The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History

by Gwendolyn Mink Professor, Marysa Navarro Professor

Overview

The most inclusive book to date on U.S. women's collective history! A landmark work, The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History, gathers together more than 400 articles to offer a diverse, rich, and often neglected panorama of the nation's past. Written by more than 300 contributors, drawn from various areas of expertise, these narrative and interpretive entries "effectively cover five centuries of women's experiences" (Bloomsbury Review). Here are articles on cowgirls and child care, on the daily lives of single women and the changing notions of motherhood, on the artistic contributions of women of color and the history of Jewish feminism. Wide-ranging in scope and wonderfully accessible, this unique resource reexamines with fresh clarity and brio the issues and concerns that color the lives of all women. Articles and their contributors include: African American Women, Darlene Clark Hine; Cult of Domesticity, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg; Fashion and Style, Lynn Yaeger; Jazz and Blues, Daphne Duval Harrison; Lesbians, Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy; Native American Cultures, Clara Sue Kidwell; Picture Brides, Judy Yung; Salem Witchcraft Trials, Mary Beth Norton; Vietnam Era, Sara M. Evans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618001828
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/15/1999
Series:	Reader's Companion Series
Pages:	720
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.37(d)

About the Author

Barabara Smith is a writer and independent scholar who lives in Albany, New York.

Editorial Reviews

Named an Editor's chioce by the Chicago Tribune, which hailed it as "intellectually engaging" on topics "from the Harlem Renaissance to Standardized testing to terrorism." The Chicago Tribune —

From the Publisher

The Barnes & Noble Review
Prominent women like Sacajawea and Susan B. Anthony have their place in American history texts. The Readers' Companion to U.S. Women's History includes essays on these women but at the same time incorporates more essays examining women's roles within key historical periods. Prominent contributors such as Catherine MacKinnon, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and Sara M. Evans offer their insights and opinions on almost every topic under the sun, from the Harlem Renaissance to Mother's Day, from the Constitution to feminist theology.

In addition to a look at women's progress throughout the past 200-odd years, The Readers' Companion to U.S. Women's History offers a breakdown of the different movements that have grown out of the feminist movement. Ecofeminism, Marxist feminism, cultural feminism, and other strands of the fight for female equality are examined and discussed in context. Extensively cross-referenced, this book serves as a wonderful one-volume reference for the library of any women's-studies scholar.

—Maura Johnston

This encyclopedia of some 400 articles provides a wealth of information, but not without numerous problems. The editors (among them Mankiller, a former chief of the Cherokee Nation; and Gloria Steinem) do not provide information on the scope of the work, and the entries are uneven, with "Marriage" being equal in length to "Maternity Homes." Many entries do not have bibliographies, and cross-referencing is inconsistent. There is a section on "Western Women" but not on any other geographic area and on the "Fifties," but not on other decades. Some of the writers make no attempt at objectivity, one calling Erma Bombeck's humor "accommodationist sniping." Although the book covers women of various ethnic groups, the uneven entries and frequent lack of bibliographies are somewhat off-putting. Libraries with the Handbook of American Women's History (LJ 3/1/90) or other general histories of women in America may want to pass. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/97.] --Julie Still, Rutgers Univ. Lib., New Brunswick, N.J.

Library Journal

(Gr 7 Up) - More than 300 scholars, activists, and writers have contributed to this alphabetically arranged cross-cultural guide. In addition to the clear, descriptive entries, there are many longer evaluative essays. These narratives are written by those who have defined the field such as legal scholar Catharine A. MacKinnon, who writes on feminist jurisprudence; Judy Yung on Japanese and Korean picture brides; and Letty Cottin Pogrebin on Jewish feminism. A general article on feminism is followed by numerous shorter pieces ("Arab American Feminism," "Cultural Feminism," "Ecofeminism," etc.). Major historical events are freshly interpreted, and erased or forgotten events are brought to the fore. Entries are cross-referenced. Well-selected black-and-white photographs occasionally highlight a point in the more than 400 articles. Easily a cornerstone of any women's history collection, this ready-reference book makes fascinating reading, whether the subject is "Mother's Day" or "Lynching," "Explorers" or "Household Workers" (paid and unpaid), or controversial issues involving the Constitution or immigration. --Mary H. Cole, Polytechnic Preparatory Country Day School, NY

School Library Journal