Women Who Inspire

Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

Traces the unknown contributions of tens of thousands of women residents of the Manhattan Project's then-secret city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, whose uranium-enriching jobs in support of the Project were shrouded in secrecy and whose legacy is still being felt today. (Publisher Summary)

Long Island and the Woman Suffrage Movement by Antonia Petrash

For Seventy-Two years, American women fought for the right to vote, and many remarkable ladies on Long Island including Alva Vanderbilt, Ida Bunce Sammis, and Harriot Stanton Blatch worked tirelessly during this important civil rights movement. (Publisher Summary)

Harlem Nocturne by Farah Jasmine Griffin

The stories of three black female artists: Pearl Primus, Mary Lou Williams, and Ann Petry. Like many African Americans in the city at the time, these women weren’t native New Yorkers, but the metropolis and its vibrant cultural scene gave them the space to flourish and the freedom to express their political concerns. (Publisher Summary)

On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin

Veteran Sunday Times war correspondent, Marie Colvin was killed in February 2012 when covering the uprising in Syria. Winner of the Orwell Special Prize ‘On the Front Line’ is a collection of her finest work, covering nearly twenty years of war. (Publisher Summary)

Vogue Factor by Kirstie Clements

The former head of Vogue Australia discusses her twenty-five year career, from her start at the magazine as a receptionist to her rise to become its editor-in-chief, and describes her experiences along the way with fashion designers, celebrities, and famous models. (Publisher Summary)

Whiskey Women by Fred Minnick

From Mesopotamia’s first beer brewers and distillers to America’s rough-and-tough bootleggers during Prohibition. Women have long distilled, marketed, and owned significant shares in spirits companies, including Bushmills, Johnnie Walker, and Maker’s Mark. (Publisher Summary)

Biographies about Women

Continuing our theme for women's history month, here are a few biographies of strong independent women throughout history. You'll find some of these on our display near the New Book shelves and the information desk on the first floor.

Abigail Adams by Woody Holton: In a narrative based on previously un-mined documents, an award-winning historian reveals that the perennially popular "Founding Mother" was: perfectly willing to disagree with her husband (and even countermand his orders), shrewd when investing the family fortune, and eager to correspond about men's subjugation of women.

Amelia: the Centennial Biography of an Aviation Pioneer by Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon: A balanced biography of this American icon, covering her early life and career, her marriage, her solo crossing of the Atlantic and other firsts, and her preparations for a round-the-world flight, and her disappearance. Discusses communication problems on that flight, attempts at rescue, and the flood of theories about her disappearance. Includes b&w photos, some never before published.

Margaret Thatcher: the Authorized Biography, from Grantham to the Falklands by Charles Moore: With unequaled authority and dramatic detail, the first volume of Charles Moore's authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher reveals as never before the early life, rise to power, and first years as prime minister of the woman who transformed Britain and the world in the late twentieth century.

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month. This year’s theme, according to the National Women's History Project, is Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment which honors the extraordinary and often unrecognized determination and tenacity of women. To learn more visit the National Women's History Project at www.nwhp.org.

Here are a few titles available at the Community Library that can help you learn more about the women's rights movement and women in American history:

Her Story: A Timeline of Women Who Changed America by Charlotte S. Waisman & Jill Tietjen. Did you know that a female microbiologist discovered the bacterium responsible for undulant fever, which then led to the pasteurization of milk? Or that a female mathematician's work laid the foundation for abstract algebra? Her Story is an illustrated timeline highlighting these varied and often unrecognized contributions of American women. 

The Rise of the New Woman: The Women's Movement in America, 1875-1930 by Jean V. Matthews chronicles the changing fortunes and transformations of the organized suffrage movement, from its dismal period of declining numbers and campaign failures to its final victory in the Nineteenth Amendment that brought women the vote. In an engaging narrative, she recaptures the personalities and ideas that characterized the movement in these years, drawing deft portraits and analyzing the intellectual currents - in politics, the economy, sexuality, and social thoughts - that competed for women's commitment. 

Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States by Eleanor Flexner & Ellen Fitzpatrick details the struggle for women's voting rights, one of the great social movements in American history.

The Boundaries of Her Body: The Troubling History of Women's Rights in America by Debran Rowland examines the legal status and rights of women in the United States throughout history covering the period from the 1600's to the early 1900s in the first section, then examining developments in the 20th century in a long second section. Final sections look at the politics of female adolescence and violence and women, mainly as contemporary issues but with some historical considerations.

Celebrating Women's History Month 2012

1 in every 2 people on this planet are women!  Celebrate Women's History Month by checking out a few items exploring the role of females and femininity across cultures.  The documentary A Powerful Noise takes you inside the lives of three women's rights' crusaders from around the globe.  In Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, the author tells the true story of her time in the harem of the Sultan of Brunei. Elizabeth the Queen and Cleopatra: A Life are both biographies of fellow powerful female rulers.  Meanwhile, Ladies of Liberty is a tribute to the women who shaped our own United States.  Check out these items, as well as others, from the display next to the copy machines on the main floor, on exhibit through the end of March 2012.