Women Making America

Women Making America was just favorably reviewed by Cindy Hudson, of Mother Daughter Book Club fame. Here is what she had to say on May 26:

I’ve been reading a book called Women Making America by Heidi Hemming and Julie Hemming Savage and I think many of you would find it both interesting and useful. First, it’s a great resource for finding information and ideas when your daughter is assigned an essay to write about a woman she admires or about an historical figure The book is organized so well you can open to any page and find some historical tidbit that you may want to follow up on.

Second, it’s the perfect guide to have when your daughter starts to realize that not many women are featured in her school history book. This may happen early in her school years, but it will certainly happen by the time she is in middle school or high school. Even better, don’t wait until your daughter questions it on her own; buy a copy and keep it out on your family room coffee table. Pique her interest by opening to any page and reading one of the boxed facts like this one from the New Ways of Living 1865—1890 section: “Employers justified paying women less by hiring them only for unskilled positions. This was impossible in the case of cigar makers from Bohemia. Women were the experts. A war in Europe led thousands to immigrate to America in the 1870s. Arriving with their own tools, these skilled workers quickly earned enough money for their husbands and children to join them.”

Women Making America is organized by era. There are nine chapters, and each covers several decades in American history. Each chapter also highlights different topics, such as health, paid work, at home, education, beauty, amusements and the arts. Sidebars on every page offer little bits of information in pull-out boxes.

There are several historical illustrations and photos on each page, and most of them are fascinating pieces of history that make you want to find out more. Women Making America is a resource you will want to have around for years to come. I highly recommend it for homes with daughters of any age.

You can find her posting at:

http://motherdaughterbookclub.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/book-review%E2%80%94women-making-america/

“I think about [my great aunt], and about my own mother, about women whose pictures you see in other historic photographs, and the women whose lives and life’s work have gone unrecognized—even in their own homes at times—and I feel I’m here on the backs of so many who have come before. We all are. If we want our girls to benefit from the courage and wisdom of the women before them, we have to share the stories.”

Shireen Dodson, Author of The Mother-Daughter Book Club

Here are a few ideas to liven up your book group evening:

• Invite members to bring old family photos to share.
• Create a shrine to the women who have been important in your own lives—include photos, symbolic items, favorite treats, poetry, or flowers.
• Share old family recipes or bring along food made with recipes from moms and grandmas.
• Bring along a treasured heirloom from a woman in your family.
• Share a favorite quote from a woman in history.
• Bring along other books of women’s history to share with people in the group who are looking for another good women’s history read.
• Invite older women to join the discussion and to talk about their youth and how they have experienced changes in all areas of their lives.
• Invite women or girls that are not from your generation to join the discussion.
• Invite the authors to attend your meeting (in the Washington, DC area), or set up a conference call on speakerphone so that they can contribute to your discussion.
• Work with your local bookstore to set up a “Women’s History Night” to widen your book group’s influence.
• Tell the group about a time when your own life intersected with a larger historical event (ie: 9:11).
• Research and tell the group about women who are making a difference today—both in America and the world.

SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR READING GROUPS

Which woman in the book would you most like to meet?

Think about the ways you learned history in school. How is this history different?

Were there moments in your reading that echoed your own life or experiences?

How might a greater knowledge of women’s history alter your understanding of women in the present?

Are there any historical periods that you find particularly fascinating?

Which stories from the book stand out in your mind?

Have you found any new heroines in the book? Women you might try to be like in some way?

Has your reading changed the way you view your everyday activities?

What was your favorite bit of trivia?

Did you notice points in history where women made great strides forward and other times where they lost ground?

The authors decided to trace beauty as a theme throughout the book. How have cultural expectations of beauty affected your life? And how might the history of beauty shed light on your own beauty practices?

Has reading this book changed the way you view your mother or grandmother in any way?

Which stories or portions of the book did you find the most amusing, sobering, disturbing, or enlightening?

If you were going to nominate one woman to a women’s hall of fame for her lasting impact on the lives of women today, who would that be?

The authors chose to include their mother (p. 309), grandmother (p.229), and some of their friends in their book. Where would you have placed your own story or the stories of your family members?

Margaret Sanger said, “It is ever a privilege to be a part of something unquestionably proved of value, something so fundamentally right.” Can you think of any causes or activities you have been involved in where you have felt this way?

Where do we go from here?