Susan Ware

Modern American Women: A Documentary History

(McGraw-Hill, second edition, 2002)

How does the world look through women's eyes? How does our perception of history change when women are placed at its center rather than on the margins? This anthology provides a woman-centered view of modern America. History unfolds through the perspectives of the participants – women themselves – rather than through prescriptive literature designed to tell women what they ought to do and who they ought to be. When women tell their own stories, they emerge as actors and participants in a host of activities beyond home and family, providing strong evidence for the pioneer feminist historian Mary Beard's characterization of women as force in history.