Product Description

In this highly readable, illuminating narrative that spans the twentieth century, Karenna Gore Schiff tells the remarkable stories of nine influential women who each in her own way tackled inequity and advocated change. These women recognized our country wasnt living up to its promise and fought to alter it. The women shes selected are as varied as they are inspirational. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was born a slave and fought against lynching; Mother Jones, an Irish immigrant who organized coal miners and campaigned against child labor; Alice Hamilton, who pushed for regulation of industrial toxins; Frances Perkins, who established our social security program; Virginia Durr, a high society Southern belle who fought the poll tax and segregation; Septima Clark, who helped to register black voters; Dolores Huerta, who organized farm workers; Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, an activist for reproductive rights; and Gretchen Buchenholz, currently one of the nations leading child advocates. Karenna Gore Schiff delivers an intimate and accessible account of the nine trail-blazing women who deserve not only to be honored but to have their example serve as a guiding light for activists and leaders of tomorrow.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #757030 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-08
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.96 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Schiff, who is most notably Al Gore's oldest daughter and a lawyer and journalist, has put together a collective biography of nine outstanding American women of the 20th century—some unjustly little known. The more celebrated are Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1931), an African-American journalist who brought the horrors of lynching to public attention; Mother Jones (c. 1837–1930), an Irish immigrant and lifelong crusader for workers' rights; and Frances Perkins (1882–1965), the first woman Cabinet member, appointed by FDR. Schiff also illuminates less renowned but highly influential figures, including Alice Hamilton (1869–1970) a physician and pioneer in calling attention to the dangers of industrial poisons, and Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987), child of a former slave, who became a teacher and tireless advocate for racial equality. Several of the subjects are still alive, like Dolores Huerta, cofounder with César Chávez of the United Farm Workers, and Gretchen Buchenholz, who established the Association to Benefit Children. Schiff has done excellent research, and though her prose isn't especially stylish, she shows her heroines as fully rounded figures. She points out, for example, that Wells-Barnett's feud with the NAACP was counterproductive and that Mother Jones's opposition to women's suffrage limited her reach. (Feb. 8)
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From Booklist
Schiff, journalist, lawyer, and daughter of former vice president Al Gore, highlights the lives of nine women who have had enormous impact on the social and political history of the U.S., though most of them are relatively unknown. Schiff acknowledges that her selections are entirely personal. The nine include Ida B. Wells Barnett, antilynching activist; Mother Jones, an advocate for coal miners; Dr. Alice Hamilton, a proponent of workers' rights in the chemical industry; Frances Perkins, who helped establish Social Security; Virginia Durr, who fought to end poll taxes; Septima Poinsette Clark, an advocate for the rights of black voters; Dolores Huera, farmworker organizer; Dr. Helen Rodrigues-Trias, a reproductive rights activist; and Gretchen Buchenholz, a child advocate. The elements tying these women's lives together are a strong sense of women's rights as well as a devotion to making social change while caring for family and friends. This is an inspirational collection of biographies of women of various social, ethnic, and racial backgrounds fighting for social justice. Vanessa Bush
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