Herland Sister Resources

Along with hail storms and the beginning of tornado season, March brings us International Women’s Day on March 8, and National Women’s History Month, all month long. On the chance that you might be looking for some inspiring rainy day activities, I’ve compiled a brief list of books on women’s history that are available through the Oklahoma County Metropolitan Library System.

This month, I’ve decided to focus on the history of the U.S. woman’s rights movement in the nineteenth century. We sometimes think of this as the women’s suffrage movement, but winning the vote was merely one goal. Women’s rights activists began by establishing the right of women to speak in public. In theory, women always had this right, but religious dogma and popular prejudice meant that it did not exist in practice. Other issues included the right of married women to own property (including their own wages) and the right to divorce (controversial even among activists). The women’s movement had close ties to the abolition and temperance movements (abuse by drunken husbands was a matter of obvious concern). Please keep in mind that we are dealing with history rather than mere nostalgia. Some of what you read will make you want to cheer, and sometimes you will want to scream out of sheer frustration.

Gabriel, Mary. Notorious Victoria: The Life of Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored.

Griffin, Elisabeth. In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Humez, Jean M. Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories. Husted, Ida Harper. Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony.

Kerr, Andrea Moore. Lucy Stone: Speaking Out for Equality.

Larson, Kate Clifford. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero.

Mankiller, Wilma, Gwendolyn Mink, Marysa Navarro, Barbara Smith, and Gloria Steinem, eds. The Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s History.

McMurry, Linda O. To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells.

Painter, Nell Irwin. Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences, 1815-1897.

Ward, Geoffrey C. Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: An Illustrated History.

The Herland Library (open most Saturdays from 1-5) is also a good source of books on women’s history. For more information on International Women’s Day, see http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninof/women/womday97.htm.