The forgotten story of the first woman elected to the US Senate, and her historic career during the Depression and Second World War—includes photos.Hattie Caraway unexpectedly became a United States senator in 1931 by filling the seat of her late husband. But what her colleagues viewed as an honorary position was in fact the start of a distinguished career.Despite strong male opposition, Hattie won reelection—and loyally and effectively served her Arkansas co...

A fresh look at the legacy of Sandra Day O'Connor from hardscrabble childhood in the Arizona desert, to facing adversity as a female in politics, to her work as the first woman Justice on the US Supreme Court.By being the first woman on the Supreme Court, O'Connor set the stage for future gender equity in America's legal system, becoming one of the most significant people in US history. This accessible analysis of O'Connor's life, examines how her early beginnings ...

How did industrialization drive the development of consumer rights and protections in the USA? How have these laws defended consumers against business fraud, deceptive advertising, industrial pollution, and unsafe or unethical practices? Why have opinions about the value of consumer rights and the need for business regulation become so politically polarizing? Which activists, laws, events, and agencies have had the greatest impact on consumer rights? This all-in-one resour...

Written in vivid prose and with a keen eye for detail, Women's Equality in America is a valuable resource for understanding the issues and trends that dominate public discourse in discussions of women's rights and gender equality in America.Since its inception, the women's equality movement in America has been criticized for moving too slowly, moving too quickly, being too demanding, or not being demanding enough. Some of its goals have aroused passionate ...

State Oddities takes a different kind of look at the American nation, spotlighting the fun foibles, peculiarities, and twists in each of the 50 states that are (mostly) united under the Stars and Stripes.State Oddities is a fascinating trip through the 50 states for students studying America, teachers planning classroom activities, and general readers who will enjoy an eye-opening journey through the nation's fun side. It offers a compelling look ...

From Beatniks to Sputnik and from Princess Grace to Peyton Place, this book illuminates the female half of the US population as they entered a "brave new world" that revolutionized women's lives.After World War II, the United States was the strongest, most powerful nation in the world. Life was safe and secure -- but many women were unhappy with their lives. What was going on behind the closed doors of America's "picture-perfect" houses?This volume...

If you believe in ghosts, you're in good company. Haunted Histories brings America's most ghostly locales to life, illuminating their role in shaping U.S. history and detailing how they became the nation's most feared places.Haunted Histories takes readers on a state-by-state journey across the United States, exploring the nation's most feared places. Along the way, the text introduces readers to new ghostly tales and takes a fresh look at familia...

This book offers both a biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, only the second-ever woman appointed to the Supreme Court, and a historical analysis of her impact.Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life in American History explores Ginsburg's path to holding the highest position in the judicial branch of U.S. government as a Supreme Court justice for almost three decades. Readers will learn about the choices, challenges, and triumphs that this remarkable American has lived ...

Meet the First Ladies of the United States—sometimes inspiring, sometimes tragic, always fascinating—women who, though often unsung, helped hold the nation together in its infancy and advance it as a world power.More than simply serving as America's "hostesses," many of the nation's First Ladies played vital roles in shaping their husband's presidency and serving as political activists in their own right. From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, their inspiring st...

Placing the era firmly within the American experience, this reference illuminates what daily life was really like in the 1950s, including for people from the "Other America"—those outside the prosperous, white middle class.'Daily Life in 1950s America shows that the era was anything but uneventful. Apart from revolutionary changes during the decade itself, it was in the 1950s that the seeds took root for the social turmoil of the 1960s and the technologica...

This informative two-volume set provides readers with an understanding of the fads and crazes that have taken America by storm from colonial times to the present. Entries cover a range of topics, including food, entertainment, fashion, music, and language.Why could hula hoops and TV westerns only have been found in every household in the 1950s? What murdered Russian princess can be seen in one of the first documented selfies, taken in 1914? This book answers those ...

The complete rankings of our best -- and worst -- presidents, based on C-SPAN's much-cited Historians Surveys of Presidential Leadership.Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America's presidents across a variety of categories -- their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, their moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in o...