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Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America
 
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Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America [Paperback]

Karenna Gore Schiff (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)


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Book Description

February 14, 2007
Karenna Gore Schiff’s nationally bestselling narrative tells the fascinating stories of nine influential women, who each in her own way, tackled inequity and advocated change throughout the turbulent twentieth century.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was born a slave and fought against lynching; Mother Jones, an Irish immigrant who organized coal miners and campaigned against child labor; Alice Hamilton, who pushed for regulation of industrial toxins; Frances Perkins, who developed key New Deal legislation; Virginia Durr, who fought the poll tax and segregation; Septima Clark, who helped to register black voters; Dolores Huerta, who organized farm workers; Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, an activist for reproductive rights; and Gretchen Buchenholz, one of the nation’s leading child advocates.

Gore Schiff delivers an intimate and accessible account of the nine trail-blazing women who deserve not only to be honored but to have their example serve as beacons.



Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schiff, who is most notably Al Gore's oldest daughter and a lawyer and journalist, has put together a collective biography of nine outstanding American women of the 20th century—some unjustly little known. The more celebrated are Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1931), an African-American journalist who brought the horrors of lynching to public attention; Mother Jones (c. 1837–1930), an Irish immigrant and lifelong crusader for workers' rights; and Frances Perkins (1882–1965), the first woman Cabinet member, appointed by FDR. Schiff also illuminates less renowned but highly influential figures, including Alice Hamilton (1869–1970) a physician and pioneer in calling attention to the dangers of industrial poisons, and Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987), child of a former slave, who became a teacher and tireless advocate for racial equality. Several of the subjects are still alive, like Dolores Huerta, cofounder with César Chávez of the United Farm Workers, and Gretchen Buchenholz, who established the Association to Benefit Children. Schiff has done excellent research, and though her prose isn't especially stylish, she shows her heroines as fully rounded figures. She points out, for example, that Wells-Barnett's feud with the NAACP was counterproductive and that Mother Jones's opposition to women's suffrage limited her reach. (Feb. 8)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Schiff, journalist, lawyer, and daughter of former vice president Al Gore, highlights the lives of nine women who have had enormous impact on the social and political history of the U.S., though most of them are relatively unknown. Schiff acknowledges that her selections are entirely personal. The nine include Ida B. Wells Barnett, antilynching activist; Mother Jones, an advocate for coal miners; Dr. Alice Hamilton, a proponent of workers' rights in the chemical industry; Frances Perkins, who helped establish Social Security; Virginia Durr, who fought to end poll taxes; Septima Poinsette Clark, an advocate for the rights of black voters; Dolores Huera, farmworker organizer; Dr. Helen Rodrigues-Trias, a reproductive rights activist; and Gretchen Buchenholz, a child advocate. The elements tying these women's lives together are a strong sense of women's rights as well as a devotion to making social change while caring for family and friends. This is an inspirational collection of biographies of women of various social, ethnic, and racial backgrounds fighting for social justice. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Miramax; First Paperback Edition edition (February 14, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1401360157
  • ISBN-13: 978-1401360153
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read :->, February 6, 2006
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This is a great book written by Karenna Gore Schiff (Al Gore's daughter) who wrote this after her father was defeated in 2000 because she was now disheartened by politics and wanted to write about people who really made politics about public service. She writes about 9 very different women who affected America in very different ways. Among them, there is Alice Hamilton (first woman on the faculty of Harvard and also a famous physician), Septima Poinsette Clark (behind the civil rights movement and started citizenship schools around the South and inspired people like Rosa Parks), and Gretchen Buchenholz (still working today as an advocate for vulnerable children - homeless etc and is on the cutting edge of helping us combat things like AIDS). They all share the common factor of wanting to help people, and all weren't afraid to take unpopular stands whilst making differences in peoples lives. Karenna is very well researched here and knows what she is talking about and when you read about all these women, you realise that you can be stronger people yourselves and overcome obstacles. It's a good, interesting and inspirational read. I really liked this.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Chicken Soup for the apathetic soul, February 2, 2006
This book is a poignant reminder that service on the individual level, when rooted in the fundamental principles of democracy and equality, can affect change on a broad scale. Anyone looking to be inspired by lives that truly made a difference will enjoy it. Very well-written and impressively researched.
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply a great book. Ten stars, February 13, 2006
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This not a liberal book or a conservative book, but simply a great book.

Now I admit I knew of Mother Jones which a great magazine is named after, and I have long known of Dolores Huerta because my later mentor Bea Brickey from Tracy, California had known her and worked with her years ago during the fight to form the UFW.

But I did not know of Ida B. Wells-Barnett whom I am left in utter awe of after reading about her life and how she was literally drug off the first class section of the train she had bought a ticket for that was headed to Woodstock, Tennessee. And while being drug off the train all the white passengers cheered and applauded.

It was in reading the chapter I learned new things about Ms. Dolores Huerta. Like how as a high school student she got a C for an English paper she had written which the teacher accused her of having someone else write. Little as changed since this sadly still happens. The fact she was the mother of many children and took such a lead in such an important movement should shine as an example for any women in 2006 who makes excuses why they aren't more involved in their community and righting wrongs.

The author has done a splendid job of sharing each womans life, warts and all, since this makes the women human and realistic for those today who think they aren't 'perfect' enough to make a positive change. One also learns through these women what to do when you fall down while fighting for something.

Also liked that none of the women are well known by most people, because this gives a fresh new look to womens struggles and how they succeeded. It also is a great reminder that there were/are a lot of unsung heroines in our midst. The photos are also a great addition, for the ones that were chosen for the book, because they help bring what you are reading to life.

Am so glad I bought the book and plan on buying a copy for my granddaughter who soon turns twelve. May even buy a copy for my local library since I want people where I live to read it and learn.
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