Mary Gardiner Jones not only tore down walls that kept women out of positions of power and influence—she smashed them to smithereens. And in so doing, she created opportunities for future generations who never knew how high and thick the walls once were. Hers is an exemplary life, offering men as well as women a lesson in what one person's indomitable spirit can accomplish. Read this and be inspired.
- Robert B. Reich, Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley; former U.S. Secretary of Labor; author of Supercapitalism,
In this frank and very readable memoir, Mary Gardiner Jones describes growing up in the 1920s and 1930s in a privileged, "old" New York (and Long Island) family...<i>Tearing Down Walls: One Woman's Triumph</i> is an interesting and revealing autobiography with themes that intersect with issues in wider society.
- Natalie A. Naylor, Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University,
Often overlooked is her role in introducing the consumer into administrative law thinking and proceedings. She argued and encouraged both academics studying consumer behavior in the legal environment as well as regulators and attorneys. She brought her considerable persusasive powers to bear to help facilitate this major change in regulatory thinking...Her insights into the inner workings of organizations (especially the Federal Trade Commission) is a strength of this book. Her description of the various players and their impact on her life is one of the major highlights of the second half of this book.
- David M. Gardner, Professor of Business, Emeritus, University of Illinois?Urbana/Champaign,
This is an amazing life story of a woman born into American privilege whose family lands become both LaGuardia Airport and New York's Jones Beach. She could have been just another prejudiced upper class celebrity, but Mary Gardiner Jones was anything but. From her war experiences in the OSS to her struggles in the late 1940s to find work as a woman lawyer with a degree from Yale, to her experiences in public service as she climbed the rungs to become the first woman Federal Trade Commissioner and then into the corporate world, this is a life worth knowing about and examining.
- Susan M. Reverby, McLean Professor in the History of Ideas and Professor of Women's Studies, Wellesley College,
<i>Tearing Down Walls</i> is a compelling work.
- The Honorable Louis H. Pollack,
Mary Gardiner Jones has a major impact on the focus and accomplishments of the Federal Trade Commission in the 1960s and early 1970s...Her memoir vividly—and candidly—recounts those times and her subsequent struggles and triumphs in the corporate world, the consumer movement and the complex mental health environment...a richly human story and a historically valuable recounting of a bright woman's 60-year career fighting for issues she deeply cared about...
- Alan R. Andreasen, professor of marketing,
Part 1 Acknowledgements
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3 My "Mayflower" Family
Chapter 4 Aunt Rosalie, The Maverick
Chapter 5 Growing Up a Jones
Chapter 6 Away from Home at Last
Chapter 7 Teaching School, Joining the OSS
Chapter 8 Changing Directions
Chapter 9 Entering a Man's World
Chapter 10 Public Service Beckons
Chapter 11 Finding Myself through Analysis
Chapter 12 Re-entering the Private Sector and President Lyndon Johnson Calls
Chapter 13 Commissioner Honey, The Federal Trade Commission
Chapter 14 The Washington Life, Politics and the Commission
Chapter 15 Goodbye FTC, Hello Classroom
Chapter 16 Coming Home to Washington and Exploring the Corporate World
Chapter 17 Corporate Boards, A Woman's Advantage
Chapter 18 Consumers' Champion
Chapter 19 Retirement: A Demanding Challenge
Chapter 20 A Backward Glance
Chapter 21 Further Reading