American Women Speak [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection of Women's Oratory

by Mary Ellen Snodgrass

Overview

This A-to-Z compendium explores more than 150 American women activists from colonial times to the present, examining their backgrounds and the focus of their activism, and provides examples of their speeches.

Throughout history, American women's oratory has crusaded for religious rights, abolitionism, and peace, as well as for Zionism, immigration, and immunization. This text examines more than 150 influential American women activists and their speeches on vital issues. Each entry outlines the speaker's motivation and provides examples of their speeches in context, supplying information about the setting, audience, reception, and lasting historical significance.

This collection of women's speeches emphasizes primary sources that underscore the goals of the Common Core Standards. Entries support classroom discussion on a range of topics, from women's suffrage and birth control to civil rights and 20th- and 21st-century labor law. No other reference work compiles examples of female activism and oration across a 400-year span of history along with analysis of the speaker's intent, forum, listeners, and public and media response.

• Covers issues from 1637 to 2015, representing minority perspectives and speeches
• Surveys oration as a means of enlightening the public on the needs of the poor, disenfranchised, undereducated, and underemployed females
• Introduces less familiar activists, such as Samantha Power and Ai-jen Poo
• Includes illustrations; a timeline; an appendix of significant speeches identified by title, date, setting, and topic; and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440837845
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/24/2016
Pages:	827
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 10.30(h) x 2.50(d)

About the Author

Mary Ellen Snodgrass has served as a humanities, English, and Latin teacher with more than 20 years of experience at the high school and university levels.

Editorial Reviews

"Snodgrass’s volume answers the need for primary sources and presents an avenue for quickly finding material that is missing from most high school and college textbooks. An excellent option for libraries supporting high school or undergraduate students studying American history." - Library Journal

"An excellent resource for college collections, American Women Speak is suitable for high school libraries, as well, and provides a wealth of quotable material for educators at those levels." - Booklist, Starred Review

"Well written and contains diverse women, topics, and works. . . . It is recommended for public and academic libraries, particularly at institutions with communications programs and rhetoric/composition programs." - ARBA

"Spanning the nation's history from early settlement to contemporary times, and concluding with an extensive bibliography, the resource features entries on women from a variety of social classes and ethnicities. The compilation is a valuable addition to library collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All libraries. All levels." - Choice

"In providing a broad scope from mid-seventeenth century to the present with voices from a wide-range of ethnicities and experiences, Snodgrass provides a work that not only captures the voices of each woman but also establishes the importance of the female voice to our history and society. . . . Ultimately, Snodgrass has created a unique and insightful reference work that would be relevant in various library settings—larger public libraries, high school and undergraduate." - Reference Reviews

From the Publisher

01/01/2017
Using biographical information and primary resources, humanities, English, and Latin teacher Snodgrass sheds light on a side of American history that is left out by many textbooks, covering 184 women from all backgrounds, ethnic groups, and occupations (from a file clerk and a prostitute to an astrophysicist and a state governor) and spanning from 1637 to 2015. Many viewpoints on important women's issues—rights wanted, social problems affecting women and society, and politics of the day—are given. Each entry begins with a short biography and ends with references. More than 100 pieces contain either whole speeches or excerpts of longer ones. While some speeches are famous, most will be unfamiliar to laypeople. This accessible book offers multiple ways to obtain the information (a 49-page index, a chronological list, and a "Guide to Related Topics"). Suzanne O'Deo Schenken's From Suffrage to Senate, Encyclopedia of American Women in Politics discusses many of the same individuals, though it leaves out women who weren't involved in politics. James Daley's Great Speeches by American Women has only 21 full speeches. Snodgrass's volume answers the need for primary sources and presents an avenue for quickly finding material that is missing from most high school and college textbooks. VERDICT An excellent option for libraries supporting high school or undergraduate students studying American history.—Ann West LaPrise, Huron Sch. Dist., New Boston, MI

Library Journal