A Voice of Our Own: Leading American Women Celebrate the Right to Vote

by Nancy M. Neuman

Overview

Prominent activists, academics, politicians, journalists, mothers, and daughters celebrate the indomitable spirit of the American woman and reflect on what democracy means to women's lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470630877
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	05/02/1996
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

NANCY M. NEUMAN is former president of the League of Women Voters and author of The League of Women Voters in Perspective 1920-1995 (1994). A lecturer and writer on women in politics and public policy, she has been a distinguished visiting professor at Washington and Jefferson College, Bucknell University, and Pomona College.

Table of Contents

Foreword.

Preface.

A Vote of Our Own.

My Vote, My Self (Mary Chapin Carpenter).

Impact (Gwen Ifill).

Finding America (Rebecca Walker).

Our Struggle for Full Citizenship.

Women Who Shaped the Constitution (Rosalynn Carter).

Lessons from the Women's Suffrage Movement (Lucinda Desha Robb).

The Politics of Sisterhood (Elisabeth Griffith).

The Women's Movement Across Generations (Sarah McClAndon).

American Democracy: A Puerto Rican Perspective (Sara E. MelAndez).

No More Sounds of Silence (Martina Navratilova).

Breaking the Barriers of Discrimination.

A Gift of the Spirit (Mary Adelia Rosamond McLeod).

Turning the World Rightside Up (Beverly J. Harvard).

Or You Can Get to Work (Ada E. Deer).

GAnder, Race, and Democracy (Diane C. Yu).

Family, Work, and Community.

Women, Work, and Family (Judy Woodruff).

Do What is Right (Esther Peterson).

My Life with the League of Women Voters (Anne Firor Scott).

Keepers of the Culture (Corinne C. "Lindy" Boggs).

My Democracy (Barbara Davis Blum).

Challenges and Change in One Woman's Life (Rosalynn Carter).

Our Collective Challenges.

Equal Opportunity for Recovery (Betty Ford).

Harvard Medicine in the Woman's Era (Bernadine P. Healy).

Our Collective Challenges (Donna Shalala).

Whose Nation is This? (Antonia Hernandez).

For the Next Generation.

A Call to Action (Hillary Rodham Clinton).

Entering the Twenty-First Century—On Our Own Terms (Wilma P. Mankiller).

Small Steps, Giant Leaps (Condoleezza Rice).

My Daughter's Generation (Maria Luisa Mercado).

Imagining the Real Future (Nancy Y. Bekavac).

Editorial Reviews

Commissioned by the League of Women Voters to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, this collection of 28 essays by prominent American women assesses both the progress women have made since the fight for suffrage began and the challenges women still face in their quest for social and political equality. Various contributors' retellings of the history of the women's suffrage movement provide an inspiring account of successful grassroots political activism. Recurring themes include the importance of female role models and the relationship between the concerns of women and those of minority groups. Particularly compelling in this collection edited by former League president Newman are the essays by Rebecca Walker, Betty Ford and Bernadine P. Healy. Notable contributors include Mary Chapin Carpenter, Martina Navratilova, Judy Woodruff, Rosalynn Carter, Donna Shalala and Hillary Rodham Clinton. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Neuman, a former president of the League of Women Voters, has compiled a wondrous range of essays by leading American women who pay homage to the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Contributors include politicians, entertainers, journalists, and leaders of various ethnic and racial communities. Although a few selections deal specifically with the right to vote, most concentrate on the role and status of women in modern American society. For example, Martina Navratilova waxes eloquent about becoming a naturalized citizen; the Right Reverend Mary Adelia Rosamond Mcleod details her struggle to become the first female diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States; and Betty Ford recalls how her private pain helped get recognition and more equitable treatment for women with dependency problems. Overall, the articles are informative, interesting, and even inspirational. This mosaic of perspectives makes this work a worthwhile purchase for all libraries.-Rose M. Cichy, Osterhout Free Lib., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Library Journal

"A Voice of Our Own provides compelling stories: personal, historic, and significant, about women, the United States, and that most vital component of citizenship, the right to vote." —Frances Hesselbein, president and CEO, Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management

"Women's rights are too often assumed. These personal, moving stories show how hard women had to fight to get rights, to keep them, and to use them. We should all pay close attention." —Ann M. Morrison, president, New Leaders Institute, and lead author of Breaking the Glass Ceiling

From the Publisher