The fascinating story of an indomitable pioneer woman who became a feminist, journalist, and national leader.

"Tis woman's strongest vindication for speaking that the world needs to hear her voice," wrote Anna Julia Cooper, a nineteenth-century African American abolitionist, teacher, and novelist. Argu-ing that the voices of women still need to be heard, the editors of this comprehensive collection have assembled a diverse selection of writings to illustrate the daily lives of ordinary and extraordinary women and the historical significance of their thoughts and deeds. Here are women who are shapers of history, as well as its victims. In diaries, letters, speeches, songs, petitions, essays,...

At the beginning of the twentieth century it was still necessary for women to ask lawmakers, "Are women persons?" The rights and treatment of women in their homes, workplaces, and government were issues that men in power often preferred to ignore. But women refused to remain silent. This volume of Second to None, like volume 1, presents a multiplicity of voices, demonstrating that there is not a representative American woman, but many women worth remembering. Here are women who are shapers of history, as well as its victims. In diaries, letters, speeches, songs, petitions, essays,...