What Is the Women's Rights Movement?

What was...?

by Deborah Hopkinson, Who H.Q., Laurie A. Conley (Illustrator)

The story of Girl Power! Learn about the remarkable women who changed US history.

From Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton, women throughout US history have fought for equality. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women were demanding the right to vote. During the 1960s, equal rights and opportunities for women--both at home and in the workplace--were pushed even further. And in the more recent past, Women's Marches have taken place across the world. Celebrate how far women have come with this inspiring read!

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Feminism, Biography, Historical, School

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2018

About the author

I write nonfiction and historical fiction, picture books, and Golden Books. I speak at school, libraries, and conferences. I also love to garden and offer manuscript critiques. (Deborahhopkinson@yahoo.com)

NEW books in 2024 include DETERMINED DREAMER: THE STORY OF MARIE CURIE, illus by Jen Hill, ON A SUMMER NIGHT, illus by Kenard Pak, TRIM HELPS OUT and TRIM SAILS the STORM, illus by Kristy Caldwell, EVIDENCE! illustrated by Nik Henderson, and a nonfiction work called THEY SAVED THE STALLIONS. I'm delighted to say that Trim Helps Out, Trim Sails the Storm, On a Summer Night and Evidence! are all Junior Library Guild selections.

I live and work in Oregon and travel all over to speak to young readers and writers.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0

I learned so much! It made me so proud of the efforts of some of these brave women leaders of the past and so thankful for their commitment. It made me want to start marching. This is one of my favorite of the series because it was filled with some fantastic statistics and loads of important female leaders. It also helped me quantify an issue I already knew and that is that women's rights, although improved, still needs to go further to correct a historical wrong that has exists around the world and still exists in the United States today. The only negative is that I wish it had included the metoo movement, but that might have been a product of it being focused toward a young audience.

[ConfusedKyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though these types of books are for younger audiences, I love them. I think that this book was very empowering. I enjoyed learning about the past and how we achieved civil rights. I think it will teach the younger generation how to respect people no matter their gender.

[Esraa Gibreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

the title should go as
[What Is the American Women's Rights Movement?].

but is was good enough.

[Joanne Eglon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great educational read.
Tells us of the challenges women have faced throughout history and shows us how far we have come.
Great illustrations. Easy to read.
Educational.
Would recommend 💕

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I didn't plan on reading this all in one sitting. It's been on my radar since it showed up at the library, and I thought I'd scan it to see how it managed to cover such a long period of history. This book does an excellent job of covering the movement as it unfolded in the United States of America, starting at the founding of our country and finishing with the 2016 election response.

There are a few gaps in this coverage I think are worth mentioning. First, even though the text mentions a couple global feminist issues, like voting rights and representation, it only recognizes thinkers and leaders in the United States. Starting in the early 1800's and continuing today, U.S. feminist leaders have been greatly influenced by the ideas coming from other parts of the world. Without even a passing mention to this influence, students might wrongly conclude feminism started in the U.S. and spread to other places.

Second, while recognizing the importance of women of color, this book acknowledges the fact of their marginalization without mentioning how the primacy of white middle and upper class issues have weakened the movement. Students might interpret this to mean women of color were left out because their issues are less important, not because someone decided their issues were less important. As an educator, the fact the text mentions the issue means it can be brought up and clarified in discussion, but it's still a gap that could lead to incorrect conclusions.

This brings us to our third gap. The text completely overlooks LGBTQ contributions to the women's movement. Considering the age group in question, this is kind of a major omission. Students in late elementary school are at the very least familiar with those letters, and even a passing reference to how the two movements intersect is important.

[Ping Jun · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years women weren’t seen as a separate person after they got married. Many of the married women stayed home cleaning the house, cooking, and sewing and much more of the house chores, while their husbands was at work. Then the women’s rights movement started in a little city in upstate New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote speeches for Susan B. Anthony to give because Elizabeth was a mother and a wife. Women also didn’t have the same job opportunities and equal pay as men did, even though they hold the same job position or title. In 1920 women finally had the rights to vote after Alice Paul and some of the other protesters were put into jail for several days. Another strong opportunity came for another woman named Hillary Clinton, she made history. She was the first woman to be a nominee of a major political party.

[Trang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this because I just finished Lessons in Chemistry, and I wanna read more books that show what it was like to be a woman with less rights back in the day. I thought this would be an easy one to start with, and it was! I took U.S. history a long time ago, so it was a nice refresher on the various women's rights and feminist movements.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love reading about badass women who changed history.



I just love those ladies. I think about them often. We have a long way to go, as the book points out, especially in politics and business, but we've come a long way and it's thanks to these awesome women who never accepted defeat. We should all read their story. They did the hard work, the least we can do is appreciate them.

This book is perfect for kids. It covers the basics in a simple way. It tells of the most famous women and what they did. This is an excellent addition to the series.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of the Who HQ series of books, which are written for young readers in accessible language and extremely well-researched. What is the Women's Right Movement? is very objective and moves the reader through the history of the movement. I was a little surprised that "Women's Liberation" was never named, and some important figures like Ruth Bader Ginsburg were not directly mentioned. I did pick up information that I did not know before, like the fact that Maya Angelou was San Francisco's first African American streetcar conductor and that Wyoming was the first state to give women full suffrage. An interesting read. Consider it for your own young readers, but give it a read first: you may pick up something new yourself.

[Erin Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent race-forward history of the US Women's Rights movement from 1776 to 2017. Hopkinson did a great job presenting the struggle for equal rights for women for both Black and white Americans, including discussion of exclusion of Black women in the early movement activities led by Stanton and Anthony, and the very different employment histories of white and Black women before and after WW2. Includes information about Sojourner Truth, Susie King Taylor,, Mary Church Terrell, Ida B Wells, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Shirley Chisholm, and Maxine Waters. Highly recommended.

[Lapis the Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice and easy read, in my opinion. It was interesting, and full of information about the fight for women's rights, since 1776.

I'm honestly very impressed how the author managed to squeeze a timeline that spanned over 200 years into one 100-paged children's book. I also enjoyed looking at the photographs that were included towards the middle of the book, and the illustrations were good, too.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and was interested throughout the whole thing. I really like this series of books, and I hope that they make more.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading these books as an adult. They don’t have the depth and detail of a typical nonfiction book written for adults, but these serve as a solid starting point (or maybe it’s all the info you’re looking for).

I liked that this particular book started with Abigail Adams (I’m so grateful that her writings survived over the years) and covered key points all the way to modern times. The grit and determination, the sacrifice, and the hard work from all these women is just astounding.

The book was written well and I highly recommend for kids and adults.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book of the movement and the brave and dedicated women who fought for equal rights for all. I liked that it covered the big names but also the lesser known names. It was also good that it went as far as current wins (2015 woman in Saudi Arabia voted for the first time). It's important to remember and to say their names.

Lucy Stone
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Susan B. Anthony
Alice Paul
Frederick Douglas
Eleanor Roosevelt
Ida B. Wells
Lucretia Mott
Sojourner Truth

[Tyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, especially for a younger group. It included people of color and pointed out that many women’s rights organizations were not perfect. They had shortcomings and excluded certain people from their ranks.

Happily, this book now also has to be updated because right away on page three it says, “No woman has ever been elected president or vice president of the United States...at least not yet.”

[Δάσκαλος · Rating 3 out of 5]

TIL

1. "Once, in 1872, Susan voted in a presidential election. It was illegal back then, and she was arrested." (p. 6)
2. "Some women were against suffrage." (p. 18)
3. "Alice wasn’t afraid to confront Woodrow Wilson himself." (p. 40)
4. "Finally, in 2015, women in Saudi Arabia were able to vote." (p. 43)
5. "The term “glass ceiling” is used to describe an invisible barrier that keeps women and minorities from getting the top jobs at a company." (p. 65)

[Kevin Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be incredibly well-balanced in terms of breadth and depth. Has a clear throughline and lots of interesting fun facts along the way. As an adult who knew most of this stuff, I found it fascinating and well presented. It finds a way to appeal to kids without shying away from historical realities.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings with this book -- I loved the topic and think it is so important; however, the reading was a bit dry. I read it aloud to my fourth graders -- and some kiddos (in particular my girls) were totally hooked while others were bored. I'm using this as a launching pad for passion projects that are focused on activism.

[Vani Ghanate · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great to learn that the history of women in the United States is similar to that of women in India in many ways, the difference being changes happened rapidly here and changes are gradual in India. Was a great read!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked reading the book. I grew up in a different country than the US. It’s very educational for me to read these what is series. Although we really borrowed this book from the library for my 8 year old daughter. She is not quite there yet.

[brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shorter read. I learned a lot from this book and feel more empowered. At times the book was confusing by going back and fourth with dates but overall a good read. I wish schools taught us this instead of me having to find a book on my own to learn.

[Jennifer Broyhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this was a quick read I really enjoyed learning about the Women’s Rights Movement. About the impact women had with getting the right to vote, during the civil war and world war 1, and how far women have come since 1776.

[Caroline Kerkhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read and great information on just how hard women have had to fight to move toward equality, especially Hispanic-American and African-American. It may be written for middle school, but this series is truly for all.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of how we got to where we are....

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it

[Valencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very interesting.

[Majo · Rating 4 out of 5]

+1

[Jaclyn Preciado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great overview of First Wave feminism, but too short on Second and Third Wave. Still, a good book that I’ll share with my kids because in general I like The Who is/What is series.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fight still continues today but we are definitely in a better place than Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were and for that I am thankful.

[Denise Tannock · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are such great books and so informative.

[Charity Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great who was book. Through research. Well written. Positive tone but doesn’t ignore reality.