Herstory

I recently began reading the book No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, by Gloria Feldt. The book is comprised of Feldt’s views on women and power, and she provides what she calls “powertools” for women to use in order to move towards further equality and to take on more positions of power in society, work, and personal life.  While I’m not yet far enough into the book to comment much on it, I was struck by the first tool she discusses:  “Know your history and you can create the future of your choice.”  It is a pretty inspiring statement about the power of knowing your history (and would apply equally to other groups that are under-represented in history books, also).  In a short chapter, she can only get so far into women’s history, but we’ve got a large collection of books on the subject for those interested in delving further into women’s accomplishments.  The collection includes books like:

The Feminist Promise: 1792 to the Present, by Christine Stansell, which looks at the history of the feminist movement, starting with the publication of of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and continuing to modern day global feminist movements. 

Women’s Movements in the Global Era: The Power of Local Feminism, edited by Amrita Basu, which discusses some of the grassroots feminist movements that are currently sweeping the globe.   

Women’s Roots, by June Stephenson, which takes a look at the role women have played in history from antiquity to the twentieth century. 

To peruse the collection a little more, check out the subject headings Women-History or Women’s Rights- History. 

-Irene