Women’s History Month: 9 books highlight women's phenomenal impacts

Daring heroines

In honor of Women’s History Month, BookTrib checked in at the Women’s Biography roundtable at the Biographers International Organization to discover the daring women their authors have recently written about. From heiresses to working girls, from doctors to engineers, from activists to rulers, these women live life on their own terms and make their ambitions a reality. Here are nine books that feature women who pushed beyond their culture’s gender barriers over the course of history.

‘A Mighty Force’ by Marcia Biederman

In late 1945, news of World War II’s end shared front pages with reports of a homefront battle led by a woman. She was Elizabeth O. Hayes, M.D., a doctor for a mining company that owned Force, Pennsylvania, where sewage contaminated the drinking water and ambulances sank into muddy roads. Corrupt corporate heads refused to make improvements. When Hayes resigned to protest the intolerable living conditions, 350 miners went on strike in support of her, shaking the foundation of the town and igniting a media storm.

At age 33, “Dr. Betty” was at the center of an environmental drama that captivated the nation, complete with villains, surprises, setbacks and a mostly happy ending. “A Mighty Force” is the only book, popular or academic, written about Hayes. Author Marcia Biederman draws on news reports, interviews, court records and oral histories to tell the story of this public-health hero.

‘The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine’

By Janice P. Nimura

The world recoiled at the notion of a female doctor, yet Elizabeth Blackwell persisted — in 1849, she became the first woman in America to receive an M.D. Her achievement made her an icon — “I am convinced that a new & nobler era is dawning, for medicine,” she wrote — and together with her sister Emily, a physician, she founded the first hospital staffed entirely by women, in New York City.

They prevailed against fierce resistance from the male establishment, moving among Britain, France and America during a tumultuous time of scientific discovery and civil war. Both sisters were tenacious and visionary, but their convictions did not always align with the emergence of women’s rights — or with each other. This biography celebrates two complicated pioneers who exploded the limits of possibility.

‘The Dark Queens’ by Shelley Puhak

A vivid double biography of two remarkable, trailblazing early medieval queens. Brunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet, in sixth-century Merovingian France — where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport — these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms, changing the face of Europe.

Yet after the queens’ deaths — one gentle, the other horrific — their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend. “The Dark Queens” sets the record straight, resurrecting two very real women in all their complexity and striking at the roots of some of our culture’s stubbornest myths about female power. “The Dark Queens” offers proof that the relationships between women can transform the world.

‘They Called Us Girls’ by Kathleen Courtenay Stone

At the end of World War II, more American women worked outside the home than ever before. Yet the culture, from politicians to corporations to television shows, portrayed the ideal woman as a housewife. Many women happily assumed that role, but a small segment bucked the tide — women who wanted to use their talents differently, especially in jobs that had always been reserved for men.

In the book, author Kathleen Stone meets seven of these unconventional women, all born before 1935, who broke the mold, defying expectations — as doctor, lawyer, artist, physicist, executive director and intelligence officer. In insightful, personalized portraits that span a half-century, Stone weaves stories of female ambition, uncovering the families, teachers, mentors and historical events that led to unexpected paths.

‘Overnight Code: The Life of Raye Montague, the Woman Who Revolutionized Naval Engineering’

By Paige Bowers

Raye Montague was an ambitious little girl in segregated Little Rock, Arkansas. She grew to be a woman who spent a lifetime educating herself, both inside and outside the classroom, so that she could become the person and professional she aspired to be.

Where some saw roadblocks, Montague only saw hurdles to overcome. Her mindset helped her become the first person to draft a naval ship design by computer, using a program she worked late nights to debug. She did this as a single mother during the height of the Cold War, all while imbuing her son with the hard-won wisdom she had accumulated throughout the years. Equal parts coming-of-age tale, civil rights history and reflection on the power of education, “Overnight Code” is a tale about persistence and perseverance when the odds against you seem insurmountable.

‘Dr. Mary Walker’s Civil War’ by Theresa Kaminski

In 1865, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker received the Medal of Honor from President Andrew Johnson in recognition of her medical service during the Civil War. She remains the only woman to have earned this award. Yet few people today know anything about Walker, though she was well-known — even notorious — in her lifetime. “Dr. Mary Walker’s Civil War” offers a new way of looking at that conflict, through the eyes of a woman confident she could make a contribution equal to that of any man. The U.S. Army later stripped Walker of her medal, only to have it reinstated posthumously in 1977.

From the nation’s capital to the battlefields, Walker was a familiar, hardworking figure. Her relentless pursuit of gender and racial equality is key to understanding her commitment to a Union victory in the Civil War.

‘She Votes’ by Bridget Quinn

Not your average history of women’s rights, “She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage (and What Happened Next)” is a collection of heart-pounding scenes and keenly observed portraits. Bridget Quinn tells an intersectional story of the women who won suffrage and those who have continued to raise their voices for equality ever since — from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to Sojourner Truth, from Mary Cassatt to Audre Lorde and from the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation to the first woman to wear pants on the Senate floor.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2020, 100 women artists contributed full-color illustrations to this book. Each brings a unique perspective; together, they embody the multiplicity of women in the United States. “She Votes” is a refreshing and illuminating book for feminists of all stripes.

‘Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX’

By Sara Fitzgerald

A half-century ago, female faculty members and students were unable to challenge the sex discrimination they were encountering on college campuses, because they were excluded from the protections of the recently passed civil rights laws. It was a time when public colleges enforced quotas on the number of women they admitted and women with doctorates were passed over for college teaching jobs.

“Conquering Heroines” tells the story of the University of Michigan women who devised a new strategy to pursue discrimination complaints against dozens of U.S. universities. With the help of grassroots supporters and key sympathizers, they got the federal government to address the discriminatory hiring, promotion and admissions policies that had kept well-educated women from achieving their full potential.

‘Edith: The Rogue Rockefeller McCormick’ by Andrea Ross

This thrilling story of a daughter of America’s foremost industrialist, John D. Rockefeller, tells of sex, money, mental illness and opera divas — and a woman who strove for the independence to make her own choices. Rejecting the limited gender role carved out for her by society, Edith Rockefeller McCormick forged her own path despite pushback from her family and ultimate financial ruin.

Determined to elevate industrial Chicago culturally, McCormick helped establish an opera company; supported young composers, authors and playwrights; and donated land for Brookfield Zoo. Battling depression after two of her children died, McCormick underwent analysis with a yet little-known Carl Jung and became his greatest supporter. It was a roller-coaster life encompassing great wealth, tragedy and scandal.