Mary Dublin Keyserling (1911–1997) was a liberal economist and federal employee noted for her sometimes contrarian views on issues faced by working women. Her time as an economist is largely linked to her time as a federal employee by her career and positions in the United States government. During her career as head of the United States Women's Bureau, Keyserling and her husband Leon Keyserling faced loyalty allegations during the Red Scare that impacted their governmental careers.
Early years
Mary Dublin Keyserling was born in New York City, New York on May 25, 1911, to a Jewish family. Both of her parents, Augusta Salik, her mother, and Louis I. Dublin, her father, were immigrants to the United States. Mary Dublin Keyserling was influenced by various social reforms that took place in the United States since young age due to her parents' positive interactions and open minds with many of these social reforms, such as women gaining more rights, that took place during the United States Progressive Era.
Career
Economist
Mary Dublin Keyserling was a Keynesian economist. She first went to school at Barnard College to study economics and graduated in 1930 as president of her senior class. She then pursued graduate studies at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, the London School of Economics, and ultimately at Columbia University to gain a doctoral degree that she did not finish. While in college, Mary Dublin Keyserling was taught by economist Wesley Clair Mitchell. During a fellowship while still at Barnard, Keyserling, studied with Economist John Maynard Keynes. It was at Columbia University did she meet and marry Leon Keyserling, then an economics instructor, in 1940. She worked for the United States government as an economist under the presidential administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon D. Johnson.
Government employee
Keyserling began to work for the United States' Government in 1930 after graduating from college. Her first government job was as a researcher in the Committee on the Costs of Medical Care. Within a year Keyserling worked in the State Charities Aid Association of New York City as an administrator. Between 1940 and 1953 Keyserling served on various positions in the American Government.
1940–1941, Consumers Division
1941–1942 in the House Committee on National Defense Migration
1942–1943, Chief of the Office of Civilian Defense's Research and Statistics Division 1943–1945, director of the Foreign Economic Administration's Liberated Areas Division 1946–1953, director of the Department of Commerce's International Economic Analysis Division, Office of International Trade. 1964–1968, head of the Women's Bureau.
In 1953, following her loyalty trial, Keyserling retired from her governmental position in the Commerce Department. She later returned to working for the government at a later date, as shown in her accepting the position of head of the Women's Bureau in 1964. Keyserling was the head of the Women's Bureau from 1964 to 1968. However, she was an associate director on the Council on Economic Progress before selected by President Johnson to be the head of the Women's Bureau in 1964. While in office she used the emphasis on improving the purchasing power of workers from the War on Poverty to justify legislation concerning a minimum wage and maximum hours for workers.