“Lively and delightful…zooms in on the faces in the crowd to help us understand both the depth and the diversity of the women’s suffrage movement. Some women went to jail. Others climbed mountains. Visual artists, dancers, and journalists all played a part…Far from perfect, they used their own abilities, defects, and opportunities to build a movement that still resonates today.”—Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, author of Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History“An intimate acc...

In 1607, Powhatan teenager Pocahontas first encountered English settlers when John Smith was brought to her village as a captive. In 1920, the ratification of the 19th Amendment gave women the constitutional right to vote. And in 2012, the U.S. Marine Corps lifted its ban on women in active combat, allowing female marines to join the sisterhood of American women who stand at the center of this country's history. Between each of these signal points runs the multi-layered experience of Ameri...

Feminist biography burst on the scene in the 1970s dedicated to discovering and reclaiming female characters whose lives had been ignored or overlooked. Recovering women's lives wasn't enough. Feminist biographers pioneered an interpretive and narrative strategy that focused on gender as a primary influence on women's lives alongside a commitment to exploring those lives through the powerful lens of modern feminism. Until there are no significant differences between men's and women's exper...

One of the most beloved radio show hosts of the 1940s and 1950s, Mary Margaret McBride (1899—1976) regularly attracted between six and eight million listeners to her daily one o'clock broadcast. During her twenty years on the air she interviewed tens of thousands of people, from President Harry Truman and Frank Lloyd Wright to Rachel Carson and Zora Neale Hurston. This is her story.Five decades after their broadcast, her shows remain remarkably fresh and interesting. And yet McBride...

When Billie Jean King trounced Bobby Riggs in tennis’s “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973, she placed sports squarely at the center of a national debate about gender equity. In this winning combination of biography and history, Susan Ware argues that King’s challenge to sexism, the supportive climate of second-wave feminism, and the legislative clout of Title IX sparked a women’s sports revolution in the 1970s that fundamentally reshaped American society.While King did not single-handed...

The pages of the past are full of characters who remind us that history depends upon the great deeds of men and women, whether famous or humble. Where would America be without George Washington, or Daniel Boone, or Sojourner Truth, or Babe Ruth? Where would we be without so many characters who are less well remembered today?Historians and biographers regularly come across stories of little-known or forgotten heroes, and this book provides a chance to rescue some of the best of them....

In 'Two Diaries From Middle St. John'Äôs, Berkeley, South Carolina, February-May, 1865,' readers are ushered into the turbulent closing months of the American Civil War through the deeply personal and revealing entries of voices seldom heard. This profound anthology captures a critical moment in history, offering insights into the struggles, hopes, and daily life of Southern residents at a time of national upheaval. The diaries included present a tapestry of experiences, showcasing a range...

Looking beyond the national leadership of the suffrage movement, an acclaimed historian gives voice to the thousands of women from different backgrounds, races, and religions whose local passion and protest resounded throughout the land.For far too long, the history of how American women won the right to vote has been told as the tale of a few iconic leaders, all white and native-born. But Susan Ware uncovered a much broader and more diverse story waiting to be told. Why They M...

For Forgotten Heroes, thirty-five prominent historians chose their favorite stories of unsung American figures. From Johnny Appleseed and John Quincy Adams to abolitionist Sojourner Truth and Margaret Anderson, the publisher of James Joyce's Ulysses, these profiles remind us that history depends upon the great deeds of women and men, whether famous or humble. Designed for delight, instruction, and inspiration, this collection includes nearly as many women as men, and near...

In their own voices, the full story of the women and men who struggled to make American democracy wholeWith a record number of female candidates in the 2020 election and women's rights an increasingly urgent topic in the news, it's crucial that we understand the history that got us where we are now. For the first time, here is the full, definitive story of the movement for voting rights for American women, of every race, told through the voices of the women and men...

Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times, volume 2, highlights the significant historical contributions of some of Louisiana’s most noteworthy and also overlooked women from the eighteenth century to the present. This volume underscores the cultural, social, and political distinctiveness of the state as well as showcases the actions and activities of women who greatly affected the history of Louisiana in profound and interesting ways.These essays on women at the forefront of...

Experts agree on the value of genetic testing when there is a family history of disease, or if the patient has an illness frequently caused by a mutation. Knowing the disease mutation lets family members find out if they have it too and need preventive care. The book explains that doctors can order tests with genetic counseling at relatively low cost and how this will help them prescribe preventive actions, make earlier diagnoses, and get better outcomes. The book's genetic discussions als...