Women's History Month 2025

In 1987, Women’s History Month was formally recognized by presidential proclamation as a monthlong celebration to honor women’s contributions, accomplishments, and voices throughout U.S. history. The following books spotlight extraordinary women from the distant and not-so-distant past—women both imagined and real, both famous and little-known, coming from diverse cultures, countries, and continents.
 
From Library Journal.
 
 
The Barbizon : the hotel that set women free
by Paulina Bren

The award-winning author of The Greengrocer and His TV presents a history of New York's famous residential hotel and its celebrity clients, from Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford to Grace Kelly and Liza Minelli. 
Women in white coats : how the first women doctors changed the world of medicine
by Olivia Campbell

Documents the true stories of three pioneering women who defied Victorian-era boundaries to become the first women doctors, discussing how they banded together to support each other and advocate for women’s health in a male-dominated field. 
Come fly the world : the jet-age story of the women of Pan Am
by Julia Cooke

Documents the high standards once required of Pan Am stewardesses, from second-language fluency and a college education to youth and a trim figure, sharing the stories of remarkable, high-achieving women who served during the jet age. 
Policing pregnant bodies : from ancient Greece to post-Roe America
by Kathleen M. Crowther

In Policing Pregnant Bodies: From Ancient Greece to Post-Roe America, historian Kathleen M. Crowther discusses the deeply rooted medical and philosophical ideas that continue to reverberate in the politics of women's health and reproductive autonomy. From the idea that a detectable heartbeat is a sign of moral personhood to why infant and maternal mortality rates in the United States have risen as abortion restrictions have gained strength, this is a historically informed discussion of the politics of women's reproductive rights.
Suffrage : women's long battle for the vote
by Ellen Carol DuBois

Published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, a high-energy chronicle of the movement for women’s voting rights shares bold portraits of its devoted leaders and activists. By the author of Feminism and Suffrage.
Dear Miss Perkins : a story of Frances Perkins's efforts to aid refugees from Nazi Germany
by Rebecca Brenner Graham

She was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet, the longest-serving Labor Secretary, and an architect of the New Deal. Yet beyond these celebrated accomplishments there is another dimension to Frances Perkins's story. Without fanfare, and despite powerful opposition, Perkins helped save the lives of countless Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany.
Brave hearted : the women of the American west 1836-1880
by Katie Hickman

Drawing on letters, diaries and contemporary accounts, this history of women's experiences in the Wild West focuses tells the stories of both the women who were brutally exploited as well as those fought incredible odds to forge home and identities.
She said : breaking the sexual harassment story that helped ignite a movement
by Jodi Kantor

The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters who broke the story of Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuses discuss the suspenseful untold story of their investigation, the way it changed their careers and whether or not the #MeToo movement changed things for the better.
All that she carried : the journey of Ashley's sack, a black family keepsake
by Tiya Miles

The story of how three generations of Black women have passed down a family treasure—a sack filled with a few precious items given from an enslaved woman to her daughter in 1850s South Carolina.
Looking for Lorraine : the radiant and radical life of Lorraine Hansberry
by Imani Perry

A revealing portrait of one of the most gifted and charismatic, yet least understood, Black intellectuals of the 20th century traces the extraordinary life of Lorraine Hansberry, a force of nature who died at age 34 and is known primarily for her work,“A Raisin in the Sun”.
Brave the wild river : the untold story of two women who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon
by Melissa L. Sevigny

The story of two pioneering female botanists and their historic 1938 boat trip down the Colorado River which led them to be the first to survey and catalog the plant life of the Grand Canyon. 
The risk it takes to bloom : on life and liberation
by Raquel Willis

A passionate, powerful memoir by a trailblazing Black transgender activist, tracing her life of transformation and her work towards collective liberation. Born in Augusta, Georgia, to Black Catholic parents, Raquel spent years feeling isolated, even within a loving, close-knit family. There was little access to understanding what it meant to be queer and transgender. It wasn't until she went to the University of Georgia that she found the LGBTQ+ community, fell in love, and explored her gender for the first time. But the unexpected death of her father forced her to examine her relationship with herself and those she loved. 
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett

Separated by their embrace of different racial identities, two mixed-race identical twins reevaluate their choices as one raises a black daughter in their southern hometown while the other passes for white with a husband who is unaware of her heritage.
The women's march : a novel of the 1913 woman suffrage procession
by Jennifer Chiaverini

Inspired by actual events, this novel offers a fascinating account of a crucial but little-remembered moment in American history that follows three courageous women who bravely risked their lives and liberty in the fight to win the vote. 
What happened to Ruthy Ramirez
by Claire Jimenez

When she spots her missing sister, Ruthy, who disappeared when she was 13, on her TV screen in Catfight, a raunchy reality show, Jessica, along with her younger sister, mother, and her mother's holy roller best friend, set out on a family road trip to find the truth. 
A council of dolls : a novel
by Susan Power

Details the story of three women from different generations, told through the stories of the dolls they carried in 1888, 1925 and 1961 bringing to light the damage done to indigenous people through history.
Let Us Descend : A Novel
by Jesmyn Ward

In the years before the Civil War, Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, struggles through the miles-long march, seeks comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother, opening herself to a world beyond this world.