Womens History Month – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

New History Book: Wilma Mankiller: A Life in American History by Tamrala Swafford Bliss, Edited by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier.

Buy at Your Local Bookstore | Bookshop.org | Amazon | ABC-CLIO

It’s always wonderful to share the nice news that the next book in the Women Making History series that I’m co-editing with my dear friend and colleague Peg Lamphier has been published by ABC-Clio this month. We want to congratulate author Tamrala Swafford Bliss for all her hard work on the life of Wilma Mankiller, the first female elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

We can’t wait to see the next few books in our series come to publication. The book on Delores Huerta was recently handed in, written by a colleague at Mt. San Antonio College, and one of our Stephens College MFA alums is scheduled to have her book on Sally Ride completed next year.

We know (being meant for libraries) that the volumes in this series are higher priced so we can’t ask everyone to buy a copy – but you can alert your local public or school library to their existence and ask that they by a copy for their stacks (or their Kindle offerings).

Women Making History Series Description

Women Making History is a series of single-volume books that examine the lives and historical impact of the most iconic figures in American Women’s history.

Books in the Women Making History series explore the lives and contributions of important women in American history. Each volume goes beyond biographical details to consider historical context and explicitly discuss the world in which the individual lived and worked, the challenges she faced, and her lasting contributions. This approach allows readers to explore not just the life of a particular woman but also her various political, social, cultural, and historical contexts. In addition to chronological chapters, sidebars, a timeline, document excerpts, and a bibliography, an introductory chapter explores the cultural and historical significance of the individual and places her in the overall historical context, as well as how her actions, beliefs, or positions influenced not only women’s history but history as a whole.

See the entire series on the ABC-CLIO Web Site

New History Book: Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life in American History by Keri F. Dearborn, Edited by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier.

Buy at Your Local Bookstore | Bookshop.org | Amazon | ABC-CLIO

It’s time to celebrate the latest book in our series to be published – Keri Dearborn’s Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life in American History landed on my doorstep yesterday and I couldn’t be more excited to read it (even though I’ve already read it to edit it). It comes on the tail of my having watched The First Lady series on Showtime which we hope has interested a new generation in the life and times of this amazing woman.

As with all of our authors in the series, Keri’s research was fascinating to follow – my favorite new fact was learning (thanks to the release of new primary documents) that the scientists who talked to FDR about the Manhattan Project weren’t able to make an appointment with the president – but one of them was in a social club with Mrs. Roosevelt and used that connection to talk to her first. She’s the one who told FDR he had to meet with them.

Those are the great details all of our authors have found (or are still finding in the books that are being completed in the next year or so). We thank the authors whose books have been published (covering Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Hilary Clinton, and Helen Keller) – and look forward to the ones yet to come which cover the lives of Wilma Mankiller, Ida B. Wells, Sally Ride, and Delores Huerta.

Women Making History Series Description

Women Making History is a series of single-volume books that examine the lives and historical impact of the most iconic figures in American Women’s history.

Books in the Women Making History series explore the lives and contributions of important women in American history. Each volume goes beyond biographical details to consider historical context and explicitly discuss the world in which the individual lived and worked, the challenges she faced, and her lasting contributions. This approach allows readers to explore not just the life of a particular woman but also her various political, social, cultural, and historical contexts. In addition to chronological chapters, sidebars, a timeline, document excerpts, and a bibliography, an introductory chapter explores the cultural and historical significance of the individual and places her in the overall historical context, as well as how her actions, beliefs, or positions influenced not only women’s history but history as a whole.

See the entire series on the ABC-CLIO Web Site

Failing to Credit Screenwriters Once Again…

A funny thing happened to me on the way to making my own list of 25 Films Written By Women to counter the “52 Films by Women” put out by the WIF (Women In Film).

Their list only included films directed by women and didn’t even bother listing the names of the writers (some of whom were also women).

So I Googled ’20 Films Written by Women’ to see what someone else may have collected and found this list of “128 Best Movies Written by Women of All Time”.

Can you find the flaw in the way they list the movies?

I can and it’s driving me CRAZY…

…and then I found that even though they list the writers in the opening paragraphs, they omit the screenwriter’s name from the movie’s details.

WTF?

Now Available: Gloria Steinem: A Life in American History by William H. Pruden III, Edited by Drs. Rosanne Welch and Peg Lamphier

Good Morning to all our dedicated authors in the Women Making History series for ABC-Clio.

Peg and I wanted to share the nice news that Book #2 has been published and congratulate author Bill Pruden for all his hard work on the life of Gloria Steinem. We can’t wait to see the rest of the books in our series come to publication.

We know (being meant for libraries) that the volumes are higher priced so we can’t ask you all to buy a copy – but you can alert your local public or school library to their existence and ask that they buy a copy for their stacks (or their Kindle offerings). (Download A PDF Flyer for the book)

Stay safe and keep reading! — Rosanne and Peg

Women’s History Month 31: Mary Walker

Mary Walker

A surgeon for the Union during the American Civil War and the only woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, Mary Edwards Walker was born on November 26, 1832, in Oswego Town, New York. Her parents, Vesta Whitcomb and Alvah Walker, held 25 acres of land on which they grew fruits and vegetables for market. The family also kept a library for all five of their daughters to use. As a youth, Walker was interested in Spiritualism and supported abolition, temperance, and women’s rights, including suffrage.

Learn more about Mary Walker

Learn about more Women In History with these encyclopedia from Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Women’s History Month 30: Ellen Craft

Ellen Craft

Ellen Craft was a fugitive slave made famous by the daring escape she and her husband William Craft (1824–1900) made in December 1848. Ellen, disguised as an infirm and sickly slaveholding gentleman, and her husband William, posing as a slave servant, traveled from the slaveholding state of Georgia to freedom in Philadelphia. So widely publicized was their escape that the Crafts became world- renowned spokespersons for abolitionism.

Learn more about Ellen Craft

Learn about more Women In History with these encyclopedia from Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Women’s History Month 29: Margaretta Forten

Margaretta Forten

Margaretta Forten was instrumental in founding the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, an influential local chapter of abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison’s American Anti-Slavery Society, and served as an active member and frequent officer of the society during its entire 37-year history.

Forten was the daughter of free blacks James and Charlotte Vandine Forten. The Fortens were staunch abolitionists, and their children spent much of their time attending abolitionist meetings while they were growing up. The family also entertained prominent abolitionists and moral reformers in their home. After one such visit, poet John Greenleaf Whittier was so taken with the family that he wrote a poem titled “To the Daughters of James Forten.”

Learn more about Margaretta Forten

Learn about more Women In History with these encyclopedia from Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Women’s History Month 28: Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Singer, songwriter, and the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee. The fourth of five children, Aretha Franklin was raised in Detroit, Michigan, where her father was the head of the congregation of the New Bethel Baptist Church. Often in the presence of popular singers, both gospel and secular, she was influenced by performers such as Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Dinah Washington. Gospel great Mahalia Jackson was also a visitor to the Franklin household. Franklin was first recorded as a gospel artist at age 14.

Learn more about Aretha Franklin

Learn about more Women In History with these encyclopedia from Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Women’s History Month 27: Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe

Writer Julia Ward Howe’s poem, set to music, became “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the anthem for the Union cause in the American Civil War. While that piece cemented Howe’s place in American history, her writing career extended well beyond the single work, and with her efforts as an antislavery and women’s rights activist, she became a woman of great historical significance.

Learn more about Julia Ward Howe

Learn about more Women In History with these encyclopedia from Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Women’s History Month 26: Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley

Poet Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa, sold into slavery, and eventually freed. She wrote poems at a time when many people argued that people of African descent were so inferior to Euro-Americans as to be fit only for slavery. She is remembered as a preeminent poet of the American Revolutionary period.

Unlike most slaves, Wheatley had an opportunity to demonstrate an intellectual talent that her masters were willing to develop. As a result, she received a rather extensive education for the time— something rather rare for any woman, let alone a slave.

Learn more about Phillis Wheatley

Learn about more Women In History with these encyclopedia from Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library