Women’s History Month has been celebrated each March since 1987 in the United States. Elizabeth O’Neal’s Genealogy Blog Party is all about this year’s celebration and spotlighting women in history.
Rather than tell a story, I’ve compiled a list of books and online materials that range from autobiography to biography to general histories and videos about the lives of women and how they shaped the culture and life of their times.
I have read some, but not all of these books and I’ve tried to include a variety of perspectives on women’s history.
Enjoy!
Separated by Their Sex: Women in Public and Private in the Colonial Atlantic World, by Mary Norton, 2014
A History of Women in America: From Founding Mothers to Feminists – How Women Shaped the Life and Culture of America, by Carol Hymowitz, 1984
A Mid-Wife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her diary , 1785-1812, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, 1991
Jackie Ormes, The First African American Woman Cartoonist, by Nancy Goldstein, 2019
America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines, by Gail Collins, 2003
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, 1861
America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today, by Pamela Nadell, 2020
The Eighteenth Century Woman, by Olivier Bernier, 2018
First Black Women Judges: The Story of Three Black Women Judges in the United States, by Angela Carol Robinson, 2020
Women’s Rights in the United States, by Anne M. Boylan, 1974
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II, by Sonia Purnell, 2020
The Force of a Feather: The Search for a Lost Story of Slavery and Freedom, by DeEtta Demaratus, 2002
Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth Century America, by Ann Braude, 2001
Native American Women: Leadership, Activism and Feminism, by Wilson Bellacoola, 2020
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies, by Jason Fagone, 2018
Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, by Jessica McDiarmid, 2019
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II, by Liza Mundy, 2018
Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth and Society in Early Times, by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, 1996
She Caused a Riot: 100 Unknown Women Who Built Cities, Sparked Revolutions, and Massively Crushed It by Hannah Jewell, 2018
These organizations are celebrating Women’s History Month online:
New York Public Library – Women’s History Month 2021
New York Times – Women’s History Month 2021
Los Angeles Public Library – Women’s History Month 2021
Remarkable Legacies of American Women – National Park Service
Women’s History Month – National Women’s History Museum
National Women’s History Alliance
Women’s History Month at the National Constitution Center
It’s a good thing the celebration of Women’s History takes place over the entire month of March, as there are tons of resources available to peruse, read and view.
This is a great list! May I add one? Just published:
In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit by Yolanda Pierce, 2021.
It sounds like an interesting book. Thank you for the suggestion.
That’s a great list. Although I’m in the UK it’s interesting to read about the experiences of women in different countries & also how they compare.