Dead Feminists: Historic Heroines in Living Color

by Chandler O'Leary, Jessica Spring, Jill Lepore (Foreword)

This gorgeously illustrated letterpress-inspired book combines feminist history with a vision for a better future. Based on the beloved Dead Feminists letterpress poster series, this illuminating look at 27 women who ve changed the world features a foreword by Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman. Intricate and beautiful broadside art takes center stage in this richly visual book that ties inspiring women and the challenges they faced to today s most important issues. The book revisits the original posters plus adds new art, archival photographs, and ephemera to tell the stories of feminists such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rachel Carson, and more. Dead Feminists takes feminist inspiration to a new level of artistry and shows how ordinary and extraordinary women have made a difference throughout history (and how you can too).
Featured Feminists
Adina De Zavala
Alice Paul
Annie Oakley
Babe Zaharias
Eleanor Roosevelt
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Zimmerman
Emma Goldman
Fatima al-Fihri
Gwendolyn Brooks
Harriet Tubman
Imogen Cunningham
Jane Mecom
Marie Curie
Queen Lili uokalani
Rachel Carson
Rywka Lipszyc
Sadako Sasaki
Sappho
Sarojini Naidu
Shirley Chisholm
Thea Foss
Virginia Woolf
Washington State Suffragists"

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, History, Art, Biography, Historical, Womens

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2016

About the author

Chandler O'Leary is an illustrator and lettering artist based in Tacoma, Washington. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she is the proprietor of a small stationery imprint called Anagram Press. She is also the author and artist behind the illustrated travel blog, Drawn the Road Again. Her illustrated road trip guide, The Best Coast: A Road Trip Atlas, was published by Sasquatch Books in 2019, followed by a companion book of postcards in 2020. Her next illustrated travel book, On Island Time: A Traveler's Atlas, will be published by Sasquatch Books in March 2023.

She collaborates with Jessica Spring on the ongoing Dead Feminists broadside series, which connects quotes from historical women with contemporary political and social issues. Chandler and Jessica's book about their series, Dead Feminists: Historical Heroines in Living Color was by Sasquatch Books in October 2016.

Reviews

[reading is my hustle · Rating 5 out of 5]

top-notch visual stories about the political power of women throughout history.

AMAZING.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully designed book! It's like an older posters campaign book, full of typography and illustrations about many women who made a difference through history. I'm sure there are many other women, but these women mentioned here are remarkable.



It's beautiful to see women fight for a better life even before the word "feminist" existed, even before any concept. It's just in some women's nature to fight back.

[Dev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This was really great. The book features several different sections [Make, Lead, Play, etc] and each section features three feminists whose primary work fits into that category. Each feminist featured has a portrait with a short blurb about her life / work and also several secondary historical pictures / diagrams related to her particular topic. Each feminist also gets a full page poster designed around her work and a page explaining some of the details and design choices in the poster.

I really liked the way each section was broken down and you could tell that a lot of thought went into designing every page of the book, not just the posters. I also liked how they tried to pick women from many different cultures and eras and always tried to put everything in the context of the time period. It's definitely a really fun read and I learned a lot of cool things while I was reading it.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to love this book. I accept most of the blame for my critical review, as I wish I'd realized that it wasn't meant to be a meaty read. Would recommend more for those who have a keen interest in letterpress rather than for those who have a keen interest in learning the finer details of Dead Feminists.

The broadsheets are very beautiful, don't get me wrong. As a whole, however, this didn't meet my expectations.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous letterpress posters designed around quotes from historical (dead!) feminists. If you love typography and illustration in addition to equal pay and equal rights, you're going to love this one.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

An art collective started making broadsides, to commemorate famous women in history, but also to raise money for various causes. They have been doing this for a number of years, and decided to collect all of these broadsides into a book.

But what good would such a book be, if you knew nothing about the women that inspired these. So each of the braodsides, which were created, have a breakdown of why the symbles used, and text used were done, plus a short bio of each woman. And perhaps you think you know Marie Curie, or Rachel Carson, but after reading this book you will learn more, so much more.

This is a great collection of wonderful women, and wonderful history.

Everyone should ahve this book as a wonderful history lesson, as well as a beautiful piece of artwork.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. It's a rare thing to find a book focused on art that also lets you learn what the artist's inspiration was as well as how they put the pieces together. I've been a big admirer of their work for a few years now so I was glad to see that they got the opportunity to do a book on their series. The reproductions are beautiful and the stories are interesting, even the choices that baffle me a little. And it's even cooler to see something this focused on women who've brought so much to letterpress printing. Highly recommended!

[Weronika Zimna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful and informative. It raises important issues and handles them perfectly. The artwork is amazing. My only wish is that I had received a print copy - this doesn't work so well as an ebook.

[LynnDee (LynnDee's Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really neat take on "dead feminists", and I really liked how the book was structured with the different chapters (ie. Make, Lead, Play, etc.). Some of the ladies I had heard of before but a lot I hadn't which I also appreciated because I always love learning about new fabulous ladies. The authors took a lot of care into how they created their broadsides and why they created them. A great read for those who love reading about feminism and art.

[Ronald Lett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated book on important women from the past and near present that are often overlooked in the usual courses of standard instruction and everyday media. While the descriptions for each person are relatively short, there are several very obscure heroines that were brought back into the spotlight by these authors that would inspire any reader to try to find out more about them on their own.

[Laura Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly this was a portfolio of art and historical information wrapped in vivid color. Dead feminists is an intersectional feminist look at history's women and their lives.
This history is then put in a modern framework involving one of today's civil rights issues.
Though biased, in these turbulent times I felt I needed something to make me feel like I am capable of becoming a strong woman. This bias gave me traction to participate in the women's March yesterday.
Solo.
I took on the crowd of over 100,000 people. I felt brave and I felt strong.
This book is a testament to women everywhere, their forgotten contributions to the world and its people.
Strong women are the hidden backbone of society. It's time to remember them and all that they stood for.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book, from the cover to the featured broadsides to the super thick high quality paper. This is the perfect read for this moment, to get fired up and inspired by bad-ass historical ladies of all types & from all time periods. There's only a few pages on each "dead feminist," but it's the perfect amount to get you interested so you can reach out for more info on whoever you find especially fascinating.

[Forever Young Adult]

Graded By: Jennie
Cover Story: Big Face: Cameo Edition
Talky Talk: A Woman’s Work Is Never Done
Arty Art: Modern Issues, Historical Words
Study Buddies: Annie Oakley, Shirley Chisholm
Extra Credit: Timely
Class Standing: A+ Rabble Rouser

Read the full book report here.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and so visually appealing. I love that each profile includes a page that shows the inspiration for the colors, typefaces and decorative elements for each broadside. I also love that both O'Leary and Spring are local to me, and I hope to see their broadsides in person someday.

[Melanie H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has all the things! Troublesome feminists, inspirational quotes, letter press broadsides and the artists political thoughts to boot. This book can be loved and appreciated by people of all ages, so have at it friends, readers and artists, happy reading!

[BiblioBrandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Loved the art work, the brief bios, the process... I hope to own one of their broadsides someday!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know the history books are full of "dead white men" - so here's one from a different perspective, that of "dead feminists." It's based on a collection of small-batch letterpress "broadsides" (posters) highlighting women throughout history - yes, the famous "suffragettes" and figureheads of the women's movements, but also women who shattered societal norms for women of their day in other ways - as writers, entrepreneurs, scientists, entertainers, educators and more.

In addition to the biographies, this book is a "look behind the curtain" at the creation of the broadsides, both the artistic process and the symbolism contained within each one. And they are gorgeous!

*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of broadsheets for feminists, and as such is right up the alley of pretty much anyone likely to read a review of mine. The art of each broadside (old-timey-style-political-poster) is as unique as the woman they depict. The short biographical introduction of the feminist in question is interesting and informative, of course, but if you pick this book up you're doing it to peruse the broadsides. And they are fun, beautiful, and informative, so really there's no bad there.

This is a great coffee table book, perfect for paging through and reading an article at a time, not necessarily something to read cover to cover. I would highly recommend it for history fans.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing project Dead Feminists is. It's not only clever, but also beautifully designed. You can tell there was so much thought put into the creation of each project.
For each broadside, you get some background information on who the feminist was and what she did, but also on the creation process. The broadside creation process is as fascinating as the lives of these women, and the result is a wonderful work of art.
A must-see project!

Disclaimer - I received a free review copy from Sasquatch Books through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars. A lot of this book was about how they made poster prints for each quote, and to be honest their posters weren't that good. Some of them were beautiful but a lot of them were really chaotic and hard to read. I did appreciate that this book brought so many women I had never heard of to my attention but it felt like a teaser that spurred me towards more personal research. All in all interesting and definitely worth looking through but way less content-filled than expected.

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

GORGEOUS, joyful book, and dipping into it was good for my wannabe-4th-wave soul. Generously annotated and beautifully laid-out volume of O'Leary and Spring's incredible broadside poster series. For the first time, I wish GoodReads let you upload images to your reviews! I guess just click here, dudettes: http://www.deadfeminists.com/broadsid...

[Mindy Kannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book given to me by my daughter-in-law. Tons of information about some really interesting women. A must read.

[Ashley Peacock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a neat anthology of awesome women with a beautiful selection of art! Would love to own one of their original broadsides.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 4 out of 5]

The broadsides are beautiful, I would love to see all of these as originals and not reproductions in a book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very unique book. Telling the story of each dead feminist in words and then creating an accompaniment broadside - a poster that has typically been used to promote political causes was ingenious.

I was also intrigued by some of the feminists they highlighted. The authors presented a good case for some of these less known and questionable feminists. Really worth reading and taking in the artwork of the broadsides. Would be an excellent coffee table book for the feminists in your life.

[Zosia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is incredible. History is definitely not a favourite subject of mine but this book was so interesting and it’s amazing to hear about women in history for once. In history books everything’s about the male leader and shit like that but women are never accredited for what they do, so many incredible women in this book who in most cases I’d never heard of because of male dominance. Bloody loved it, would 100% recommend. ☺️

[Katie Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fascinating work that reflects the intersection of feminism, history, and the creation and consumption of art

[Jennybeast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am finding great comfort and inspiration in this book, Dead Feminists, as I read about women who fought for things, who accomplished things, who were thoughtful and vibrant and ferocious. I am equally delighted that the book is by two of my printing friends, Jessica Spring and Chandler O'Leary, and is all about letterpress as well. It's a thing of beauty, and of voice.

Also, a remarkably accessible and interesting history book.

[Jenny (LobsterGal) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was strange. Soooo to start off each feminist had six pages they had one page dedicated to the art the writers made for the feminist and then a page to explain it. Then there were about 1.5 to 2 pages of pictures. So in total about 1.5-2 pages worth of information on each feminist. Now i know that they were really into art but i've read wikipedia articles longer. Its more of a coffee table book than anything.

[Noelia Alonso · Rating 3 out of 5]

ACTUAL RATING: 3.5 STARS