Amazon.com: Encyclopedia of Women in American History (9780765680389): Joyce Oldham Appleby, Eileen K. Cheng, Joanne L. Goodwin: Books

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-Even collections well endowed enough to include Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer's monumental Women in World History (Gale, 2000) will be strengthened by this wide-ranging, if oddly organized, resource. This work contains several hundred alphabetically arranged topical and biographical articles in each volume, sandwiched between an opening section of broader essays and a closing one of landmark documents or extracts from literary works. Though the illustrations are muddy and in black and white, the double-columned text gives the pages an invitingly open look, enhanced by boxed insets that highlight pioneers or significant firsts. Each volume is devoted to a segment of this country's history, from 1585 to the present, and aside from a comprehensive set index in volume three, is an independent work. There is some subject overlap-three similar but independently written articles on "Abortion," for instance, and few inter-volume cross-references. Even within volumes, the see references are hit or miss; "Algonquian Household Economy" ends with a lead to "Iroquois Household Economy," but not vice-versa, and neither refers to similar articles for the Pawnee, Cherokee, or Chocktaw. Nonetheless, this set is chock-full of information that is hard to find elsewhere. Students researching topics as diverse as changing gender images or the WNBA; people as renowned as Pocahontas, or as little known as her royal relative Cockacoeske; or the role of women in any aspect of the U.S.'s social, political, and cultural history will find it invaluable.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Encyclopedia of Women in American History, written in eminently readable prose by 41 subject experts with university affiliations, includes not only biographical entries but also topical information to "help readers situate women's lives and accomplishments within the larger structures of society." Each of the three volumes treats a discrete time period. Volume 1 deals with colonization to the beginning of the national period (1585-1820); Volume 2 with the Civil War, western expansion, and the Industrial Revolution (1820-1900); and Volume 3 with the beginnings of the suffrage movement to the present (1900-2002).

Each volume begins with an annotated time line and between 8 and 10 signed essays, each three to five pages in length. These serve not only to give an overview of the time period but also to investigate specific issues relevant to defining women's roles in society during the era under consideration. Names, issues, or incidents mentioned in the essays in small capitals can be found as entries in the body of the alphabetically arranged encyclopedia. Each essay is followed by a short list of further resources, all print works.

Arranged alphabetically within each volume, the more than 900 entries are brief, running generally between half a column to three columns in length. Approximately half of the entries are biographical; others treat topics ranging from Frontier life, Indentured servitude, and Seminole household economy to Glass ceiling, Miss America Pageant, and Planned Parenthood. Related articles are listed as see also references at the entries' ends. Frequently, lists of print works for further reading are also appended. Sidebars titled "Trailblazers" or "Women's Firsts" highlight women who were trendsetters or those who were first in some particular way; for instance, the first English child to be born on American soil or the first black woman public speaker. Clear black-and-white reproductions and photographs are well placed and extend the text ably. A final section of relevant and representative primary source documents concludes and enhances each volume.

All volumes contain detailed tables of contents, volume-specific bibliographies, and biographical indexes. Volume 1 contains a comprehensive table of contents for the entire set, volume 3 has the cumulated general index, and both are accurate. Broader in scope than What American Women Did, 1789-1920: A Year-by-Year Reference (McFarland, 2001), this title gives some stiff competition to the one-volume Handbook of American Women's History (Sage, 2000), which lacks the inherent chronological arrangement and is somewhat less readable. Attractively laid out, clearly written, current through 2001, and easy to use, the Encyclopedia of Women in American History is a sound purchase for colleges and universities with women's studies programs and is suitable for use in high schools as well. RBB
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