We Can Do It: Women's History

March is Women's History Month! Celebrate the accomplishments of women in the arts, religion, human rights, politics, science, and every other aspect of the human experience. The women of the past inspire those of the future in the fight for equality.


Compiled by:
Elizabeth G.
Best Actress: The History of Oscar-Winning Women

Stephen Tapert
791.43922 Tap

Ingrid Bergman. Audrey Hepburn. Elizabeth Taylor. Jane Fonda. Meryl Streep. The list of women who have won the coveted and legendary Academy Award for Best Actress is long and varied. Through this illustrious roster, we can trace the history of women in Hollywood, from the rise of Mary Pickford in the early 20th century to the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements of today, which have galvanized women across the world to speak out for equal pay, respect, power, and opportunity. This lavishly illustrated coffee table book offers a vital examination of the first 75 women to have won the Best Actress Oscar over the span of 90 years.


A Black Women's History of the United States

Daina Ramey Berry
305.4889 Ber

A Black Women's History of the United States is a critical survey of Black women's complicated legacy in America, as it takes into account their exploitation and victimization, as well as their undeniable and substantial contributions to the country since its inception. In centering Black women's stories, two award-winning historians seek both to empower African American women and to show unique ability to make their own communities while combating centuries of oppression. The authors prioritize many voices, including enslaved women, freed women, religious leaders, artists, queer women, and women who lived outside the law.


The Book of Gutsy Women

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton
920.72 Cli

The Clintons share stories of the gutsy women who have inspired them—women with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. So how did they do it? The answers are as unique as the women themselves. Meet civil rights activist Dorothy Height, LGBTQ+ trailblazer Edie Windsor, and swimmer Diana Nyad. Discover writers like Rachel Carson and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. They, and nearly every single one of the over 120 women in this book, were fiercely optimistic; they had faith that their actions could make a difference. And they were right.


A Century of Votes for Women: American Elections Since Suffrage

Christina Wolbrecht, J. Kevin Corder
324.973 Wol

How have American women voted in the first 100 years since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment? How have popular understandings of women as voters both persisted and changed over time? In A Century of Votes for Women, Christina Wolbrecht and J. Kevin Corder offer an unprecedented account of women voters in American politics over the last 10 decades. Bringing together new and existing data, the book provides unique insight into women's (and men's) voting behavior, and traces how women's turnout and vote choice evolved across a century of enormous transformation overall and for women in particular.


The Genius Of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World

Janice Kaplan
305.9089 Kap

We tell girls that they can be anything, so why do 90% of Americans believe that geniuses are almost always men? New York Times bestselling journalist Janice Kaplan explores the powerful forces that have rigged the system—and celebrates the women geniuses past and present who have triumphed anyway. Even in this time of rethinking women's roles, we define genius almost exclusively through male achievement. This book sets out to determine why the extraordinary work of so many women has been brushed aside.


The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and Her Oxford Circle Remade the World For Women

Mo Moulton
800.92 Sayers Mou

Dorothy L. Sayers (1893—1957) was a renowned crime novelist who achieved fame and fortune during a time when just as many doors were closed to women as open. Sayers found professional success with her Lord Peter Wimsey novels. Yet, she never could have done it without the cohort of remarkable women she met at university—all of whom would go on to challenge societal norms and fight for equality of opportunity in their own way. In 1912, Dorothy L. Sayers and five friends founded a writing group at Somerville College, Oxford; they called themselves the "Mutual Admiration Society." Smart, bold, serious, and funny, these women were also sheltered and chaperoned, barred from receiving degrees despite taking classes and passing exams. Mutual Admiration Society follows these six women as they navigate the complexities of adulthood, work, intimacy, and sex in Interwar England.


Peace On Our Terms: The Global Battle for Women's Rights After the First World War

Mona L. Siegel
320.082 Sie

Peace on Our Terms follows dozens of remarkable women from Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Asia as they crossed oceans and continents; commanded meeting halls in Paris, Zurich, and Washington; and marched in the streets of Cairo and Beijing. Mona L. Siegel's sweeping global account of international organizing highlights how Egyptian and Chinese nationalists, Western and Japanese labor feminists, white Western suffragists, and African American civil-rights advocates worked in tandem to advance women's rights. Despite significant resistance, these pathbreaking women would leave their mark on emerging democratic constitutions and new institutions of global governance.


Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment

Linda Hirshman
305.4209 Hir

Linda Hirshman, acclaimed historian of social movements, delivers the sweeping story of the struggle leading up to #MeToo and beyond—from the first tales of workplace harassment percolating to the surface in the 1970s, to the aftermath of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal when liberal women largely forgave Clinton, giving men a free pass for two decades. Many liberals even resisted the movement to end rape on campus. And yet legal, political, and cultural efforts, often spearheaded by women of color, were quietly paving the way for the takedown of abusers and harassers. This book delivers the stirring tale of a movement catching fire as pioneering women in the media exposed the Harvey Weinsteins of the world, women flooded the political landscape, and the walls of male privilege finally began to crack.


Women Warriors: An Unexpected History

Pamela D. Toler
355.0092 Tol

Who says women don't go to war? From Vikings and African queens to cross-dressing military doctors and WWII Russian fighter pilots, these are the stories of women for whom battle was not a metaphor. The woman warrior is always cast as an anomaly—Joan of Arc, not GI Jane. But women, it turns out, have always gone to war. In this fascinating and lively world history, Pamela Toler not only introduces us to women who took up arms, she also shows why they did it and what happened when they stepped out of their traditional female roles to take on other identities.


Women Who Dared: To Break All the Rules

Jeremy Scott
920 Sco

In 1870, a mesmerizing psychic named Victoria Woodhull shattered tradition by running for the White House. Had she won, the ensuing spectacle would surely have rivaled even that of our own era. Abhorring such flamboyance, Mary Wollstonecraft inspired a revolution of thought with her pen as she issued women’s first manifesto—still to be fulfilled. These six women had no time for what society said they could and could not do. They would see the world bend before they did. From Aimee Semple McPherson, the first female preacher in America, to Coco Chanel, designer of an empire, they became the change they wanted to see. With great verve, wit and reverence, author Jeremy Scott pays tribute to them.