The National Women’s History Project has declared the theme for this year’s observance of Women’s History Month (March) to be “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business” and has selected honorees from those fields.
Among them are:
- Alexis Herman, (1947-), U.S. secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton
- Maggie Lena Walker, (1864 – 1934), the first African American woman to charter a bank in the U.S.
- Yvonne Walker, (1959-) president, Service Employees International Union, Local 1000
- Addie L. Wyatt, (1924 – 2012), international vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers and activist for civil rights and women’s rights
Women’s History Month provides an opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of these and other women, as well as on challenges women still face in the public sector, in the corporate world, in nonprofit work, and in higher education.
The publishers affiliated with DiverseBooks.net offer a wide variety of titles suitable for personal reading, research or classroom use in women’s studies and other disciplines. Here are summaries of a select few available on our site at discounts off the list price:
Women and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965, by Davis W. Houck and David E. Dixon, $45, (List price: $50) University of Mississippi Press, ISBN: 9781604731071, pp. 352.
This anthology presents the full text of 39 speeches by women who participated in the civil rights movement of 1950s and 60s, documenting their immense contributions to the struggle. Represented are such women as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Daisy Bates, Mamie Till-Mobley, Lorraine Hansberry, Dorothy Height and Rosa Parks, as well as lesser-known figures. The authors present introductions for each speech, detailing the occasions and giving biographical facts about each speaker. This book represents the first time many of the speeches were published or transcribed from audio sources, making it a valuable contribution to history.
http://diversebooks.net/women-and-the-civil-rights-movement-1954-1965.html
Making a Way out of No Way: African American Women and the Second Great Migration, by Lisa Krissoff Boehm, $45, (List Price: $50), University of Mississippi Press, ISBN: 9781604732160, pp. 304.
For seven years, the author gathered oral histories from African American women who migrated from the South and from their children. Augmenting those with oral histories from archives and her analysis, the author offers a rich dive into the lives of black women before and after the Second Great Migration.
The stories capture memories of the segregated South, as well as fond recollections of childhoods there. The book tells of their struggles to fight Northern racism, working hard jobs at low pay while raising children and gaining a foothold for their families.
http://diversebooks.net/making-a-way-out-of-no-way-african-american-women-and-the-second-great-migration.html
Queen of the Virgins: Pageantry and Black Womanhood in the Caribbean, by M. Cynthia Oliver $45, (List Price: $50), University of Mississippi Press, ISBN: 9781604732429, pp. 224.
This book presents a history and analysis of four centuries of beauty contests of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they are immensely popular and dominate cultural life. For women, these events offer significant opportunities to highlight their own talent, beauty and individuality. The author traces the history of pageants or “queen shows” to origins in Creole rituals and parades.“For the author, pageantry becomes a lens through which to view the region’s understanding of gender, race, sexuality, class, and colonial power,” the publisher’s description says.
http://diversebooks.net/queen-of-the-virgins-pageantry-and-black-womanhood-in-the-caribbean.html
Answering the Call: African American Women in Higher Education Leadership, by Beverly L. Bower and Mimi Wolverton, $58.50, (List price: $65), Stylus Publishing, ISBN: 9781579222536, pp. 176.
This book, the second in a series on women leaders in various fields, looks at the role of African American in leadership positions in higher education. It focuses on seven women, five with experience as college presidents and three from higher education policy backgrounds at the state or national levels. The book explores the influences that led them to leadership roles, the paths their careers have taken and the challenges they have faced to arrive at positions of authority in academia. Their insights provide a beacon for others to follow in their footsteps.
http://diversebooks.net/answering-the-call.html
Gender and Technology, by Caroline Sweetman, $12.33, (list price: $14.51), Oxfam Publishing, (November 1999) ISBN: 9780855984229, pp. 88.
Technology can be harnessed to further the progress of women and ease their labors, or it can be an instrument of oppression, wielded by the existing power structure to maintain inequities. The applications of technology in developing countries can be pivotal in restructuring gender roles for the betterment of all. Articles by various authors in this text consider the uses and misuses of various technologies as they relate to women in society.
http://diversebooks.net/gender-and-technology.html
Through its partnerships with leading publishers – representing university and independent presses, large and small – DiverseBooks.net brings you scholarly and academic titles about diversity, education, history and many other topics. Visit www.DiverseBooks.net to purchase books at significant discounts.
