles.
Helen’s last political race came in 1986 when she ran for governor of Nebraska against Kay Orr. History was made when the primary vote was completed. For the first time in our national history, two women were the nominees of the major parties in the same year for the position of governor. Helen ultimately lost the race but was widely recognized both as a catalyst for, and a huge symbol of, change with respect to the career possibilities of women.
Helen’s daughter, Beth Boosalis Davis, the author of the book, recognized the enormous groundbreaking symbolism of the 1986 race by structuring the book around her final political race. Flash Forwards to the 1986 campaign on several occasions interrupt the general pattern of chronological progression.
Let’s return to 1959 and that first key breakthrough city council race. How was this remarkable woman able to break the mold and get elected in the first place? She did not have the advantages of many women today, such as the added credentials of a long, credible career or postgraduate education, and no family money existed for the effort. She had what women have had to rely on for 100 years—primarily, networks of supporters from volunteer efforts undertaken during her early life, especially her loyal League of Women Voters colleagues. And, perhaps most important as the book relates, she had the total support of her extended Greek family, including the enthusiasm of her remarkable husband, Mike.
In the end, however, the book rightfully suggests that Helen succeeded in the early adverse circumstances where most women had failed because of her extraordinary qualities of character. She was bright. She was optimistic. She liked people. She listened. She learned. She applied what she learned with incredible energy and drive. The book’s depiction of Helen as a wife, mother and good neighbor make an interesting contrast to perhaps her most defining characteristic. Make no mistake about it: Helen was tough. In an era when women in politics were often stereotyped as fighting only for schools, parks and social services, Helen demonstrated that a woman could be the tough-minded executive and make the hard choices. Her strong leadership broke the mold of the “female” candidate and set the stage for a generation of Nebraska’s women to follow. Clearly she was simply an exceptional person.
The book describes the culminating 1986 race for governor in some detail. The reader will find an interesting discussion of the issues debated and of Helen Boosalis’s decision with respect to negative campaigning. The book also documents the great national interest in the Nebraska contest and further describes the activities of the woman’s movement and of individual women in politics across the nation during Helen’s active years.
For readers interested in Nebraska’s local politics and how it may have changed between then and now, the book offers a wealth of information to contemplate. Clearly, Helen in her first race for mayor emphasized some new values and associated herself with new organizing entities. With respect to values, she emphasized strong leadership and servant leadership tied to the aspirations of all the citizens and not just the business sector. Her issues from 1975 forward included neighborhood development, comprehensive planning of development, downtown revitalization and a city hall responsive to all citizens. She was also committed to using local government to financially support human-service needs such as affordable housing, support for seniors and health initiatives. In addition she supported local government action to protect or enhance the rights of various groups, including women generally, gays and lesbians, and other minorities. Several of the issues supported by Helen remain controversial to this day with respect to the extent to which city government should be involved.
With respect to political alliances, by 1979 Helen found herself closely allied with and supporting the neighborhood associations that were for the first time in modern history engaging heavily in successful political activity. The rise of aggressive neighborhood associations, especially in the older neighborhoods, changed the political landscape in Lincoln permanently, and eventually, after Helen’s time, gave rise to a conservative, independent small business organization (LIBA) closely aligned with development interests and organized as a counterweight to neighborhood association influence. A big part of Lincoln’s politics to this day is the continuing effort to reconcile the interests of these two organized forces and the interests that ally around them on particular issues. The book describes well the early successes of the neighborhood associations and the strong reaction of the more traditional forces.
An adoring daughter’s perspective is not usually a good starting point for an objective biography. The fog of love limits the breadth of analysis. But this book is well worth reading for its insights into the national and local political scene in the second half of the 20th century, for its insights into local political interactions, and for its descriptions of the interaction between political activity and family.
Have you read this book? Get your copy today.
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