Throughout history, women have been instrumental in every facet of human endeavor. Whether they have been renowned trailblazers or unsung heroines working behind the scenes, women have helped guide the course of American history and they continue to shape our future.
That’s why JNPA is commemorating Women’s History Month. In the words of a White House proclamation, the month of March is an opportunity to “celebrate the countless women who have fought tirelessly and courageously for equality, justice, and opportunity in our Nation. We also reaffirm our commitment to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls in the United States and around the world.”
In honor of Women’s History Month, JNPA is proud to offer a number of books that shine a light on examples of women’s contributions to our national heritage, in both civil rights and voting rights:
Warriors Don’t Cry is a first-person account of Melba Pattillo Beals, one of nine African American teenagers who helped integrate Little Rock’s Central High School in the 1950s. This searing account of her junior year at Central High highlights Beals’ bravery in the face of racist warnings, attacks, and ultimately, death threats.
The Long Shadow of Little Rock is a riveting memoir by Daisy Bates, one of the Little Rock Nine. As a later civil rights activist, journalist, and lecturer, Bates provides a riveting and very personal account of America’s fraught school desegregation movement.
An iconic 1957 image of a white girl screaming at an African American student highlights the anguish of America’s struggle to desegregate schools. Elizabeth and Hazel recounts the intersecting lives of those two girls – Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan Massery – whose very different lives unexpectedly braided together.
Women of the Suffrage Movement recounts the decades-long struggle of American women to secure the right to vote, from the famous Seneca Falls meeting in 1848 to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
The women’s suffrage movement of the 1800s and 1900s was about more than just the right to vote. It encompassed the most fundamental rights of citizenship: the right to receive fair wages, to hold property, to sign contracts, and to file suit in court. Sisters examines the lives of America’s leading suffragists and how their efforts resulted in far-reaching changes to the nation’s laws.
The Golden Lane is the story of how women in Missouri gained the vote and changed the state’s history.
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