This is a fun book to pick up for Women’s History Month because, in addition to some women you have probably heard of- such as singer Marian Anderson, sharpshooter Annie Oakley, Civil Rights Activist Ida B. Wells, and journalist Nelly Bly- it’s full of short illustrated biographical sketches of women who may have made headlines in their time but are little-known today.
Union soldier Albert D. J. Cashier, who fought in forty battles and made a daring escape after capture by Confederates, later was revealed to be female, born Jennie Irene Hodgers. African American nurse, author, and teacher Susie King Taylor was born a slave but secretly learned to read and write and later taught Civil War soldiers to do so on the Sea Islands of South Carolina. (Her family found freedom there, as it was occupied by the Union.) Chinese American suffragist Dr. Mabel Ping Hua Lee was the first Chinese American to earn a PhD in Economics from Columbia University, in addition to her work as a suffragist which started in her teens. Although she was active in advocating for voting rights within Chinese American communities, it is not known whether she ever achieved citizenship or was able to cast a vote. Nampeyo was a Native American pottery maker who grew up on a Hopi reservation and created inimitable pottery designs, many now in the Smithsonian.
Fully illustrated with color and b & w throughout the pages, this book is enjoyable to browse through and written at a middle school level. The table of contents is organized by achievement: Scientists, Doctors and Nurses, Artists and Entertainers, Reformers, etc., making it easy for young readers (or readers of any age) to find stories they may be most interested in.