Category: Women’s Studies

Unruly Bodies: tyranny of the visual

This week we’re sharing an excerpt from Susannah B. Mintz’s Unruly Bodies: Life Writing by Women with Disabilities to celebrate Disability Pride Month. The excerpt is titled tyranny of the visual, written by Lucy Grealy and Georgina Kleege. Earlier this month we published a recommended reading list featuring Mintz’s Unruly Bodies and other titles highlighting and sharing the experiences of… Continue Reading Unruly Bodies: tyranny of the visual

Mount Vernon’s Virtual Book Talk with Author Tamika Nunley

Tamika Nunley, author of At the Threshold of Liberty: Women, Slavery, and Shifting Identities in Washington, D.C., was featured on Mount Vernon’s virtual book talk series earlier this year. During the talk, Tamika discusses her book, the portrait of Elizabeth Keckley used as the books cover, the tradition of education amongst enslaved people and even answers some questions asked by… Continue Reading Mount Vernon’s Virtual Book Talk with Author Tamika Nunley

Happy Disability Pride Month! A Recommended Reading List

If you didn’t know already, July is Disability Pride month. The celebration of Disability Pride began in 1990 and has held on strong ever since. “This annual observance is used to promote visibility and mainstream awareness of the positive pride felt by people with disabilities.” Below are a few titles that align with that point of view; shedding light on… Continue Reading Happy Disability Pride Month! A Recommended Reading List

Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

Happy early JuneTeenth again! I’m back with part two of the recommended reading list in celebration of JuneTeenth, “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.” Part one of the recommended reading list focused on the experiences of black American slaves whose labor helped shape the fabric of America. Part two of the reading… Continue Reading Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part One

Happy early Juneteenth! If you don’t know, June 19th is “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and… Continue Reading Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part One

Author of “Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell” Alison M. Parker’s Interview with the Biographers International Organization Podcast

Last week Parker hopped on Zoom for a podcast interview with the Biographers International Organization. She discussed her latest book “Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell”, the first ever full-length biography of African American activist Mary Church Terrell. Click here to listen to the podcast interview Alison M. Parker is department chair and Richards Professor of American History… Continue Reading Author of “Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell” Alison M. Parker’s Interview with the Biographers International Organization Podcast

Celebrating International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (#IDAHOBIT)

If you don’t already know, May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, commonly referred to as IDAHOBIT. This day is used to celebrate LGBTQIA+ people all over the world and raise awareness to fight the discrimination they deal with on a regular basis. We’ve created this recommended reading list to highlight the usually unheard voices… Continue Reading Celebrating International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (#IDAHOBIT)

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Guest blog post by Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford, authors of Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball Aari McDonald stares out of her WNBA draft photo, arms folded, biceps sculpted, looking ahead. On April 15, when the draft kicks off the WNBA’s silver anniversary season, McDonald will go high. She has just come off a stellar NCAA… Continue Reading Looking Forward, Looking Back

Our Sisters in China Are Free: Mabel Ping-Hua Lee

Bringing our celebration of Women’s History Month on the UNC Press Blog to a close, the following excerpt is taken from Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement by Cathleen D. Cahill The shadows were just starting to slide across New York’s Washington Square Park on the evening of May 5, 1912, when a company of fifty… Continue Reading Our Sisters in China Are Free: Mabel Ping-Hua Lee

Revolutionary Latin American Women

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. This year we are celebrating the significant contributions of notable women, renown and lesser known, throughout history, as well as women historians past and present that have been published by UNC Press. Two recently published biographies, Celia Sánchez Manduley: The Life and Legacy of… Continue Reading Revolutionary Latin American Women

Women’s History Month: a Class, Religion, Sex, and Family Reading List

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. This year we are celebrating the significant contributions of notable women, renown and lesser known, throughout history, as well as women historians past and present that have been published by UNC Press. During Women’s History Month, save 40% on all UNC Press books with discount code… Continue Reading Women’s History Month: a Class, Religion, Sex, and Family Reading List

Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s Lyrical Activism

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. The following excerpt is taken from Lyrical Strains: Liberalism and Women’s Poetry in Nineteenth-Century America by Elissa Zellinger In the opening chapter of Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s unpublished autobiography, “A Human Life,” written while she was in her eighties, the poet describes visiting her childhood home… Continue Reading Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s Lyrical Activism

The Private Life and Public Work of Nellie Y. McKay

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. The following preview excerpt is taken from the introduction to Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay by Shanna G. Benjamin, available April 2021 Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay traces twentieth-century Black literary history… Continue Reading The Private Life and Public Work of Nellie Y. McKay

“A beautiful ode to a grande dame of Southern cuisine.”—Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original, Now in Paperback

Guest blog post by Sarah B. Franklin, editor of Edna Lewis: At the Table with An American Original Edna Lewis: At the Table with An American Original is a collection of 20 essays by chefs, food writers, and scholars that examine and celebrate the life, legacy, and boundary-breaking politics of chef and cookbook author, Edna Lewis, considered the Grand Dame… Continue Reading “A beautiful ode to a grande dame of Southern cuisine.”—Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original, Now in Paperback

Mary J. Henold: The Most Extraordinary (Catholic) Fashion Show of 1970

Today we welcome a guest post from Mary J. Henold, author of The Laywoman Project: Remaking Catholic Womanhood in the Vatican II Era, out today from UNC Press. Summoning everyday Catholic laywomen to the forefront of twentieth-century Catholic history, Mary J. Henold considers how these committed parishioners experienced their religion in the wake of Vatican II (1962–1965). This era saw major… Continue Reading Mary J. Henold: The Most Extraordinary (Catholic) Fashion Show of 1970

Tiffany A. Sippial: Are U.S. Citizens Still Allowed to Travel to Cuba?

Today we welcome a guest post from Tiffany A. Sippial, author of Celia Sánchez Manduley: The Life and Legacy of a Cuban Revolutionary, out now from UNC Press. Celia Sánchez Manduley (1920–1980) is famous for her role in the Cuban revolution. Clad in her military fatigues, this “first female guerrilla of the Sierra Maestra” is seen in many photographs alongside… Continue Reading Tiffany A. Sippial: Are U.S. Citizens Still Allowed to Travel to Cuba?

Catherine O. Jacquet: College Students Today Continuing a Long Tradition of Antirape Activism

Today we welcome a guest post from Catherine O. Jacquet, author of The Injustices of Rape: How Activists Responded to Sexual Violence, 1950-1980, out now from UNC Press. From 1950 to 1980, activists in the black freedom and women’s liberation movements mounted significant campaigns in response to the injustices of rape. These activists challenged the dominant legal and social discourses… Continue Reading Catherine O. Jacquet: College Students Today Continuing a Long Tradition of Antirape Activism

Brianna Theobald: A Birth in the Water Protector Camps

Today we welcome a guest post from Brianna Theobald, author of Reproduction on the Reservation: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Colonialism in the Long Twentieth Century, published last week by UNC Press. This pathbreaking book documents the transformation of reproductive practices and politics on Indian reservations from the late nineteenth century to the present, integrating a localized history of childbearing, motherhood, and… Continue Reading Brianna Theobald: A Birth in the Water Protector Camps

Rachel F. Seidman: Voices from Speaking of Feminism

Today we welcome a guest post from Rachel F. Seidman, author of Speaking of Feminism: Today’s Activists on the Past, Present, and Future of the U.S. Women’s Movement. From the Women’s Marches to the #MeToo movement, it is clear that feminist activism is still alive and well in the twenty-first century. But how does a new generation of activists understand… Continue Reading Rachel F. Seidman: Voices from Speaking of Feminism

Brianna Theobald: The History-Making Work of Native Nurses

On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day we welcome a guest post from Brianna Theobald, author of Reproduction on the Reservation: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Colonialism in the Long Twentieth Century, published this month by UNC Press. This pathbreaking book documents the transformation of reproductive practices and politics on Indian reservations from the late nineteenth century to the present, integrating a localized history… Continue Reading Brianna Theobald: The History-Making Work of Native Nurses