Women's History Past and Present: Adult

Nonfiction titles for adults that chronicle the lives of extraordinary women, examine historical movements, and address feminist issues.

Updated February 13, 2024
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White feminism : from the suffragettes to influencers and who they leave behind
Beck, Koa
Written "with passion and insight about the knotted history of racism within women's movements and feminist culture" (Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author), this whip-smart, timely, and impassioned call for change is perfect for fans of Good and Mad and...
Eve : how the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution
Bohannon, Cat
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST * THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved, offering a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is, how it came to be, and how this evolution...
37 words : Title IX and fifty years of fighting sex discrimination
Boschert, Sherry
A sweeping history of the federal legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in education, published on the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to...
Twice as hard : the stories of Black women who fought to become physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century
Brown, Jasmine
Black women physicians' stories have gone untold for far too long, leaving gaping holes in American medical history, in women's history, and in black history. It's time to set the record straight No real account of black women physicians in the US exists, and what little mention...
Civil rights queen : Constance Baker Motley and the struggle for equality
Brown-Nagin, Tomiko
A TIME BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * The first major biography of one of our most influential judges--an activist lawyer who became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary--that provides an eye-opening account of the twin struggles for gender equality and civil rights in the...
How to be a Renaissance woman : the untold history of beauty & female creativity
Burke, Jill
An alternative history of the Renaissance--as seen through the emerging literature of beauty tips--focusing on the actresses, authors, and courtesans who rebelled against the misogyny of their era. Beauty, make-up, art, power:
Mr. President, how long must we wait? : Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the fight for the right to vote
Cassidy, Tina
In this "heroic narrative" (The Wall Street Journal), discover the inspiring and timely account of the complex relationship between leading suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women's equality. Woodrow Wilson lands in...
Abigail Scott Duniway and Susan B. Anthony in Oregon: Hesitate No Longer
Chambers, Jennifer
It was the spring of 1871. Pioneer entrepreneur Abigail Scott Duniway, on a business trip to purchase stock for her millinery store back in Oregon, waited breathlessly outside the suffrage convention in San Francisco. She hoped to meet Susan B. Anthony, whose career she so admired. And so they met,...
Queens of a fallen world : the lost women of Augustine's Confessions
Cooper, Kate
FINALIST: THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2023 The vibrant and surprising lives of the women in Augustine's Confessions While many know of Saint Augustine and his Confessions, few are aware of how his life and thought were influenced by women....
The girls who fought crime : the untold true story of the country's first female investigator and her crime fighting squad
Eder, Mari K.
For fans of Margot Lee Shetterley and Liza Mundy comes an inspiring feminist tale of a woman who dedicated her entire life to the New York Police Department, upending the patriarchy and the status quo for women working in public service. Corsets, Crime, and the Woman to Change Modern...
Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé
Elizabeth Cobbs
"A gripping panoramic history that pairs ingenious excavation with enlightening explanation to relight the fire of feminist political identity at the very moment when we need it most."―Tiya Miles, author of All That She Carried This passionate and inspiring...
Witchcraft : a history in thirteen trials
Gibson, Marion
A "thought-provoking and timely" (The Times, London) global history of witch trials across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, told through thirteen distinct trials that illuminate a pattern of demonization and conspiratorial thinking that has profoundly shaped human history.
The devil's half acre : the untold story of how one woman liberated the South's most notorious slave jail
Green, Kristen (Journalist)
The inspiring true story of an enslaved woman who liberated an infamous slave jail and transformed it into one of the nation's first HBCUs  In The Devil's Half Acre, New York Times ...
Formidable : American women and the fight for equality, 1920-2020
Griffith, Elisabeth
"An essential history of the struggle by both Black and white women to achieve their equal rights."--Hillary Rodham Clinton The Nineteenth Amendment was an incomplete victory. Black and white women fought hard for voting rights and doubled the number of eligible voters, but the...
The squad : AOC and the hope of a political revolution
Grim, Ryan
Semafor's Best Political Book of 2023 A riveting insider account of the progressive movement in Congress centering A.O.C., Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar--their rise, their efforts to set an ambitious agenda for the country,...
In the shadow of Quetzalcoatl : Zelia Nuttall and the search for Mexico's ancient civilizations
Grindle, Merilee Serrill
"What a woman! And what a fabulous life to unearth. Zelia Nuttall was incredibly smart, determined, a divorced single mother in a man's world, a great scholar, and an original thinker--yet today she's completely forgotten. Merilee Grindle has dug deep into the archives and uncovered her...
The six : the untold story of America's first women astronauts
Grush, Loren
"Vivid." --The Guardian * "Engrossing." --Booklist * "Suspenseful, meticulously observed, enlightening." --Margot Lee Shetterly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures In this account of America's first women astronauts "Grush...
The life and times of Hannah Crafts : the true story of The Bondwoman's Narrative
Hecimovich, Gregg A.
A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize A groundbreaking study of the first Black female novelist and her life as an enslaved woman, from the biographer who solved the mystery of her identity, with a forward by Henry Louis...
Brave Hearted : The Women of the American West
Hickman, Katie.
*WINNER OF THE WOMEN WRITING THE WEST 2023 WILLA LITERARY AWARD* Brave Hearted is not just history, it is an incredibly intense page-turning experience. To read what these women endured is to be transported into another universe of courage, loss, pain, and occasionally victory. This book...
Althea : the life of tennis champion Althea Gibson
Jacobs, Sally H.
WASHINGTON POST BEST NONFICTION OF 2023 KIRKUS REVIEWS' BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF 2023 SHORLISTED FOR THE 2023 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR "A captivating book that brilliantly reveals an American sports legend long overlooked. Sally...
Ordinary equality : the fearless women and queer people who shaped the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Rights Amendment
Kelly, Kate
We are all living through modern constitutional history in the making, and Ordinary Equality helps teach about the past, present, and future of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) through the lives of the bold, fearless women and queer people who have helped shape the U.S....
Hood feminism : notes from the women that a movement forgot
Kendall, Mikki
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "The fights against hunger, homelessness, poverty, health disparities, poor schools, homophobia, transphobia, and domestic violence are feminist fights. Kendall offers a feminism rooted in the livelihood of everyday women." --Ibram X. Kendi,...
On our best behavior : the seven deadly sins and the price women pay to be good
Loehnen, Elise
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A groundbreaking exploration of the ancient rules women unwittingly follow in order to be considered "good," revealing how the Seven Deadly Sins still control and distort our lives and illuminating a path toward a more balanced, spiritually complete way to live<...
Seduction :
Longworth, Karina,
In this riveting popular history, the creator of You Must Remember This probes the inner workings of Hollywood's glamorous golden age through the stories of some of the dozens of actresses pursued by Howard Hughes, to reveal how the millionaire mogul's obsessions with sex, power and publicity...
With her fist raised : Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the transformative power of black community activism
Lovett, Laura L.
Historian Laura Lovett weaves together a biography of an activist who was intersectional to the core revealing a remarkable legacy that few have known until now and will appeal to readers interested in urban studies, activism, and Black women's history. Dorothy Pitman Hughes was a...
The angel makers : arsenic, a midwife, and modern history's most astonishing murder ring
McCracken, Patricia Nell
The Angel Makers is a true-crime story like no other--a 1920s midwife who may have been the century's most prolific killer leading a murder ring of women responsible for the deaths of at least 160 men. The horror occurred in a rustic farming enclave in modern-day...
The great stewardess rebellion : how women launched a workplace rebellion at 30,000 feet
McShane Wulfhart, Nell
The empowering true story of a group of spirited stewardesses who "stood up to huge corporations and won, creating momentous change for all working women." (Gloria Steinem, co-founder of Ms. magazine) It was the Golden Age of Travel, and everyone wanted in. As...
Looking for Miss America : a pageant's 100-year quest to define womanhood
Mifflin, Margot
Winner of the Popular Culture Association's Emily Toth Best Book in Women's Studies Award From an author praised for writing "delicious social history" (Dwight Garner, The New York Times) comes a lively account of memorable Miss America contestants, protests, and...
The woman they could not silence : one woman, her incredible fight for freedom, and the men who tried to make her disappear
Moore, Kate, (Writer and editor)
From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman hero whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still...
Mother tongue : the surprising history of women's words
Nuttall, Jennifer Anne
"A fascinating look at how we talk about women. . . . Dense with information and anecdotes, Mother Tongue touches on the hilarious and the devastating, with ample dashes of an ingredient so painfully absent from most discussions of sex and gender: humor." ―Lisa Selin Davis, The...
Unmentionable : the Victorian lady's guide to sex, marriage, and manners
Oneill, Therese
Have you ever wished you could live in an earlier, more romantic era? Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there's arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn't question.) ...
Scandals of classic Hollywood sex, deviance, and drama from the Golden Age of American cinema
Petersen, Anne Helen
They weren't always the saints that we make them out to be. Columnist Anne Helen Petersen is here to set the record straight with Scandals of Classic Hollywood. Pulling little-known gems from the archives of film history, Petersen reveals eyebrow-raising information, including: The smear campaign...
Femina : a new history of the Middle Ages, through the women written out of it
Ramirez, Janina
THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 CUNDIL HISTORY PRIZE A "Next Big Idea Book Club" Must Read? A groundbreaking reappraisal of medieval femininity, revealing why women have been written out of history and why it matters ...
Secrets of the sprakkar : Iceland's extraordinary women and how they are changing the world
Reid, Eliza
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER! "Secrets of the Sprakkar is a fascinating window into what a more gender-equal world could look like, and why it's worth striving for. Iceland is doing a lot to level the playing field- paid parental leave, affordable...
In the form of a question : the joys and rewards of a curious life
Schneider, Amy
"Warm and funny." --The New York Times * "Refreshingly no-holds-barred." --USA TODAY * "Delightful." --San Francisco Chronicle An inspirational, witty, and bold memoir from the most successful woman ever to compete on Jeopardy!--an exploration of...
The trouble with white women : a counterhistory of feminism
Schuller, Kyla
An incisive history of self-serving white feminists and the inspiring women who've continually defied them Women including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Sanger, and Sheryl Sandberg are commonly celebrated as leaders of feminism. Yet they have fought for the...
Lost & found : a memoir
Schulz, Kathryn
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * A "profound and beautiful" (Marilynne Robinson) account of joy and sorrow from one of the great writers of our time, The New Yorker's Kathryn Schulz, winner of the Pulitzer Prize "I will stake my reputation on...
We set the night on fire : igniting the gay revolution
Shelley, Martha
Martha Shelley didn't start out in life wanting to become a gay activist, or an activist of any kind. The daughter of Jewish refugees and undocumented immigrants in New York City, she grew up during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s, was inspired by the civil rights and...
50 years of Ms. : the best of the pathfinding magazine that ignited a revolution
Spillar, Katherine
A celebration of Ms.-the most startling, most audacious, most norm-breaking of the magazine's groundbreaking pieces on women, men, politics (sexual and otherwise), marriage, family, education, work, motherhood, and reproductive rights, as well as the best of the magazine's fiction, poetry,...
The dress diary : secrets from a Victorian woman's wardrobe
Strasdin, Kate.
In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments -- some her own, others donated by family and friends -- she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of their lives. Her name was Mrs. Anne Sykes.
Heiresses : the lives of the million dollar babies
Thompson, Laura
New York Times bestselling author Laura Thompson returns with Heiresses, a fascinating look at the lives of heiresses throughout history and the often tragic truth beneath the gilded surface. Heiresses: surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are...
Dinners With Ruth : A Memoir on the Power of Friendships
Totenberg, Nina
Celebrated NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg delivers an extraordinary memoir of her personal successes, struggles, and life-affirming relationships, including her beautiful friendship of nearly fifty years with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Four years before Nina...
The agitators three friends who fought for abolition and women's rights
Wickenden, Dorothy
Harriet Tubman was one of the most important conductors on the underground railroad and hid the enslaved men, women, and children she rescued in the basement kitchens of Martha Wright and Frances Seward. Harriet worked for the Union Army as a nurse and spy. Martha organized women's rights and...
Dear Black girls : how to be true to you
Wilson, A'ja
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Through honest stories and inspiring lessons from her life, A'ja Wilson reminds us to never doubt who we are or apologize for being true to ourselves. Dear Black Girls is a must-read for every Black girl out there." âe...

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