LibraryAware

Women's Suffrage

August 18, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th
Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote after 72 years of lobbying, marching, picketing and protesting by leaders know as suffragists or suffragettes. Here is a staff-recommended list of books honoring this fight and the one that continued afterward to secure the same rights for women of color.

Votes for women! : American suffragists and the battle for the ballot
by Winifred Conkling

The story of the 19th Amendment and the nearly 80-year fight for voting rights for women discusses the politics and private challenges that inspired the achievements of such activists as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth. By the author of Passenger on the Pearl.

Why they marched : untold stories of the women who fought for the right to vote
by Susan Ware

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.

Mr. President, how long must we wait? : Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the fight for the right to vote
by Tina Cassidy

The author of Jackie After O examines the complex relationship between suffragist leader Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson, revealing the life-risking measures that Paul and her supporters endured to gain voting rights for American women.

Free thinker : sex, suffrage, and the extraordinary life of Helen Hamilton Gardener
by Kimberly A Hamlin

Describes the life of the author, suffragist and civil servant who pretended to be married to her lover, openly opposed sexist piety, debunked “science” that claimed women’s brains were inferior and worked tirelessly for the Nineteenth Amendment. Illustrations.

Vanguard : how black women broke barriers, won the vote, and insisted on equality for all
by Martha S. Jones

Examines the struggle of African American women to achieve equality and political power by examining the lives and work of black women, including Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Fannie Lou Hamer.

The woman's hour : the great fight to win the vote
by Elaine F. Weiss

An uplifting account of the 1920 ratification of the constitutional amendment that granted voting rights to women traces the culmination of seven decades of legal battles and cites the pivotal contributions of famous suffragists and political leaders.

American Women's Suffrage : Voices from the Long Struggle for the Vote 1776-1965
by Susan Ware

In their own voices, the full story of the women and men who struggled to make American democracy whole

With 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 who lived it.

A century of votes for women : American elections since suffrage
by Christina Wolbrecht

Christina Wolbrecht and J.Kevin Corder offer an unprecedented account of women voters in American politics over the last ten decades. Bringing together new and existing data, the book provides unique insight into women's (and men's) voting behavior, and traces how women's turnoutand vote choice evolved across a century of enormous transformation overall and for women in particular. Wolbrecht and Corder show that there is no such thing as 'the woman voter'; instead they reveal considerable variation in how different groups of women voted in response to changing political, social, and economic realities. The book also demonstrates how assumptions about women as voters influenced politicians, the press, and scholars.

The woman who dared to vote : the trial of Susan B. Anthony
by N. E. H. Hull

Primarily represented within document collections and broader accounts of the fight for woman suffrage, Anthony's controversial trial--as a landmark narrative in the annals of American law--remains a relatively neglected subject. N. E. H. Hull provides the first book-length engagement with the legal dimensions of that narrative and in the process illuminates the laws, politics, and personalities at the heart of the trial and its outcome.

Passionate for justice : Ida B. Wells as prophet for our time
by Catherine Meeks

Ida B. Wells was a powerful churchwoman and witness for justice and equity from 1878-1931. Born enslaved, her witness flowed through the struggles for justice in her lifetime, especially in the intersections of African-Americans, women, and those who were poor. Her life is a profound witness for faith-based work of visionary power, resistance, and resilience for today's world, when the forces of injustice stand in opposition to progress. These are exciting and dangerous times. Boundaries that previouslyseemed impenetrable are now being crossed. This book is a guide for the current state of affairs in American culture, enlivened by the historical perspective of Wells' search for justice.

She votes : how U.S. women won suffrage, and what happened next
by Bridget Quinn

This book tells the story of how women won the right to vote, and what happened next. Told by historian Bridget Quinn and illustrated throughout by 100 women artists.

No Place for a Woman : The Struggle for Woman's Suffrage in the Wild West
by Chris Enss

No Place for a Woman explores the history of the fight for women's rights in the West, examining the conditions that prevailed during the vast migration of pioneers looking for free land and opportunity on the frontier, the politics of the emerging Western territories at the end of the Civil War, and the changing social and economic conditions of the country recovering from war and on the brink of the Gilded Age.

Votes for women! : American suffragists and the battle for the ballot
by Winifred Conkling

The story of the 19th Amendment and the nearly 80-year fight for voting rights for women discusses the politics and private challenges that inspired the achievements of such activists as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth. By the author of Passenger on the Pearl.

A Woman's Crusade : Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot
by Mary Walton

Alice Paul began her life as a studious girl from a strict Quaker family in New Jersey. In 1907, a scholarship took her to England, where she developed a passionate devotion to the suffrage movement. Upon her return to the United States, Alice became the leader of the militant wing of the American suffrage movement. Calling themselves "Silent Sentinels," she and her followers were the first protesters to picket the White House. Arrested and jailed, they went on hunger strikes and were force-fed and brutalized. Years before Gandhi's campaign of nonviolent resistance, and decades before civil rights demonstrations, Alice Paul practiced peaceful civil disobedience in the pursuit of equal rights for women.

Stories from suffragette city : Stories of a Fine and Proper Nuisance
by M. J. Rose

Featuring contributions by such authors as Paula McLain and Jamie Ford, an anthology set during the Fifth Avenue women's suffrage march of October 1915 includes depictions of leading rights advocates, from Ava Vanderbilt to Ida B. Welles. Illustrations.

Not for ourselves alone : the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony : an illustrated history
by Geoffrey C. Ward

The companion volume to the fall 1999 PBS-television film focuses on the lives of two of the pioneers in the women's rights movement--Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton--examining their diverse backgrounds, beliefs, activism, and lasting influence on American history.

Sisters : the lives of America's suffragists
by Jean H. Baker

The author recalls the 120-year period between the 1840s and 1920 that saw remarkable victories for women's rights, focusing on Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frances Willard, and Alice Paul as the revolutionaries who made these changes possible.