The New Deal administration of Franklin Roosevelt brought an unprecedented number of women to Washington to serve in positions of power and influence. Beyond Suffrage is a study of women who achieved positions of national leadership in the 1930s. Susan Ware discusses the network they established, their attitudes toward feminism and social reform, and the impact they had upon the New Deal's social welfare policies and on Democratic party politics.

Susan Ware deftly chronicles the professional and private lives of seven notable women of our century. She shows how the creation or re-creation of their personae was an essential element in their success, whether they craved fame or chose a different lifestyle. She pays special attention to how they balanced their lives--married, single, or with partners, with or without children--to provide examples for today's women. All seven women chose to live exceptional and unconventional lives, offering other women examples of the ability to live beyond the limits imposed by society or family, to dream and strive, to be independent and fulfilled.

The publication of the first volumes of Notable American Women in 1971 was a watershed event in women's history. By uncovering and documenting the enormous contributions that women had made--previously overlooked or underappreciated--this important reference work changed the way historians thought and wrote about American history.

This latest volume brings the project up to date, with entries on almost 500 women whose death dates fall between January 1, 1976, and December 31, 1999. The era they shared coincides with the great expansion of opportunities for women in the twentieth century. You will find here stars of the golden ages of radio, film, dance, and television; scientists and scholars; politicians and entrepreneurs; authors and aviators; civil rights activists and religious leaders; Native American craftspeople and world-renowned artists. Women from a broad spectrum of ethnic, class, political, religious, and sexual identities are all acknowledged.

For each subject, Notable American Women offers a substantial interpretive biographical essay by a distinguished authority that integrates the woman's personal life with her professional achievements set in the context of larger historical developments.

This volume will be an indispensable reference for students and scholars of women's history and for anyone interested in the rich and varied lives led by distinguished American women.

“Lively and delightful…zooms in on the faces in the crowd to help us understand both the depth and the diversity of the women’s suffrage movement. Some women went to jail. Others climbed mountains. Visual artists, dancers, and journalists all played a part…Far from perfect, they used their own abilities, defects, and opportunities to build a movement that still resonates today.”
—Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, author of Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

“An intimate account of the unheralded activism that won women the right to vote, and an opportunity to celebrate a truly diverse cohort of first-wave feminist changemakers.”
—Ms.

“Demonstrates the steady advance of women’s suffrage while also complicating the standard portrait of it.”
—New Yorker

The story of how American women won the right to vote is usually told through the lives of a few iconic leaders. But movements for social change are rarely so tidy or top-heavy. Why They Marched profiles nineteen women—some famous, many unknown—who worked tirelessly out of the spotlight protesting, petitioning, and insisting on their right to full citizenship.

Ware shows how women who never thought they would participate in politics took actions that were risky, sometimes quirky, and often joyous to fight for a cause that mobilized three generations of activists.

The dramatic experiences of these pioneering feminists—including an African American journalist, a mountain-climbing physician, a southern novelist, a polygamous Mormon wife, and two sisters on opposite sides of the suffrage divide—resonate powerfully today, as a new generation of women demands to be heard.