Details

Subject(s)

• African American women—Biography [Browse]

Library of Congress genre(s)

• Biographies [Browse]

Summary note

This introductory text explores the lives of 100 Black women and their unique and meaningful legacies upon the history, society, and culture of the USA. Today, the names and remarkable achievements of Black women such as Maya Angelou, Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey are well known to many Americans. Yet throughout American history, many lesser-known Black women like them have made invaluable contributions to sports, science, the arts, medicine, politics, and civil rights. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, who published the first newspaper written for and by African American women, championed the cause of women's suffrage. Matilda Sissieretta Jones, whose father was an enslaved person, toured Europe and performed at the White House in front of four different presidents as one of the great sopranos of her generation. Augusta Savage, overcoming racism and sexism, became one of the most celebrated sculptors in history. This book serves as an important reminder that the story of America cannot be told without the Black women who, with strength and determination, have always pushed America forward even when others held them back.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• Timeline Showing the Contributions of Black Women in the United States
• Chapter 1: Abolition and Suffrage
• Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman ( c. 1742-1829)
• Sojourner Truth ( c. 1797-1883)
• Harriet Tubman (early 1820s-1913)
• Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893)
• Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911)
• Chapter 2: Politics and Law
• Bessie A. Buchanan (1902-1980)
• Jane Bolin (1908-2007)
• Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005)
• Patricia Harris (1924-1985)
• Barbara Jordan (1936-1996)
• Carol Moseley Braun (1947-)
• Condoleezza Rice (1954-)
• Susan Rice (1964-)
• Michelle Obama (1964-)
• Kamala Harris (1964-)
• Ketanji Brown Jackson (1970-)
• Chapter 3: Civil Rights and Activism
• Elizabeth Jennings Graham (1827-1901)
• Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (1842-1924)
• Ida B. Wells (1862-1931)
• Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987)
• Ella Baker (1903-1986)
• Amelia Boynton Robinson (1911-2015)
• Dorothy I. Height (1912-2010)
• Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
• Florynce Kennedy (1916-2000)
• Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)
• Stormé DeLarverie (1920-2014)
• Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005)
• Gloria Richardson (1922-2021)
• Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)
• Marian Wright Edelman (1939-)
• Claudette Colvin (1939-)
• Angela Davis (1944-)
• Ruby Bridges Hall (1954-)
• Chapter 4: The Arts and Film
• Edmonia Lewis ( c. 1844-1907)
• Maria P. Williams (1866-1932)
• Emma Azalia Smith Hackley (1867-1922)
• Sissieretta Jones (1868-1933)
• Madame Sul-Te-Wan (1873-1959)
• Evelyn Preer (1896-1932)
• Marian Anderson (1897-1993)
• Augusta Savage (1892-1962)
• Hattie McDaniel (1893-1952)
• Katherine Dunham (1909-2006)
• Barbara Conrad (1937-2017)
• Virginia Johnson (1950-)
• Aesha Ash (1977-)
• Misty Copeland (1982-)
• Chapter 5: Music and Entertainment
• Ma Rainey (1886-1939)
• Bessie Smith (1894-1937)
• Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972)
• Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973)
• Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
• Dorothy Dandridge (1922-1965)
• Big Mama Thornton (1926-1984)
• Eartha Kitt (1927-2008)
• Diahann Carroll (1935-2019)
• Aretha Franklin (1942-2018)
• Chapter 6: Sports
• Alice Coachman (1923-2014)
• Althea Gibson (1927-2003)
• Mamie Johnson (1935-2017)
• Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994)
• Dianne Durham (1968-2021)
• Serena Williams (1981-)
• Chapter 7: Business, Law, and Industry
• Elizabeth Keckley (1818-1907)
• Mary Fields (1832-1914)
• Cathay Williams (1844-1893)
• Charlotte Ray (1850-1911)
• Maggie Walker (1864-1934)
• Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919)
• Bessie Coleman (1892-1926)
• Sheila Johnson (1949-)
• Oprah Winfrey (1954-)
• Ursula Burns (1958-)
• Chapter 8: Literature and Journalism
• Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
• Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897)
• Lillian May Parker Thomas Fox (1854-1917)
• Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
• Alice Dunnigan (1906-1983)
• Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (1917-2000)

Show 90 more Contents items

Other title(s)

One hundred Black women who shaped America

ISBN

• 9781440881084
• 1440881081

OCLC

1453307507

Statement on responsible collection description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...