Includes index

Past is prologue / Elizabeth Johnson -- Revolutionary petunias bloomed in Early America / Abigail Adams -- Women's declaration / Coline Jenkins-Sahlin -- Girls were once happy for homework / M. Carey Thomas -- Yellow wallpaper / Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- Women once vetoed later voted / Patricia C. McKissack -- Women were in the West / Natasha Tarpley -- U.S. Women are diverse / Suheir Hammad -- Legacy of wise words / Rosalie Maggio -- Landmarks of our lives / Marsha Weinstein -- Don't agonize, organize! / Ann Decker -- What women did before now / Shana Corey -- Labor pains have been intense / Sajaja Henderson-Holmes -- In World War ll, women got to work / Betsy Kuhn -- Why Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) still rules / Kathleen Krull -- Representing / Elizabeth Friffith -- Life is sometimes a fashion parade / Ilene Beckerman -- Ladies pages / Norma Johnson -- Beauty can be a beast / Opira Edut -- Girl groups mean girl power / Ann Powers -- Title IX helped level the playing field / Fritz Beshar -- Who was first, and why does it matter / sue Macy -- Women weren't always in the books / Nancy Gruver -- Timer matters / Susan Barber -- Facets of feminism / Paula A Treckel -- Men can be feminists, too / Nomas -- Roll call for crusaders / Fran Ellers -- You can read all about it! / Kathleen Odean -- Women's health matters didn't always matter / Magee Hickey -- Body politics / Anastasia Higginbotham -- Making of a dollardive (or, how did we get here???!??) / Joline Godfrey -- ERA that's yet to come / Roberta W. Francis -- Herstory of language / Judy Dothard Simmons -- Glossary -- About the contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Picture acknowledgments -- Index

Uses poems, essays, letters, photographs and more to present the actions and achievements of women in the United States, from its beginnings up through the twentieth century