Female on the Front Lines
12 Books on Iconic Pioneering Women
It takes courage and bravery to stand against the status quo. And even more to actively dismantle it. These are the women that have been doing the dirty work, fighting against discrimination and inequality at every turn, and serving as icons for what a resilient and just world looks like. If there was any doubt, just look to these trailblazing women to confirm the future is indeed female, and its going to be radical.
Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel
A common theme in the history of modern science are the women hired to do the menial labor, computations and calculations that would later be taken over by machines. These “human computers” were responsible for interpreting the data astronomers collected through telescopes, but quickly, with improving photographic technology, began to build the foundations for our current understanding of the universe, including discerning what the stars are made of, how to measure distances between them, and creating classification systems for further research. These ladies show us how to reach for the stars, literally.
Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age by Amani Al-Khatahtbeh
The founder and editor-in-chief of MuslimGirl.com, Amani started an organization of Muslim-American activists dedicated to fighting Islamaphobia and diversifying the discussion around Islam, terrorism, and immigration. Muslim Girl is filled with accounts of her experiences, as well as of her fellow writers, growing up in the wake of 9/11 and the following Middle Eastern wars. She made Forbes’ 30 under 30 list this year and is inspiring thousands to recognize and combat the discrimination against Muslim women.
The Rabbi’s Atheist Daughter: Ernestine Rose, International Feminist Pioneer by Bonnie S. Anderson
Ernestine Rose achieved notoriety and fame for her activism for feminism, free thought, and anti-slavery during the 1850s, more popular even than her counterparts Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Over her career, she spoke on a lecture circuit in 23 of 31 states against oppression and helped lead the social reform movements of the 20th century. After years of being written out of mainstream narratives for her radicalism, immigrant status, and atheism, Rose’s revolutionary achievements come to the foreground in this account.
Blue Legacies and Black Feminism by Angela Davis
In this book, Angela Davis, one of the country’s leading revolutionary activists for civil rights, turns the spotlight on the careers of three crucially influential black singers: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. These beautiful, soulful singers were more than just entertainment, Davis argues, the roots of the blues serve as a consciousness-raising vehicle for American social memory and were profoundly important in resisting and changing mainstream American culture.
Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World by Linda Hirshman
This dual biography of the first and second female Supreme Court judges goes beyond their external differences: Christian and Jewish, Republican and Democrat, from a rural farm and a Brooklyn neighborhood. These groundbreaking women fought tooth-and-nail for recognition in a male-dominated industry (and society) bolstered by each other’s presence, and shaped the legal framework of our country to better serve all women.
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Similar to the story of the women behind the Harvard Observatory, Hidden Figures uncovers the extraordinary women at NASA. Called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America’s aeronautics industry desperately needed help, four African American women, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, joined Virginia’s Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory and participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes, including launching America into space.
Other Powers: the Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull by Barbara Goldsmith
Victoria Woodhull is a fascinating character. A spiritualist, clairvoyant, faith healer and apostle of free love who maintained that her spirit guide had set her on a mission to create a social revolution, she was also a publisher, the first woman to run for president, and spearheaded suffrage efforts. This colorful biography does a wonderful job examining her life at the intersections of spirituality, religion, women’s health, and equal rights.
On Lynchings by Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Daring to write the lone protest of white lynchings in 1892 in her Memphis newspaper at just 23 years old, Ida B. Wells, teacher, editor, journalist, and civil rights activist, brought international attention to the horrific crimes taking place in the post-Civil War South. Known for her investigative journalism, deliberately relying on white sources, she laid the groundwork for landmark social and political victories in anti-lynching, suffrage, and civil rights cases, founded the first black women’s suffrage association, and was a founding member of the NAACP.
Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith
Undoubtedly one of the most prominent scientists of the 20th century, Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, and later a second in Chemistry, setting the stage for the exploration of the atom. This portrait, also by noted biographer Barbara Goldsmith, shows both the public and private lives of a complex woman. Battling discrimination in the scientific community as well as mental health and tragedy in her personal life, Curie is an important figure as a pioneering scientist and female role model.
Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years and After 1939–1962 by Blanche Weissen Cook
One of the most active first ladies, politicians, and social reformers, this three part series on Eleanor Roosevelt follows the rise and work of an incredible public figure, affectionately known as “the first lady of the world”. In previous volumes, Cook explores Roosevelt’s childhood and complex partnership with her husband Franklin, and this third and final book focuses on the years from the U.S. entry into WWII to her death, which Roosevelt spent fighting for economic security, New Deal reforms, racial equality and refugee rescue. Widely considered ahead of her time, this book is a testament to Roosevelt’s tireless activism and monumental influence.
The Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How Her Journey Inspires Our Own edited by Veronica Chambers
Possibly one of the most beloved first ladies we’ve had, Michelle Obama stands as an icon as the first Black first lady. On top of heading successful programs dedicated to public health, education, and service members and their families, she has challenged traditional ideas from day one about what it means to be beautiful, strong, healthy, and fashion-conscious. This collection looks at Michelle’s impact in our cultural consciousness and her indelible mark on our hearts.
My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King and Dr. Barbara Reynolds
This is an intimate account of the activist, singer, and wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as she told her long time friend and journalist Barbara Reynolds. Resilient in the face of a violent childhood in the South, Coretta was a powerful force in her own right. One of the first black scholarship students at Antioch College, she soon became representative of the backbone of the civil rights movement, championing women’s, workers’ and gay rights and was a powerful voice for nonviolence. She lobbied for fifteen years for the US to adopt MLK Day as national holiday and founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and it remains a testament to the power of peace.
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