American Women
in Biography & Nonfiction

March is National Women’s History Month

Abigail Adams, respected advisor to her husband John
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams,
Margaret A. Hogan, editor  973.44092 ADA

Jane Addams, social worker, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy
Louise W. Knight  B ADDAMS

Madeleine Albright, politician, stateswoman
Madam Secretary,
Madeleine Korbel Albright  327.092 ALB

Marian Anderson, opera singer
Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey,
Allan Keiler  B ANDERSON

Maya Angelou, writer, woman of letters, actress, composer
The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou,
Maya Angelou  B ANGELOU

Susan B. Anthony, writer, women’s rights activist
Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: An Illustrated History,
Geoffrey C. Ward  305.42092 WAR

Ella Baker, political activist
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision
Barbara Ransby  B BAKER

Martha Ballard, New England nurse and midwife
A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812,
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich  974.16 ULR

Clara Barton, nurse, philanthropist, educator
A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War,
Stephen B. Oates  973.775 OAT

Lillie Devereux Blake, author, reformer, suffragist
Lillie Devereux Blake: Retracing a Life Erased,
Grace Farrell  B BLAKE

Margaret Bourke-White, photographer
Margaret Bourke-White: The Photography of Design, 1927-1936
Stephen Bennett Phillips  770.92 PHI

Rachel Carson, biologist, writer
Courage for the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson,
Peter Matthiessen, editor  577.279 COU

Willa Cather, writer
The Stuff of Our Forebears: Willa Cather’s Southern Heritage
Joyce McDonald  ONLINE BOOK

Jacqueline Cochran, world renowned pilot
Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fastest Lane,
Doris L. Rich  B COCHRAN

Jill Ker Conway, educator, writer, historian
A Woman’s Education,
Jill K. Conway  B CONWAY

Dorothy Day, social reformer
All is Grace: The Spirituality of Dorothy Day,
William D. Miller  267.182 MIL

Emily Dickinson, poet
My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson
Alfred Habegger  B DICKINSON

Drew Gilpin Faust, educator, first woman president of Harvard University
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
Drew Gilpin Faust  973.71 FAU

Althea Gibson, Olympic athlete
Born to Win: The Authorized Biography of Althea Gibson
Frances Clayton Gray  B GIBSON

Katharine Graham, writer, publisher
Katharine Graham: The Leadership Journey of an American Icon
Robin Gerber  070.5092 GER

Martha Graham, dancer, choreographer
Martha Graham: A Dancer’s Life,
Russell Freedman  B GRAHAM

Zora Neale Hurston, writer of the Harlem Renaissance era
Wrapped In Rainbows: The Life Of Zora Neale Hurston
Valerie Boyd  B Hurston

Dorothy I. Height, humanitarian
Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir,
Dorothy Height  B HEIGHT

Lillian Hellman, author
Lillian Hellman: A Life with Foxes and Scoundrels
Deborah Martinson  B HELLMAN

Maxine Hong Kingston, author
The Fifth Book of Peace,
Maxine Hong Kingston  813.54 KIN

Dorothea Lange, photographer
Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment,
Dorothea Lange  940.53089956 LAN

Emma Lazarus, poet and translator
Emma Lazarus, Esther H. Schor  B LAZARUS

Susan Love, physician, breast cancer expert
Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book,
Susan M. Love  618.19 LOV

Wilma Pearl Mankiller, Native American tribal leader
Every Day Is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women
Wilma Mankiller  305.48897 MAN

Margaret Mead, anthropologist, author
To Cherish the Life of the World: Selected Letters of Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead  301.092 MEA

Toni Morrison, author
Remember: The Journey to School Integration,
Toni Morrison  379.263 MOR

Sandra Day O’Connor, Supreme Court Justice
The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor  347.7326 OCO

Georgia O’Keeffe, artist
Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O’Keeffe
Hunter Drohojowska-Philp  B O’Keeffe

Rosa Parks, Civil Rights activist
She Would Not Be Moved: How We Tell the Story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott,
Herbert Kohl  323.092 KOH

Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady, humanitarian
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters to Eleanor Roosevelt Through Depression and War,
Cathy D. Knepper, editor  973.917 DEA

Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. Senator
No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith
Janann Sherman  B SMITH

Gloria Steinem, feminist
Gloria Steinem: A Biography,
Patricia Cronin Marcello  B Steinem

Sojourner Truth, abolitionist, human rights activist
Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol,
Nell Irvin Painter  B TRUTH

Dorothy West, writer of the Harlem Renaissance era
The Richer, the Poorer: Stories, Sketches, and Reminiscences
Dorothy West  818.54 WES

Martha Wright, women’s rights activist
A Very Dangerous Woman: Martha Wright and Women’s Rights
Sherry H. Penney and James D. Livingston  B Wright

The St. Charles Public Library premium databases have a wealth of information. Access is free for Library cardholders. For help searching these or other Library resources, Ask Us!Other online resources include:

• National Women’s History Project
• Thomson Gale Free Resources Women’s History Month
  
• The History Channel, Women’s History Month

For more suggestions, contact Readers Services at 630-584-0076, ext. 214.