Women Making America [Paperback]

Heidi Hemming (Author), Julie Hemming Savage (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2009

U.S. women's history for everyone! Explore the history you never learned in school. Experience the everyday struggles, delights, and courage of America's women from the Revolutionary War to the present in a format that all readers can enjoy. Dabble in history at a glance, or immerse yourself in comprehensive study. Read it for pleasure, or use it in the classroom. Historian Sally Roesch Wagner says, "This is the book I've been waiting for. Full of rich and well-researched detail, it is a breathtaking swoop of everything from popular culture to suffrage, distilling complex material down to easy to understand information, and full of engagingly good anecdotes. The feel and taste and smell of the time come alive and the attention to accuracy is exemplary. Most importantly, it is not the typical narrow-focused history of white women of means, but the multifaceted story of the diversity of histories that speaks to all women of the United States. A joy to read!"

Editorial Reviews

Review

From School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up--This hefty volume surveys the role of women in American history from 1770 to the present, focusing primarily on health issues, paid work, home, education, beauty, amusements, and the arts. Each chapter includes a brief summary of historical events and then examines the common threads. Photographs, reproductions, and numerous sidebars convey information on pages filled with bright colors and lively layouts. Quotes, biographical information, facts, and vignettes place women in the context of the times. Outstanding highlights are the "Did you know?" and "Have you heard of…?" sections. There is good racial, ethnic, and age diversity in the text and in the illustrations. The bibliography offers general histories and specific chapter references. The book concludes with the authors addressing their female readers by asking "How will your passion and hard work pave the way for those still to come?…The next chapter of American history belongs to you and your children and grandchildren. What will that story be?" The book's innovative and direct approach is sure to capture the attention of young women. Classroom teachers can utilize the plethora of facts to liven social studies and history lessons, and the format is appealing enough to attract browsers.--Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, IL

About the Author

WMA grew from the authors' passion for women's history and many years of teaching history, geography, English, women's studies, and gifted education in several states and overseas. Savage received a BA in history, English, and education and a master's degree in American studies. Hemming holds a BA in history, theater, and education and a master's degree in history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 379 pages
• Publisher: Clotho Press (March 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982127103
• ISBN-13: 978-0982127100
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #496,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't put it down!, April 24, 2009

By 

A. Thompson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Women Making America (Paperback)

I am friends with one of the authors and remember when she and her sister finally sent off their last edits, after 5+ years of research (while raising small children). So I bought the book primarily to support her -- then started reading it and could not put it down! Women Making America should be in every junior high and high school in this country. It's comprehensive and informative, but also fun, fascinating, inspiring, and totally engaging. Plus, the illustrations/photos are incredible. I plan to buy more copies and give them to all my fellow Moms-of-daughters. Even if you don't have daughters or aren't a woman, this book is bound to captivate you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Standing on their shoulders, January 26, 2010

By 

E. H. Williams (Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Women Making America (Paperback)

E.H. Williams, Ph.D.

Growing up as a woman for over six decades, I felt I had a good idea of what it was like to be a woman and have an understanding of women's issues. It was not until I picked up WOMAN MAKING AMERICA did I realize how much I owed to the many women who have preceded me. I stand at this juncture in time because of the thousands of women who toiled, most unrecognized, to give each succeeding generation new opportunities.

As a petite woman of Asian ancestry, I could easily be scrubbing laundry instead of being a school administrator and university professor had it not been for the women who incrementally opened the doors of opportunity for future generations. My classmates were the last to be cubbyholed into being only teachers, nurses, secretaries, or housewives. Succeeding generations flung open arenas that had been exclusively male dominated fields. So I have personally witnessed many transitions. WOMEN MAKING AMERICA helped me to step back and gain an overall perspective of this period.

History belongs to those who write it and most of them were men. The disenfranchised and the minorities were left out. The Hemming sisters have reminded us that America was more than white, aristocratic men. Painstaking research revealed people like Mumbet, a slave who sued for her freedom in 1780, Nan'yehi, a Cherokees widow who led her clan to victory in battle, Anna May Wong, actress, and Dorothy Kamenshek, baseball player in the All-American Girls Baseball League. The stories of real women are masterfully woven to tell the tale, instead of some dry narrative told by an ivory tower intellectual. A personal warmth permeates the skillfully written pages.

Reading the sidebars is a study in itself. Interesting tidbits lure you to read obscure, yet interesting facts about women who quietly made a difference. Historical photographs and drawings lace the book, so even the most hardened non-reader will be drawn to peruse it. Ideally from middle school onward, WOMEN MAKING AMERICA can be used as a textbook, or supplemental reading filling in the missing half of our American history.

As I read about these women, I thought of middle school girls and how many of them begin to lose their way as documented in Reviving Ophelia; Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher. Dynamic young girls get caught up in the peer culture which can be destructive. Exposure to women in various occupations and times can give them new role models that can dilute and counter the poisonous popular culture. Young girls can begin to see there are many ways to live a fulfilling life.

The stories touched me. When I finished WOMEN MAKING AMERICA I paused to utter a silent prayer of gratitude to all the women I shall never personally know, but who helped open the opportunities I have today. These are the Americans whose shoulders I stand on. These women helped make America!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating facts, January 9, 2010

By 

Jyotsna Sreenivasan "Gender Equality Bookstore" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Women Making America (Paperback)

This is a fun book filled with lots of photos, illustrations, and sidebars with facts and information. Useful and informative for anyone, whether a child or an adult.I have included this book in my online Gender Equality Bookstore.