The Columbia Documentary History of American Women Since 1941

by Harriet Sigerman

Overview

This far-ranging collection of public and private sources illuminates a revolutionary half century for American women. The last six decades have been a pivotal period of change and resistance, progress and backlash for American women. From the Hoover vacuum cleaner to the fax machine, the pill to reproductive rights, from Rosie the Riveter to Martha Stewart and Hillary Rodham Clinton American women have grappled with a sometimes dizzying rate of social and economic change and continually shifting conceptions of gender.

This collection of documents seeks to chronicle the exciting and tumultuous recent history of American women, beginning with World War II, and the lasting reverberations of the greater employment opportunities for women created by the war effort. Subsequent documents speak to a series of timely topics: the ideas and changes brought about by the women's movement, the challenges to and defense of reproductive rights, the backlash against feminism in the name of family values, and new visions for women's lives in the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231116992
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	12/06/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	640
Product dimensions:	1.56(w) x 6.00(h) x 9.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Harriet Sigerman is an independent scholar. In addition to writing three volumes in the young adult series Young Oxford History of Women in the United States , she is the author of Land of Many Hands: Women in the American West and the award-winning Elizabeth Cady Stanton: "The Right Is Ours" .

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Warriors on the Homefront: American Women and World War II
"We Want to Live, Not Merely Exist'', by A Black Woman's Letter to FDR
"I Got Caught Up in That Patriotic `Win the War' '', by Juanita Loveless
"A Guidebook for Women War Workers'': Wanted, Women in War Industry, by Laura Nelson Baker
"Hitler Was the One That Got Us Out of the White Folks' Kitchen'', by Fanny Christina Hill
"The Changes Started When I First Started Working'', by Beatrice Morales Clifton
"I Felt Degraded, Humiliated, and Overwhelmed'', by Yoshiko Uchida
"Saying `No' Was the Only Way You Could Become a Wave'', by Mary Meigs
"I Believe the War Was the Beginning of My Seeing Things'', by Peggy Terry
"There Was Prejudice Against Conscientious Objectors'', by Wilma and William Ludlow
"Please Come Back to Me Soon'', by Letters from the Home Front
"The Girls Proved to Be Simply Remarkable'', by Jacqueline Cochran
"Women Are Idealistic'', by Eleanor Roosevelt
"I Learned Things I Didn't Even Know Happened in the World'', by Susan Laughlin
"The War Marked Me'', by Betty Basye Hutchinson
2. The Unquiet Decade: Domesticity, Work, and Social Activism in Postwar America
Modern Woman: The Lost Sex, by Marynia Farnham and Ferdinand Lundberg
"To Rescue Us Wretched Slaves'', by Adlai Stevenson
"I Knew I Wasn't Going to Make It... to the `Colored Ladies' Toilet'', by Melba Pattilo Beals
"Things Cannot Go On as They Are in Dixie'', by Lillian Smith
"I Speak as a Woman'', by Margaret Chase Smith
"I Didn't Think I Should Have to Give It Up'', by Rosa Parks
"It Was the Longest Block I Ever Walked in My Whole Life'', by Elizabeth Eckford
Want Ads, by Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"We Saw Women as a Vehicle for a New Peace Action'', by Dagmar Wilson
"The Union Wasn't for Us Blacks'', by Florence Rice
"A Grim Specter Has Crept Upon Us'', by Rachel Carson
"Is This America?'', by Fannie Lou Hamer
"Having a Baby Inside Me Is the Only Time I'm Really Alive'', by Anonymous
"Before I Knew It, I Was Caught Up'', by Adrienne Mann
"I Was There to Help Them'', by Nannie Washburn and Mary Dora Jones
"The Newest Glamour Girl of Our Times'', by Helen Gurley Brown
3. Making the World Anew: Different Paths to Sexual Equality
"I Felt the World Was Passing Me By'', by Herma L. Snider
"The Problem That Has No Name'', by Betty Friedan
Civil Rights Act: Title VII, 1964
"The Time Has Come for a New Movement Toward True Equality'', by National Organization of Women (NOW)
"1968, a Year of Exhilaration'', by Dana Densmore
"Women Are an Oppressed Class'', by Redstockings Manifesto
"Your Time Is Now, My Sisters'', by Shirley Chisholm
"What Is Liberation?'', by Editorial in Women: A Journal of Liberation
"I Gave Every Ounce of Time and Energy... to Let People Know How Ghastly the War Was'', by Lucy Whitaker Haessler
"New Approaches to the Study of Women in American History'', by Gerda Lerner ``Talking Want Ad'': From a Women's Song BookJanet Smith
"Consciousness: That's Exactly Why We're Here'', by Vivian Gornick
"The Male God Language Is Just So Overwhelming to Me'', by Terri Berthiaume Hawthorne
"I Want the Right to Be Black and Me'', by Margaret Wright
"I Am Angry for My Sisters'', by A Letter to Ms. Magazine
"A New Revolution Within a Revolution Has Begun'', by Jennie V. Chavez
"The Woman Is the Victim'', by Sarah Weddington
Roe v. Wade, 1973, by The United States Supreme Court
Our Bodies, Ourselves, by Boston Women's Health Book Collective
"What It's Like to Be Me'', by A Round Table of Perspectives by Young Ms. Readers
"You Can't Talk About Women's Rights Until We Include All Women'', by Dorothy Bolden
"We Remember Our Sisters'': A Jewish Women's Haggadah, by Aviva Cantor Zuckoff
"Recognizing Ourselves in History'', by Michelle Russell
"We Are Here to Move History Forward'', by Declaration of American Women, 1977
"Black Women Are Inherently Valuable'', by Combahee River Collective
"The Positive Woman Knows Who She Is'', by Phyllis Schlafly
"Dear Mary Catherine'', by A Collection of Letters by Rural Kentucky Women
4. Retrenchment: Gains and Losses Durgaing the Reagan/Bush Era
"We Support Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Women'', by 1980 Republican Party Platform
"You Just Want to Do a Little Better'', by Wendy Robinson Brower
"Good Husbands Are Good Leaders'', by Jerry Falwell
"Homemakers Need the Equal Rights Amendment'', by Homemakers' Equal Rights Association
"We Are Gathering Because Life on the Precipice Is Intolerable'', by Women's Pentagon Action
"Liberation... Isn't Finished'', by Betty Friedan
"The Best-Kept Secret About Men'', by Ellen Kreidman
"An Ethic of Care'', by Carol Gilligan
"An Inequality of Sacrifice'', by Coalition on Women and the Budget
"I Proudly Accept Your Nomination'', by Geraldine Ferraro
"It Created a Myth Among Women'', by Smart Women, Foolish Choices
"It's a Gentle Life, Sometimes'', by Frances Wells Burck, ed.
"Something Moved—Some Possibility of Trust Was Created'', by Rachel Bagby
"This Motherhood Business'', by Nina Barrett
"The Woman's `Part' '', by Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on Women
"The Huge, Hidden Emotional Cost to Women'', by Arlie Hochschild
"The High-Performing Career-and-Family Woman Can Be a Major Player'', by Felice Schwartz
"Our Holding Will Allow Some Governmental Regulation of Abortion'', by United States Supreme Court
"How Long Can This Go On?'', by Catherine Whitney
"I Want the Chance to Excel'', by Patricia Godley
"Cherish Your Human Connections'', by Barbara Bush
"Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus'', by John Gray
"I Am Not Given to Fantasy'', by Anita Hill
"You Have Made Us Ladies Again'', by Sarah J. McCarthy
"The Educational System Is Not Meeting Girls' Needs'', by How Schools Shortchange Girls
"The Myth of the Miserable Working Woman'', by Rosalind C. Barnett and Caryl River
"Rape in America Is a Tragedy of Youth'', by Rape in America: A Report to the Nation
"A Woman's Right to Reproductive Choice Is One of Those Fundamental Liberties'', by Justice Harry Blackmun, Planned Parenthood v. Casey
"Just Another Lifestyle Choice'', by Vice President Dan Quayle
"Few Generalizations to Be Made About Single Mothers'', by Roberto Suro
5. The Third Wave: Feminism and Family Values in the 1990s
"It Was Payback Time'', by Eloise Salholz et al.
"The Military Services Shall Open Up More Specialties and Assignments to Women'', by Defense Department Directive, 1993
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
"We Won't Stop Fighting'', by Naomi Wolf
"Domestic Violence Is a Staggering Social Problem'', by Family Violence Prevention Fund
"We're Coming Home, America'', by Torie Osborn
"This Extraordinary Chance and Challenge'', by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"I'm Not Giving Up'', by David Anthony Forrester
"Women's Rights Are Human Rights'', by Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995
"You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do'', by Virginia Schein, ed.
"I Have Long Opposed Government Recognition of Same-Gender Marriages'', by President Bill Clinton
"To End Welfare As We Know It'', by Welfare Reform Legislation
"Our Society's Ugly Secret'', by Virginia Macken Fitzsimmons
"All Mommies Are Monsters'', by Erica Jong
"A Wife Is to Submit Herself to Her Husband'', by Baptist Faith and Message
"It Was Now or Never'', by Doris Haddock
"The Modern Diva of Domesticity'', by Molly O'Neill
"Our Biology Hasn't Changed One Bit'', by Claudia Kalb et al.
Approval of the Abortion Pill, by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Directive
"I Will Work My Heart Out for You'', by Hillary Rodham Clinton
6. Shaping a New Millennium: Old Problems and New Visions
"To Be Known on Our Own Terms'', by Kate Shanley
"No One Teaches Women How to Know Pleasure'', by Amy Larocca
"I Am Still Single'', by Lynne Hektor
"Best Practices'', by Catalyst
"To Raise a Successful Daughter'', by Nicky Marone
"It's Extremely Disheartening to See How Far We Have Not Come'', by Reed Abelson
"When Women Speak Their Minds, They're Seen as Harsh'', by Neela Banerjee
"Out of Our Sheer Humanity Comes Common Ground'', by Elizabeth Birch
"I Feel I'm Neither Here Nor There'', by Diane K. Shah
"Raising Kids Is Like Competing in a Triathlon'', by Barbara Kantrowitz
"The Fruit of a Patriarchal System'', by Barbara Newman
"We Must Find Community Out of Differences'', by Gerda Lerner
"We Will Keep Moving Forward'', by National Organization of Women (NOW)
"The Future Is Ours to Lose'', by Naomi Wolf
"Breaking Tradition'', by Janice Mirikitani
Further Reading About Twentieth-Century American Women
Index

What People are Saying About This

Nancy F. Cott

This superb collection is the first to document U.S. women's history all the way to the end of the twentieth century, and offers a huge advantage in the classroom as well as a fascinating tour for any reader. Sigerman has chosen pertinent and eye-opening documents and introduced them with intelligent, informative, and responsible commentaries.

— Nancy F. Cott, Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History, Harvard University

Joyce Avrech Berkman

Scholars and readers... will find Sigerman's volume utterly compelling. [Her] crisp and cogent introductions limn the documents' historical contexts and interlink her well-defined sections. Richly evocative first-person documents, many not previously anthologized, bring us into the consciousness and feelings of highly diverse women.

— Joyce Avrech Berkman, University of Massachusetts

Editorial Reviews

A very current compendium that embraces the diversity of women's experience, this volume is accessible to a variety of audiences, but is particularly well suited to academics... Highly recommended.

Choice

This work has many uses as part of an academic or public library or as a resource to be perused by high school or college students.

Feminist Collections

This enormously valuable volume will provide documentary source materials for students from junior high school through college who are searching for voices of and about American women throughout the second half of the 20th century. The excerpts highlight four themes: changing conceptions of gender, the introduction by women of formerly "private" matters into the policy-making arena, the power of coalition among women of different backgrounds, and the continuing influence of gender on women's ability to make choices about work and family. Brief chapter introductions and headnotes by the editor, who holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Massachusetts, place each selection in historical context. The documents represent a wide array of sources and viewpoints, e.g., Supreme Court decisions, letters to Ms. magazine, and declarations of religious figures. Individual speakers include Betty Friedan, Anita Hill, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Jerry Falwell, Dan Quayle, and many others whose names are much less familiar. Women of every race, diverse economic circumstances, and educational attainment appear. While one might wish that some of the excerpts were longer, this volume might also serve as a text in the college classroom. In any case, most public and academic libraries will want this book on their shelves.-Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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