Celebrating Women’s History Month

By Coll Rowe | February 8 2023 | HistoryGender and Sexuality Studies

In honor of Women’s History Month in March, Penguin Random House Education is highlighting stories about women’s history, from the history of women in the United States to women in world history. We are sharing books about the history of Black women, Afghan women, and disabled women, with topics ranging from the history of reproductive rights and labor history to feminism and the fight for women’s liberation.

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History of Women

History of Women in America

Women and History

Flora Macdonald: "Pretty Young Rebel"
Her Life and Story
978-0-451-49438-2
Here is a captivating biography of the remarkable young Scotswoman whose bold decision to help “Bonnie” Prince Charlie—the Stuart claimant to the British throne—evade capture and flee the country has become the stuff of legend.
$30.00 US
Jan 10, 2023
Hardcover
288 Pages
Knopf

Lady Justice
Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America
978-0-525-56138-5
Dahlia Lithwick, one of the nation’s foremost legal commentators, tells the gripping and heroic story of the women lawyers who fought the racism, sexism, and xenophobia of Donald Trump’s presidency—and won
$29.00 US
Sep 20, 2022
Hardcover
368 Pages
Penguin Press

Shine Bright
A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
978-0-593-13273-9
American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano)
$18.00 US
Feb 14, 2023
Paperback
336 Pages
Roc Lit 101

Until I Am Free
Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America
978-0-8070-0725-9
Explores the Black activist’s ideas and political strategies, highlighting their relevance for tackling modern social issues including voter suppression, police violence, and economic inequality.
$16.95 US
Oct 04, 2022
Paperback
200 Pages
Beacon Press

Civil Rights Queen
Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality
978-0-525-43610-2
Here is the first major biography of one of our most influential judges—an activist lawyer who became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary—that provides an eye-opening account of the twin struggles for gender equality and civil rights in the 20th Century.
$19.00 US
Mar 07, 2023
Paperback
528 Pages
Vintage

The Portable Anna Julia Cooper
978-0-14-313506-7
A collection of essential writings from the iconic foremother of Black women's intellectual history, feminism, and activism, who helped pave the way for modern social justice movements like Black Lives Matter and Say Her NameWinner of the American Library Association Award for Best Historical Materials A Penguin Classic
$20.00 US
Aug 09, 2022
Paperback
592 Pages
Penguin Classics

All That She Carried
The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
978-1-9848-5501-5
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • KIRKUS PRIZE FINALIST • In this "remarkable book" (New York Times), a renowned historian traces the life of an object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft an extraordinary testament to people left out of the archives.
$18.99 US
Feb 01, 2022
Paperback
416 Pages
Random House Trade Paperbacks

With Her Fist Raised
Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Black Community Activism
978-0-8070-1479-0
The first biography of Dorothy Pitman Hughes, co-founder of Ms. Magazine and trailblazing Black feminist activist whose work made children, race, and welfare rights central to the women's movement.
$16.00 US
Jan 18, 2022
Paperback
176 Pages
Beacon Press

The Story of Jane
The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service
978-0-593-47108-1
The powerful story of the women who founded and ran the legendary Chicago reproductive rights organization Abortion Counseling Service, otherwise known as Jane, written by one of its members. A compelling testament to a woman's most essential freedom—control over her own body—and to the power of women helping women.
$18.00 US
Oct 25, 2022
Paperback
352 Pages
Vintage

New Women in the Old West
From Settlers to Suffragists, an Untold American Story
978-0-7352-2327-1
A riveting and previously untold history of the American West, as seen by the pioneering women who advocated for their rights amidst challenges of migration and settlement, and transformed the country in the process
$18.00 US
Jul 19, 2022
Paperback
304 Pages
Penguin Books

Being Heumann
An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
978-0-8070-0280-3
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for NonfictionOne of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.
$16.99 US
Feb 23, 2021
Paperback
232 Pages
Beacon Press

The Ruin of All Witches
Life and Death in the New World
978-0-593-31657-3
A gripping story of a family tragedy brought about by witch-hunting in Puritan New England that combines history, anthropology, sociology, politics, theology and psychology.
$30.00 US
Nov 01, 2022
Hardcover
336 Pages
Knopf

A Nation of Women
An Early Feminist Speaks Out
978-0-14-313607-1
The groundbreaking feminist and socialist writings of Puerto Rican author and activist Luisa CapetilloA Penguin Classic
$15.00 US
Sep 14, 2021
Paperback
192 Pages
Penguin Classics

No Turning Back
The History of Feminism and the Future of Women
978-0-345-45053-1
2002 Outstanding Academic Title in History, Geography, & Area Studies
$20.00 US
Jan 01, 2003
Paperback
464 Pages
Ballantine Books

A Black Women's History of the United States
978-0-8070-3355-5
A vibrant and empowering history that emphasizes the perspectives and stories of African American women to show how they are--and have always been--instrumental in shaping our country
$28.95 US
Feb 04, 2020
Hardcover
296 Pages
Beacon Press

The Great Stewardess Rebellion
How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet
978-0-593-08229-4
As flying boomed in the 1960s, women from across America applied for jobs as stewardesses. They were drawn to the promise of glamour, the chance to travel, and an alternative to traditional occupations like homemaking, nursing, and teaching. 
$17.00 US
Feb 28, 2023
Paperback
320 Pages
Anchor

We Are Still Here
Afghan Women on Courage, Freedom, and the Fight to Be Heard
978-0-593-47290-3
A collection of first-hand accounts from courageous Afghan women who refuse to be silenced in the face of the Taliban, to be published for the first anniversary of the US leaving Afghanistan.
$17.00 US
Aug 16, 2022
Paperback
192 Pages
Plume

The Feminist Promise
1792 to the Present
978-0-8129-7202-3
In this definitive volume, respected historian Christine Stansell tells the story of one of the great democratic movements of our times. She paints richly detailed portraits of well-known leaders—Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Betty Friedan—but others, too, appear in a new light, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Toni Morrison. Accounting for the failures of feminism as well as the successes, Stansell notes the emergence in the early 1900s of the dashing “New Woman”; the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote; the post–World War II collapse of suburban neo-Victorianism; the radical feminism of the 1960s; and the fight for women’s rights in developing countries in the era of international feminist movements. A soaring work, The Feminist Promise is bound to become an authoritative source on this essential subject for decades to come.
$19.00 US
May 10, 2011
Paperback
528 Pages
Modern Library

Happening
978-1-60980-948-5
A haunting meditation on memory and trauma by the award-winning French memoirist
$14.95 US
May 14, 2019
Paperback
96 Pages
Seven Stories Press

Women's Liberation!
Feminist Writings that Inspired a Revolution & Still Can
978-1-59853-678-2
Two pioneering feminists present a groundbreaking collection recovering a generation's revolutionary insights, bold ideas that in some ways went underground, but are ready to inspire a new generation
$39.95 US
Feb 16, 2021
Hardcover
592 Pages
Library of America