Browse by Subject: Women

This book tells the stories of nine southern Methodist women, who, inspired by their faith, advocated for progressive reform by fighting for racial equality, challenging white male supremacy, and addressing class oppression.

In this memoir, Dedé Mirabal offers an intimate account of the lives and legacy of her sisters Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal, Dominican revolutionaries who were assassinated in 1960 by order of dictator Rafael Trujillo. This is the first English translation of Dedé’s story, introducing new readers to a tragedy and international outcry that heralded the fall of the Trujillo dictatorship.

Shirley Chisholm’s dynamism, intellect, and devotion led her to become the first Black congresswoman and the first Black woman to run for the presidential nomination. In this carefully woven story, James Haskins tells Shirley Chisholm’s story from childhood to her phenomenally positive impact for her communities and the world.

For as long as orchid hybrids have been made, breeders have been naming them after prominent women of the day. Chadwick & Son Orchids has named and presented namesake cattleyas to nineteen consecutive First Ladies. First Ladies and Their Orchids: A Century of Namesake Cattleyas tells the story of these nineteen hybrids and the First Ladies they were named after, from Woodrow Wilson’s second wife, Edith, who coveted “canaries, bourbon, and orchids,” through Doctor Jill Biden, who lives just minutes from the Chadwick home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Broadening the familiar view of Mary McLeod Bethune as an advocate for racial and gender equality within the United States, this book highlights Bethune’s global activism and her connections throughout the African diaspora.

The first full biography of former United States attorney general Janet Reno, this book examines the guiding forces that shaped Reno’s character, the trails blazed by Reno in her professional roles, and the lasting influence of Reno on American politics and society.

This volume offers a panoramic view of Black feminist politics through the stories of Black women who attended the 1977 National Women’s Conference, placing the diversity of Black women’s experiences and their leadership at the center of the history of the women’s movement.

This biography of educational activist and Black studies pioneer Bertha Maxwell-Roddey examines a life of remarkable achievements and leadership in the early years of the desegregated South. Sonya Ramsey describes how Maxwell-Roddey and her peers turned hard-won civil rights and feminist milestones into tangible accomplishments in North Carolina and nationwide from the late 1960s to the 1990s.

Authentic words from the "First Lady of the World"

Tracing the development of the field of southern women’s history over the past half century, this book shows how pioneering feminists laid the foundation for a strong community of sister scholars and delves into the work of an organization central to this movement, the Southern Association for Women Historians.