Curated by Librarian Annika Deutsch

March is Women’s History Month. This celebration of the impact women have had on American history began as only a week in 1982, after Congress passed Public Law 97–28. This law noted that “the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the body of American history.” This is true not only in America but around the world, and it is impossible to counteract this with only five books, so here are five with some bonuses (including a fiction title!).

Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future
By Patty Krawec

The author asks, How might we become better relatives to the land, to one another, and to Indigenous movements for solidarity? Through the use of oral history and creation stories, she calls readers to “unforget” our history.

She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next
By Bridget Quinn

This beautifully illustrated book describes how American women won the right to vote and the next 100 years of women’s voices in this country.

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts
By Rebecca Hall, Illustrated by Hugo Martinez

Part black-and-white graphic novel, part memoir, former visiting UU professor Rebecca Hall tells the history of women-led slave revolts through the use of archival research.

Brave Hearted: The Women of the America West 1836-1880
By Katie Hickman

Historian Katie Hickman utilizes primary sources such as letters and diaries to tell the stories of women who influenced the 19th century American West.

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
By Kate Moore

This harrowing book chronicles the true story of the women poisoned by unsafe work conditions in radium watch dial factories in the early 20th century.

Additional Book Recommendations: