African American Women and the Vote, 1837-1965. (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1997). Edited by Ann D. Gordon.
In a series of essays, historians examine the struggle waged by African American women to win the right to vote from the period of the abolitionist movement until the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The American Life of Ernestine L. Rose by Carol A. Kolmerten (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1999).
A biography of Ernestine Rose (1810-1892), a pioneer Jewish feminist and freethinker. Born in Poland, she immigrated to the U.S., becoming a pioneer in the American women’s suffrage movement and a close colleague of Susan B. Anthony.
Autobiographies: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave; My Bondage and My Freedom; Life & Times of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (NY: Library of America, 1994). Edited by Henry Louis Gates.
Brings together in one volume Douglass’ autobiographical writings. He writes of his life as a slave, an abolitionist, and a participant in the women’s rights movement.
Century of Struggle: The Women’s Rights Movement in the United States by Eleanor Flexner (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996).
Originally published in 1959, this classic work relates the story of women who spent a lifetime fighting law and custom to finally achieve their political rights.
Eighty Years and More, 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992). Introduction by Ellen Carol DuBois; After word by Ann D. Gordon.
A reprint of Stanton’s lively autobiography first published in 1898. The new introduction and after word interpret her positions and strategies for today’s readers and bring current scholarship to the appraisal of Stanton’s historical importance.
The Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Susan B. Anthony Reader by Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992). Edited by Ellen Carol DuBois.
Correspondence, writings, and speeches of Stanton & Anthony, edited by one of the preeminent historians of the suffrage movement.
Failure is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words by Lynn Sherr (NY: Times Books, 1995).
ABC correspondent Lynn Sherr adds insightful biographical commentary to a wide-ranging selection of Anthony’s speeches, letters, and quotes.
Frederick Douglass by William McFeely (NY: W.W. Norton, 1991).
In this modern biography, McFeely interprets Douglass’ life and motivation, including the turbulent relationship between Douglass and Susan B. Anthony during the post-Civil War debate over the 14th and 15th amendments.
History of Women’s Suffrage by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Ida Husted Harper (Louisville KY: Bank of Wisdom, 1999). CD-ROM.
Includes all six volumes of History of Woman Suffrage published between 1881 and 1922 by the women who made the history.
Ideas of the Woman Suffrage Movement, 1890-1920 by Aileen Kraditor (NY: W.W. Norton, 1981).
Kraditor investigates the ideas and tactics employed by the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement to achieve their goal of gender equality.
In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Elisabeth Griffith (NY: Oxford University Press, 1985).
The first comprehensive biography of the founder of the American women’s rights movement. Griffith emphasizes the significance of role models and female friendships in Stanton’s progress toward personal and political independence.
The Ladies of Seneca Falls: The Birth of the Woman’s Rights Movement by Miriam Gurko (NY: Schocken Books, 1996).
Traces the course of the women’s rights movement from its origin in the Seneca Falls Convention through the passage of the 19th Amendment. The author examines each of the movement’s founders to show the various backgrounds from which their feminist consciousness sprang and the unique contributions that each made to the suffrage movement.
The Life & Work of Susan B. Anthony by Ida Husted Harper (Salem, NH: Ayer, 1983 reprint edition). Three volumes.
The first two volumes of this “authorized” biography of Susan B. Anthony were published in 1898; the final volume in 1908. Harper and Anthony worked endless hours going through letters, diaries, and scrapbooks to compile what is still the most detailed account of her event-filled life.
Majestic in His Wrath: A Pictorial Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick S. Voss (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995).
Featuring over seventy illustrations, this volume documents Douglass’ life from his youth as a slave to his position as one of the country’s most honored civil rights leaders. Included are images of Douglass, prominent abolitionist contemporaries, fellow black reformers, and members of the Douglass family.
Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony by Geoffrey Ward (NY: Knopf, 1999).
Written as a companion to the Ken Burns PBS documentary of the same name. The video and the book tell of the remarkable partnership of these two extraordinary women and its effect on the development of the suffrage movement. The book is enhanced by an array of illustrations, many from the Anthony Museum collection.
The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony by Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997, 2000). Edited by Ann D. Gordon. Six volumes.
Includes transcripts of Stanton & Anthony letters, diary entries, speeches, and newspaper articles. The notes accompanying each entry provide the reader with detailed information about names, events, and places mentioned in the documents and, in some cases, can be almost as fascinating as the documents themselves.
Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol by Neil Irwin Painter (NY: W.W. Norton, 1996).
Goes beyond myths, words, and photographs to uncover the real life of Sojourner Truth, who was born into slavery and became a legendary leader in the anti-slavery and women’s rights movements.
Susan B. Anthony: Biography of a Singular Feminist by Kathleen Barry (Bloomington, IN: 1st Books Library, 2000). Revised edition.
Barry draws upon letters, diaries, and other documents to integrate Anthony’s personal story into the political, economic, and cultural milieu of nineteenth century America.
Susan B. Anthony: A Biographical Companion by Judith Harper (NY: ABC-Clio, 1998).
This illustrated volume presents 123 alphabetically arranged entries on significant events, people, publications, movements, and organizations associated with Anthony and her struggle for humanitarian reform.