Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America

By Charlotte S. Waisman and Jill S. Tietjen
HarperCollins

Her Story is a timeline illustrating the accomplishments of American women, beginning in 1587 with the introduction of Virginia Dare and ending in 2007 amid the usual suspects, like Oprah Winfrey, as well as a variety of current female political and industry leaders. The book contains a lot of pictures with a short blurb about each person and occasionally a general relevant fact about a time period - such as The Women’s Peace Party's founding in 1915. The layout of the book takes some getting used to; the pages seem overly busy at first, but it doesn’t take long for the little snippets of information coupled with terrific photographs to take over the reader’s attention and by the end of the book, it seems a perfect way to display the information.

Charlotte S. Waisman and Jill S. Tietjen penned the book intending to pique the curiosity of the reader, not to offer a great deal of detail about any particular woman, which is unsatisfying, by definition, but the authors were successful in their endeavor. They begin with an introduction by Madeleine Albright followed by some explanation by the authors of how their idea originated and developed. They took the opportunity to ask the (assumed) female reader to honor her own accomplishments. This flows nicely into what the book can best do, which is inspire. There is nothing quite like learning about the overwhelming obstacles some women have overcome to accomplish amazing things. For instance, Jeannette Rankin, the first female member of the House of Representatives, was elected to office in 1917, three years before she was permitted to even vote. Not only that, but several years before they could vote, women were leading the movements to abolish slavery and child labor as well as organizing workers’ unions.

Wherever there is an historical injustice, it seems there are women working to correct it. This book’s celebration doesn’t fit any stereotype of a “great” woman. Alongside the protesters of the 1968 Miss America Pageant, there are actors and business executives, opera singers and scientists. There are many examples of the first [fill in the race/ethnicity] woman to [fill in the achievement]. Clearly the authors were sensitive to the issue of inclusiveness and careful to include the many contributions of women of color - in particular, of African American women.

Many of the stories you know – like the spunky Abigail Adams who told her husband he’d better “remember the ladies" when forming this new government of his or the ladies would be revolting, but there’s plenty that goes beyond common knowledge - unless everyone knows that no law firm would hire Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after she’d graduated first in her class from Harvard Law in 1959 because she was “Jewish and a mother.”

Her Story is designed to be interesting and inspiring, but not in-depth or scholarly. It would make a great gift for a young woman just graduating from high school or, better yet, middle school.

Review by Staci Schoff