I discovered women's history in college, and it's become a lifelong passion for me. I love uncovering women's history in my own writing, as a reader, and as a history teacher. When we study and read women's history, we see the world in new ways. I studied women's history for my PhD, and my book is all about womanpower in the U.S. military. In this list, I've used a broad definition of "womanpower," considering the various ways in which women have power or come into their power or strength as a person. I find books like these uplifting, and I'm always on the lookout for similar works.
I wrote...
Her Cold War: Women in the U.S. Military, 1945-1980
By
Tanya Roth
What is my book about?
While Rosie the Riveter had fewer paid employment options after being told to cede her job to returning World War II veterans, her sisters and daughters found new work opportunities in national defense. The 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act created permanent military positions for women with the promise of equal pay. Her Cold War follows the experiences of women in the military from the passage of the Act to the early 1980s.
Tanya L. Roth shows us that the battles these servicewomen fought for equality paved the way for women in combat, a prerequisite for promotion to many leadership positions, and opened opportunities for other service people, including those with disabilities, LGBT, and gender-nonconforming people, noncitizens, and more.
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The Books I Picked & Why
Circe
By
Madeline Miller
Why this book?
You might have heard of Circe somewhere in school, because she's known for that time when Odysseus (from Homer's The Odyssey) came to her island. Circe could transform men into pigs, so she has a reputation for being a witch. For centuries, we only knew Circe's story as told by men, but here, Circe's voice is the one we hear. Circe narrates the story of her life without holding back. This is a story of a woman coming into her power - both magic and otherwise.
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A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
By
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Why this book?
This book showcases womanpower in two ways. First, it's the story of Martha Ballard, a midwife who lived in the late 1700s and early 1800s in what's now Maine. Like many women, she kept a diary of her daily life. In her (mostly short) entries, she recorded mothers she attended and details about her daily life. Until Dr. Ulrich came along, no one found that remarkable, but Dr. Ulrich approached the diary as no one had before her and uncovered so many rich details that make Ballard's world come to life. This book is incredible not just because of Ballard's story: when doing women's history, it's not always easy to find sources. Dr. Ulrich's book is a master class in how to approach sources in innovative ways.
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Little Women
By
Louisa May Alcott
Why this book?
Every time I revisit Little WomenI find something new in this book that radiates womanpower. We always think of Jo and her sisters, and they are the heart of this story, but don't forget about Marmee! Marmee, raising her four daughters alone while her husband is off at war, shows her daughters what it means to be a powerful woman in whatever direction your life takes you. Recent film interpretations have picked up on the threads of womanpower in this story, but go back to the original to see for yourself.
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Testament of Youth
By
Vera Brittain
Why this book?
Just before World War I began, Vera Brittain finally got permission from her father to attend Oxford - then watched as her brother and all his friends went off to serve in the war. Vera left school to volunteer in the war herself, joining the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) as a nurse. Women in the VAD, like Brittain, largely had no medical backgrounds and learned their nursing skills on the job, trying - at times, frantically - to help put back the pieces as they watched the world shatter around them. Brittain's world was never the same, and her autobiography will give you a glimpse of World War I like you've never seen before.
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A Discovery of Witches
By
Deborah Harkness
Why this book?
This is the first in a (fiction!) trilogy about Diana Bishop, a historian descended from someone in the Salem Witch Trials - and, as it turns out, a pretty powerful witch in her own right. Author Deborah Harkness is a historian at the University of Southern California, and she draws on that expertise to create a rich world that blends past and present. Here, you'll find witches, vampires, and daemons, but most of all, it's a captivating tale of a woman coming into her own and discovering a world she never imagined. It's about power and knowledge and the ways in which the past shapes our lives.
