Jessie Bernard

Jessie Bernard (born June 8, 1903, Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.—died Oct. 6, 1996, Washington, D.C.) was an American sociologist who provided insights into women, sex, marriage, and the interaction of the family and community.

Bernard attended the University of Minnesota (B.A., 1923; M.A., 1924) and married the sociologist Luther Lee Bernard in 1925. After obtaining her Ph.D. at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., in 1935, she worked as a social science analyst for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in the late 1930s. She began her teaching career at Lindenwood College for Women, St. Charles, Mo. (1940–47), and was professor of sociology at Pennsylvania State University (1947–64).

Bernard’s writings include American Family Behavior (1942; reprinted 1973), a seminal work that laid the groundwork for her later studies; American Community Behavior (1949; reprinted 1962); and Academic Women (1964; reprinted 1974). Marriage and Family Among Negroes (1966) is a work that examines the effects of racism on black culture. Her later works, which reflect her more pronounced feminism, include The Sex Game (1968; reprinted 1972), Women and the Public Interest (1971), The Future of Marriage (1972; reprinted 1973), The Future of Motherhood (1974), and The Female World (1981).