A Voice Of Their Own: The Woman Suffrage Press, 1840-1910 (Studies Rhetoric & Communicati) [Paperback]

Martha M. Solomon (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0817351523 | ISBN-13: 978-0817351526 | Publication Date: December 8, 2004 | Edition: New edition

A Voice of Their Own explores the consciousness-raising role of the American Suffrage press of the latter half of the 19th century.  From the first women's rights convention--a modest gathering of three hundred sympathizers led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton--grew the ever-expanding movement for equal rights, greater protection, and improved opportunities.  Although the leaders of that and subsequent conventions realized that such public rallies, with their exhortative speeches, were crucial in gaining support for the movement, they also recognized the potentioal impact of another medium--woman's suffrage periodicals, written and published by and expressly for women.  The eleven essays of this volume demonstrate how the suffrage press-- in such works as Woman's Journal, Woman's Tribune, Woman's Exponent, and Farmer's Wife-- was able to educate an audience of women readers, crate a sense of community among them, and help alter their self-image.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is especially valuable in that it traces changes in the women’s movement from an emphasis on a new self-image for woman to suffrage. . . . [The] writing is straightforward and clear. Documentation is superb. Endnotes are helpful guides to seminal works in women’s journalism. The index is useful and the bibliography is excellent."

—Choice

"An excellent collection of articles exploring the role of journalism in creating, maintaining, and developing the analysis and membership of the first wave of American feminism.  Drawing on theories of social movements from the discipline of communications, this volume, expertly edited by Martha Solomon, begins with the relationship between the suffrage movement and newspapers,...[and] seven useful case studies follow.  Historians will benefit from this volume's meticulous documentation of a plethora of publications and its discussion of their rhetorical stategies."

--Signs: The Journal of Women in Culture and Society

About the Author

Martha M. Solomon is Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Maryland-College Park.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: University Alabama Press; New edition edition (December 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817351523
• ISBN-13: 978-0817351526
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,558,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)