Customer Reviews

Not for Ourselves Alone - The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
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And I've seen a LOT of video documentaries!

I always thought of myself as somewhat well-informed on the topic of American History, but I knew virtually nothing about these two incredible women.

Their friendship, the beautiful blending of their unique gifts to create one stupendous and powerful whole of a suffrage movement, their dedication and devotion - all these elements combined to make this story perfectly wonderful.

I borrowed the video from our local library, but I think I need to buy it. I've watched it twice and wept tears of joy and gratitude at these womens' sacrifice and unselfish labors for all womankind. It is a delight to watch.

I just had no idea women had to fight so hard and so long to be granted a basic human right like voting.

And Elizabeth's "best" lecture, "The Solitude of Self" was one of the most powerful essays I've ever heard. Very stirring and inspiring. Even the [background] music was superior.

This video will not leave you where it found you. Should be required viewing for everyone. Period.

Both men and women need to understand where human rights were once and how far they have progressed at the sacrifice of the very few during the past 150 years. This is classic Ken Burns offering his unique kind of perspective. I am giving this to my niece who will soon be leaving home as a young woman. I hope EVERYONE in her family - both male and female - will view this tape since both sexes need to better understand what women have faced and continue to face in making meaningful lives through their own talents and abilities. If nothing else this video exemplifies courage and determination in the finest and yet most human sense.

I'm a woman in a male-dominated field, engineering. But I always cringed at the "feminist" viewpoints and attitudes of some of my friends. I did my work and didn't really think about being the only female in class. All that changed when I saw this documentary.

For the first time, I understand what a woman's life was like back 150 years ago. I understand how much progress has been made, and how everything that I take for granted every day -- being able to choose my career, have a life separate from my husband, vote, own property -- was gotten only through the incredible struggle of women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott. They faced mockery, disdain, insults, dismissal and a millenium of tradition at every step, but never stopped fighting. They fought not just for themselves, but for me and every generation of women that came after them.

The fact that I graduated from high school and college without knowing the story of these two great women is almost unforgivable.

This film is truly a must-see. I was appalled at how little I knew about this remarkable and significant history. It is inspiring to see these women struggle for basic human rights. It is moving to hear about the tremendous friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It is amazing to hear the words of one of the most provocative and profound writers in our nation's history (Stanton). (How can her works be so unknown! ) It is informative to learn about this very momentous period in American history. Bravo for Ken Burns. This film fills a void in our understanding of American history. Plus it is a very riveting story.

I saw this brilliant and beautiful documentary when it was aired on public television and while it has been readily available on VHS, I have been holding out for a DVD. Finally the long wait is over! The only thing that surprises me is that it wasn't offered on DVD earlier. This isn't just some angry feminist rant or emotional tirade against men--the suffragist movement is dealt with as the historical event it actually was, and this documentary goes in-depth with historical details, letters, photos, and even comments from very old women who were just young women when they voted in the first-ever election in which women could vote. After seeing this for the first time, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the unsung heroes and leaders of the suffragist movement, became one of my heroes, and I immediately sought out a copy of "The Woman's Bible". I have been returning to Amazon over and over, checking to see if this was on DVD yet, and it had gotten to the point where I didn't hold out much hope that I would find it. I can't begin to describe how excited I am over this!

I watched this on PBS the other night and it's terrific. I was brought up by a feminist mother, who made sure that I knew the history of the struggle for women's rights. Nonetheless, there were so many things in this documentury that I had never known. The relationship between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony is fascinating. Anthony was so tough, and Stanton so brilliant. It makes it all the more painful that they didn't live to see women get the vote, although I still thank them everytime I step into the voting booth, like I thank Margaret Sanger every month that I'm not late. This documentary really humanizes these icons, which is a godsend. I assume that this will be widely watched in schools, and I'm glad for that. Everyone should know what a long, hard struggle it's been, and how far women, and men, have come.

Yes, this is my very first ever purchase of a video. If you watched the PBS telecast earlier this month, the experience speaks for itself. Director Ken Burns has done his usual magnificent job of capturing and examining a piece of history. Whether you're interested in the history of the women's movement, the personal stories of Anthony and Stanton, or just enjoy old photos and film there's something for you here. As an added plus, if you 've lived in or visited western NY, you might see some familiar places--the Susan B. Anthony House, Genesee Country Museum, and various other sites in Seneca Falls.

This is such an inportant documentary. Every American should see this, especially women. Ken Burns and company do a fantastic job of telling the story of the friendship between Anthony and Stanton and how these women dedicated their lives to the fight for the right of women to vote. I am inspired to learn more about these two brilliant women that did so much to improve the lives of American women.

It would be totally inadequate for this reviewer to say that NOT FOR OURSELVES ALONE:The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony is simply a "must-see","well done","moving","dramatic","compelling"etc.etc. documentary of the two forgers of the early Woman's Suffrage Movement.This Ken and Paul Burns treatise has been so carefully,sensitively and lovingly handled,crafted and assembled that I was moved to anger,incredulity,sympathy,action and finally to just good ol'tears!
NOT FOR OURSELVES ALONE tells in vivid detail, based upon the enormous source material and writings and correspondence of the two amazing women of the 19th -century,Cady Stanton and Anthony, who almost in a battle alone, fought tirelessly for the equality and dignity and rights of all women to receive and exercise their rights as they saw guaranteed to them under the United States Constitution and The Decalration of Independence.These two pioneers maintained an endearing fifty year friendship,endured hardships,misunderstandings,trials,boos-and-jeers,and the sometime opposition of their own sex as well as the opposite sex AND race, and above all ,totally opposite lifesyles and temperaments in order to join faculties to push for what they themselves NEVER saw in their own lifetime...the 19th Amendment guaranteeing the woman's right to vote.Without these two women, much legislation that all of us now accept to be totally understood ,would never be in law today.The Burns Brothers have created an absolute masterpiece,running for 210 totally absorbing minutes minutely detailing how these two women met,how they were alike and unalike,and how their neverending faith and trust in each other and their common-held beliefs was the ultimate key for those women of the following generation to complete the task of gaining equal rights for all women.This is a very typical Burns format for his PBS documentaries complete with voiceovers,historian interviews,still tintypes.Where this particular documentary really succeeds above the other Burns' PBS features is the tender and deliciously sensitive narrative that has been scripted to tell Stanton and Anthony's story.This is a very absorbing piece of art that all peoples would greatly benefit from viewing.It is more than informational...it is life-giving.These were the women who "sowed winter wheat for others to harvest".They were "the women who worked miracles!"

Should be required viewing for students, both genders, from 5th grade through graduation from high school. I am buying it for all my children,grandchildren,and great-grands. Everyone should.