Chapter 13 - Gamechangers

You all probably thought this was going to be a blog about March Madness, but no - today we are talking about women, specifically women in history. The very word history almost denotes that what follows will not be her story but his. Let's not mince words, men have made significant contributions to the world and the fact is women have too. Their stories may not be as well known as men's, however.

If you go back to the beginnings of America when Isabella of Castille and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon financed Christopher Columbus's voyage to find a passage to the Indies, there have always been important women in history. There have been monarchs (Cleopatra, Elizabeth and Victoria), poets (Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson), spies (Belle Boyd, Christine Granville, and Mata Hari), and, of course, doctors and scientists (Elizabeth Blackwell, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Ada Lovelace and Janaki Ammal). Have many of these women have you actually heard about though?

So, if you want to learn a little bit more about the "gamechangers" of history, check these books out.

Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts - Cokie Roberts was an NPR correspondent as well as the daughter of a Senator. In this book she delves into the stories of some women who were instrumental in the founding of America. Not only does she talk about Martha Washington and Abigail Adams but also introduces the reader to Mercy Otis Warren and Eliza Pinckney and other women not as well known but equally as important. She followed this book up with Ladies of Liberty, the next generation of important women, and Capital Dames, women of the Civil War era.

Lawbreaking Ladies: 50 Tales of Daring, Defiant, and Dangerous Women from History by Erika Owen - We are all familiar with the adage, "Well-behaed women rarely make history." and this book is all about that. A collection of tales outlining the oft times illegal, immoral, and definitely ill behaved women of the world from pirates to madams to bootleggers. You probably have not heard of any these women.

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller - This book highlights three superstars of the 60's and 70's and their influence and impact on the world of rock music. Whether you loved these three or hated their sound, they are so iconic to their time period that you should know more about them.

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan - Oak Ridge, Tennessee is not a city most people are aware of because it did not appear on any map. Recruited from all over the United States to help with the war effort, these women worked in utmost secrecy. Even the residents of the town didn't know what the women were developing or what product they were making. It wasn't until after the war that it became known that the women were enriching uranium for use in the world's first atomic bomb.

Game Changers: The Unsung Heroines of Sports History by Molly Schiot - Before we knew the Williams sisters, Lindsay Vonn, and Simone Biles, there were other women who paved the way in sports as well as sports reporting. Molly Schiot, a filmmaker, has dug up important women in sports who led the charge to the talented women playing sports today. This would be a great gift and read for anyone whose daughter or granddaughter is sports minded.

Do you have any great books about women you'd like to share? Let me know!