Women’s heroes are everyone’s heroes! In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote, we read books that are by, for, and about powerful women of all ages. A pre-teen who helped discover the world’s first dinosaur bone, a young women in the early 20th century who braved the illness and death of the radium factories and fought a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights, or teens—one black, one white—who rely on each other to survive a night of violent race riots in their city—these are the stories of remarkable women of history and resourceful everyday girls. The 19th amendment, ensuring the rights of American women to the vote, was the result of over 70 years of challenging a political and economic system that marginalized women. For over 70 years, suffragists and their allies picketed the White House and were then violently arrested for doing so. Every year, the suffragists held massive parades in Washington, D.C., demanding their rights as citizens in a democratic society. The biographies of these suffragists bring these women into focus: what were the motivating factors in these ordinary women lives that had them disregarding society’s norms and become repeat offenders, landing in jail repeatedly, just to vote? What happened that made them more than willing to sacrifice their lives for a cause? As the Centennial Commemoration arrives for the 19th amendment, several new titles have been added to the Women’s Suffrage collection that answer these questions and raises additional concerns. These new titles, several of which are on this list, address the problems of racism and class that dominated the suffrage movement.
