Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States

by Eleanor Flexner, Ellen Fitzpatrick

Century of Struggle tells the story of one of the great social movements in American history. The struggle for women's voting rights was one of the longest, most successful, and in some respects most radical challenges ever posed to the American system of electoral politics.

"The book you are about to read tells the story of one of the great social movements in American history. The struggle for women's voting rights was one of the longest, most successful, and in some respects most radical challenges ever posed to the American system of electoral politics... It is difficult to imagine now a time when women were largely removed by custom, practice, and law from the formal political rights and responsibilities that supported and sustained the nation's young democracy... For sheer drama the suffrage movement has few equals in modern American political history."--From the Preface by Ellen Fitzpatrick

Genres: Feminism, History, Nonfiction, Womens, Politics, American History, Gender

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Eleanor Flexner was a distinguished independent scholar and pioneer in the field of women's studies.

Reviews

[Book Riot Community]

Oh my gosh, so much I didn’t know! Why is the suffrage movement not taught in U.S. History classes?! I picked this out to read because my new idea for a novel takes place in the later years of the suffrage movement, and I knew I needed to research the time period. While I was familiar with the Seneca Falls convention (notably, several people I’ve talked to about this book had never heard of it!), I was completely ignorant about the vast majority of suffrage history. So many awesome women, and so many horrifyingly misogynistic trials to overcome. Flexner does an awesome job at research. If you’re worried about inclusivity, Flexner does address black women’s contribution to women’s suffrage, and also the racism that occurred within the movement. This is a must-read for anyone interested in learning more about the women’s suffrage movement in the United States.

— Margaret Kingsbury



from The Best Books We Read In March 2017: http://bookriot.com/2017/04/04/riot-r...

[JaNel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes:

"I am not going to question your opinion. I am not going to meddle with your beliefs. I am not going to dictate to you mine. All I say is examine, inquire, look into the nature of things. Search out the grounds of your opinions, the for and against. Know why you believe; Understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in you." Frances Wright

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Century of Struggle chronicles the woman's suffrage movement in the US from pre-Seneca Falls to when women finally won the vote, more than 70 years after the first woman's suffrage convention at Seneca Falls. Just to illustrate why books like this need to be read, I mentioned Seneca Falls to three or four people I know who asked what I was reading, and they had no idea why Seneca Falls was significant. They'd never heard of it. And it's no surprise. I've spent twenty years in the education system and minored in history, but I don't recall the woman's suffrage movement being discussed in a single class.

While I did know about Seneca Falls before reading this (learned about it on my own), there was so much I didn't know, far more than what I did. I learned so much. I mean A LOT. The history of how women won the vote in the US is fraught with struggle and amazing women. It's absolutely fascinating, and people need to know about this history!

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent history of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, focused on the period from 1820 to 1920. Flexner not only details myriad aspects of the Women's Rights Movement, she also discusses at length the additional problems faced by African-American women and women in the labor movement. This book was written in the 1950s with an update in 1975, so it only touches in the conclusion on the women's liberation movement beginning in the 1960s through the early effort to pass the ERA amendment to the constitution. The book addresses a long-time question I've had -- how come it took so long for women in the USA to get the right to vote? After women did so much to build this country and all their work and sacrifice in various wars (such as the Revolution War, Civil War, WW I), growing numbers of college educated women in the 19th century, women joining the workforce, etc., how can it be that women didn't receive the right to vote until well into the 20th century? Flexner gives these basic answers:

1. Political - political machines and many politicians (who were all male)worried that if women got to vote, they'd form their own "women parties" and only vote for women candidates. Even when individual states gave women the right to vote (Wyoming was first) and this did not happen, it didn't allay their fears.
2. Economic - powerful, well financed business interests wanted to maintain the status quo. Many changes were taking place in the late 19th and early 20th century that upset business interests and women voting rights was among those. The liquor/brewing industry, oil, banking and other big money industries surreptitiously financed anti-suffrage groups and lobbied legislatures around the country.
3. Racial - Southern states were solidly against women's suffrage because they were against all African-Americans voting. The southern states were fearful that if women (including black women) got the right to vote, they might eventually be forced by the federal government to open voting to all citizens, not just whites. Southern poll taxes and other schemes effectively disenfranchised blacks until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's and the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Ten states never ratified the 19th Amendment -- all but Delaware were southern states of the old Confederacy.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of women's rights.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning more about the women's movement to gain the vote in this book. It was clearly excellently researched and full of fascinating information. I feel like I learned about more than history--politics, sociology, and media studies could easily be included in the topics touched on here.

[Layna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleanor Flexner provides a wonderful commentary about the figures and acts that made equality much more real to women. As a woman I'm always humbled by the courage and hard work that went into making this a society in which I can feel free to want my freedom. This book brings home that lesson.

[Aisha Manus · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you take an interesting topic and you make the writing dry as fuck. This is the type of book you get...

[Sugarpuss O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally checked this book out from the library. After reading the 1st few chapters, I knew I needed to have a copy of my own. It took me a while to get through, but this is a book every woman--and the men who love them--should read.... And I'll tell you something else. The next time I enter the voting booth, I'll have a new sense of pride & honor as well.

[Kate Tooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good overview, with enough personal notes to draw the reader in. Especially admired the determination of the author to include the racial aspect of the WRM and it's interplay with abolition. Aware of some glossing over.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains a wealth of dynamic and valuable details about the fight for women’s suffrage in the US. It has an excellent view of women’s rights from colonial times until 1920. It truly brings this important story into the light, the details of which are sadly neglected in the average education. It shows the interplay and influence of the abolitionist movement, the labor movement, and war on women’s suffrage and other legal rights for women. It shows a somewhat surprising (pleasantly) sense of what is now called “intersectionality” but in the 1950s was most often ignored, and explores how race in particular, as well as class and geography, affected women’s status and their role in suffrage work. Decently nuanced, richly detailed, thoroughly professional, and approachably narrative, this book is still a great historical resource 50 years after the 2nd edition, and is a great refresher and homage to those who struggled (and continue to) for equality as US women’s suffrage has finally passed the century mark.

[Emily Frame · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only criticism is that there less than a page about their mistreatment in prison, in the court system and the bias, lies and erasure in the newspapers. She did amazingly well covering 100 years and such a geographically large area. But the highlight would have to be Henry Blackwell + Lucy Stone’s wedding vows.🔥

More for later:

Judith Murray 1790
Hannah Crocker
Emma Willard 1819
Frances Wright — 1st to graduate Oberlin
Antoinette Brown — 1st minister
Mount Holyoke — 1st women’s college
Grimke Sisters won the right to speak in public(!) for abolitionism but vital to suffrage.
Jane Swisshelm — first female to start a newspaper
Margaret Fuller
Alice Stone-Blackwell
Lucretia Mott
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Seneca Falls Convention
Emmeline B. Wells — Mormon 👍👍
Sojourner Truth “Ain’t I A woman”
Daughters of St. Crispin -- 1st female factory union
Ida B Wells
Josephine St Pierre Ruffin
M Carey Thomas — 1st female Dean of Bryn Mawr
Carrie Chapman Catt

[Rim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book detailing the history of the women's rights movement up until the 1920s, exploring the struggle that lead to the passing of the amendment granting women the right to vote...

Although the book was written originally in the 50s, it is surprisingly inclusive, Flexner not only chronicles the struggles of white upper-middle-class women but also sheds light on the experiences of black women, immigrant women, working-class women and other marginalized groups, which i find highly admirable.

Though the book was a bit dry and difficult to get through at some parts, it was still a fascinating and inspiring read that i highly recommend

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much about the suffrage movement I didn’t know. This book is now outdated by several decades, but I appreciated the perspective of someone closer to the movement about where we have been and where we needed to go.

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the definitive book on the movement for women's suffrage. Let me also recommend America's Revolutionary Heritage, and Feminism and the Marxist Movement.

I consider it outrageous that Ellen Fitzpatrick, who wrote the introduction, was given equal billing with Flexner on the book cover. The introduction includes part of an important interview with Flexner, but Fitzpatrick wasn't even the one who conducted it.

[kylajaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for my U.S. Women's Activism class. It is quite informative and interesting. There are things I can now tell people about our struggle to vote that I didn't know before. A bit dry at times, but there are worse books out there. It helped to have discussion questions for every chapter.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the classic text of first wave feminism for almost 30 years (it was originally published in 1959). She begins before Seneca Falls (although she argues that the movement begins here) and goes through the passage of suffrage.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most comprehensive overview of the women's movement I've read. It is filled with information, yet still interesting to read. If I need to look up a fact on women's history, I often start with Flexner.

[June]

I took a class in 1974 and this was one of the texts. I pulled it from the shelf when my son was doing a paper in a gender studies class at Duke. I found a new look at this time in my life very enlightening.

[Hollyparsonnielsen333 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! I've always wanted to learn about women's heritage in this country. It was extremely informative. I suggest it to everyone! There were so many things that I had no idea happened to women throughout history, and their fight for change, which has given me so many freedoms.

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-reading

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, made more interesting by Flexner's anticipating of most of the major themes of women's history.

[Miguel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has alot of great info about womens history. At times it was hard keeping up with dates because they jump around alot from chapter to chapter, but overall a great book to read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

an interesting but mostly untold story. This should be Ken Burns next series