Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement

   If you think the women's suffrage movement began with Susan B. Anthony, add Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement to your bookshelf.
   And do it today.
   Women like Margaret Brent, who demanded the right to vote blazed the trail for women's rights as early as 1648, are featured in this fascinating retrospective.
   Widely regarded in the Maryland colony for her courage and strength of character, a businesswoman and property owner, Brent appeared before the Maryland assembly and unsuccessfully demanded the right to vote.
   Her story is one every woman should know, and it is included in the weighty 496-page volume researched and written by Robert PJ Cooney, Jr. in collaboration with the National Women's History Project. Written in a lively and dramatic style, Winning the Vote tracks the suffrage movement from its true roots, in a handful of women who spoke up for their rights, to its formal organization during the fight against slavery and the bitter, divisive battle that resulted in the 19th amendment, ratified in 1920
   Cooney spent 12 years studying manuscript and photos archives from of dozens of private and public libraries and collections, uncovering a vast array of information about the suffrage movement. Interspersing photos from more than 100 sources makes the book a great coffee table addition, one that you'll pick up and read over and over again.
   While bits and pieces of women's history have been scattered and forgotten over time, Winning the Vote weaves stories from around the country into a rich and exciting new tapestry. Many of the stories and photos included have never before been made available to the general public.
    This valuable reference belongs in every school library and should be required reading in secondary high school classrooms, where "herstories" – our stories – have been sorely lacking.

--by Joni Hubred-Golden