National Women’s History Month

March is National Women’s History Month, and the National Womens History Project (NWHP) has made this year’s theme writing women back into history. The NWHP challenges you to recognize the importance of women in history by testing your knowledge of women’s history. The History Channel also has information on Women’s History Month, including photo galleries, speeches, and videos on topics including “Women Factory Workers of World War II” and “Maya Angelou on the Women’s Movement.” In addition, for a great picture book to accompany a lesson plan on National Women’s History Month, try My Name is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry (2008). Isabella spends the day imagining herself as different women in history and at the end of the day feels proud to be herself. This book is located in the Education S Collection, call number Q.SE. F781m. For additional resources see the bibliography below, separated into books about women in history and women today.

Women in History

Anderson, Laurie Halse.
Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution. 2008.
With page after page of researched information and detailed illustrations, author Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrator Matt Faulkner prove the case for the part of women during the American Revolution in this entertaining, informative, and long overdue homage to those independent dames!
[Education S Collection S.973.3082 An2394i]

Cummins, Julie.
Women Daredevils: Thrills, Chills and Frills. 2008.
The stories of fourteen women during the period from 1880 to 1929 who performed feats of daring from being shot out of a cannon to high-diving on horseback.
[Education S Collection S.791.0922 C9129w]

Hughes, Susan.
No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure. 2008.
Based on legends, poems, letters and first-hand accounts, these seven biographical tales tell of women who disguised themselves as men. From ancient Egypt to the 19th century, this historically accurate graphic treatment transports readers to bygone eras. For the sake of freedom, ambition, love or adventure, these women risked everything.
[Education S Collection S.306.77 H8747n]

Klier, Kimberly.
You Can’t Do That, Amelia! 2008.
This whimsically illustrated picture book captures the spirit of a young Amelia Earhart as she follows the dreams that will one day earn her a place in American history as one of the world’s first female pilots and one of the twentieth century’s most acclaimed adventurers. Well researched and supplemented with biographical information, research notes, and additional sources for the curious.
[Education S Collection SB. E121k]

Krull, Kathleen.
A Woman for President: the Story of Victoria Woodhull. 2004.
Do you know the first woman to run for president? The first woman to have a seat on the Stock Exchange? The first woman to own a newspaper? To speak before Congress? They were all Victoria Woodhull; this picture book tells her story.
[Education Storage Q. SB. W891k]

Nelson, Marilyn.
Sweethearts of Rhythm: the Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. 2009.
A look at a 1940’s all-female jazz band, that originated from a boarding school in Mississippi and found its way to the most famous ballrooms in the country, offering solace during the hard years of the war.
[Education S Collection S.811 N335s]

Stone, Tanya Lee.
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women who Dared to Dream. 2009.
Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules.
[Education S Collection S.629.450092 St724a]

Tafolla, Carmen.
Thats Not Fair! Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice = No es Justo! la Lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la Justicia. 2008.
Bilingual biography of Emma Tenayuca, who, in 1938, led 12,000 poor Mexican-American workers in a strike for better wages and living conditions.
[Education S Collection Q. S.331.88092 T125t:E]

Wheeler, Jill C.
Gertrude Chandler Warner. 2005.
This picture book looks at the life of the author of the popular children’s series “The Boxcar Children.”
[Education S Collection SB. W281w]

Woelfle, Gretchen.
Jeannette Rankin: a Political Pioneer. 2007.
The author has collected photographs, newspaper clippings, campaign materials, and other historical documents to tell the story of the first congresswoman in American history.
[Education S Collection SB. R2113w]

Women Today

Banting, Erinn.
Condoleezza Rice. 2008.
This biography looks at Condoleezza Rice. She was the first African American Secretary of State and the second woman to serve in this position. She was also George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor and returned in 2009 to teaching at Stanford University as a professor in political science.
[Education S Collection SB. R495b]

Bardhan-Quallen, Sudipta.
Jane Goodall: A Twentieth-Century Life. 2008.
Biography of Jane Goodall who at age twenty-six started a six-month project at the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve on Lake Tanganyika, Africa which became her life’s work.
[Education S Collection SB. G646b]

Cooper, Ilene.
Oprah Winfrey: A Twentieth-Century Life. 2007.
Oprah Winfrey has been called the Queen of All Media for good reason–during her more than thirty-year career, she has left an indelible mark on radio, television, film, theater, magazines, and books. Oprah is also a committed humanitarian.
[Education Storage SB. W768c]

Fournel, Kelly.
Great Women from Our First Nations. 2007.
This book looks at women role models from Canada’s “First Nations” — the Native people of Canada.
[Education S Collection S.305.48 F8271g]

Gelfand, Dale Ewa.
Coretta Scott King: Civil Rights Activist. 2007.
Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and is also an author with a medal named after her for outstanding African American writers in the field of children’s literature. She died in 2006.
[Education S Collection SB. K521g]

Hinman, Bonnie.
Xtreme Athletes: Danica Patrick. 2009.
This book profiles Danica Patrick, the first woman to win an Indy car race. In 2009 she placed third in the Indianapolis 500, the highest finishing place by a woman in the event’s history.
[Education S Collection SB. P314h]

Lashnits, Tom.
Maya Lin. 2007.
Maya Lin is known for her sculpture and landscape art. When she was 21 she won a public competition to become designer for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
[Education S Collection SB. L735la]

Napoli, Donna Jo.
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya. 2010.
This story is based on the life of Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner who was head of the National Council of Women in Kenya. She started the Green Belt Movement which encourages women to plant trees to improve their environment and quality of life.
[Education S Collection Q. SB. M112n]

Stinson, Kathy.
Love Every Leaf: the Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. 2008.
This 96-page biography tells Oberlander’s remarkable life’s story, complete with photographs and plans for the imaginative playgrounds and the innovative museum and embassy grounds she has created around the world, and for green rooftops, her latest passion. Young readers will not only learn about the profession, but also will find inspiration in her love for the natural world and the respect and concern she shows for our environment.

[Education S Collection SB. O124s]