Why They Marched, Susan Ware
Why They Marched, Susan Ware
1 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Why They Marched
Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote

Author: Susan Ware

Narrator: Bernadette Dunne

Unabridged: 9 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/27/2019


Synopsis

Looking beyond the national leadership of the suffrage movement, an acclaimed historian gives voice to the thousands of women from different backgrounds, races, and religions whose local passion and protest resounded throughout the land.For far too long, the history of how American women won the right to vote has been told as the tale of a few iconic leaders, all white and native-born. But Susan Ware uncovered a much broader and more diverse story waiting to be told. Why They Marched is a tribute to the many women who worked tirelessly in communities across the nation, out of the spotlight, protesting, petitioning, and insisting on their right to full citizenship.Ware tells her story through the lives of nineteen activists, most of whom have long been overlooked. We meet Mary Church Terrell, a multilingual African American woman; Rose Schneiderman, a labor activist building coalitions on New York’s Lower East Side; Claiborne Catlin, who toured the Massachusetts countryside on horseback to drum up support for the cause; Mary Johnston, an aristocratic novelist bucking the Southern ruling elite; Emmeline B. Wells, a Mormon woman in a polygamous marriage determined to make her voice heard; and others who helped harness a groundswell of popular support. We also see the many places where the suffrage movement unfolded―in church parlors, meeting rooms, and the halls of Congress, but also on college campuses and even at the top of Mount Rainier. Few corners of the United States were untouched by suffrage activism.Ware’s deeply moving stories provide a fresh account of one of the most significant moments of political mobilization in American history. The dramatic, often joyous experiences of these women resonate powerfully today, as a new generation of young women demands to be heard.

About Susan Ware

Susan Ware, celebrated feminist historian and biographer, is the author of American Women’s History and Letter to the World, among other books. She is Honorary Women’s Suffrage Centennial Historian at the Schlesinger Library and general editor of American National Biography. Ware is serving as a historical consultant to American Experience for its upcoming four-hour suffrage documentary and advising singer-songwriter Shaina Taub on her forthcoming musical based on the life of Alice Paul.

About Bernadette Dunne

Bernadette Dunne has been honored to narrate the work of some of the finest fiction and nonfiction writers of our time, including Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sandra Day O'Connor. The winner of more than a dozen Earphones Awards and a three-time Audie Award nominee, she has voiced countless bestsellers, including Memoirs of a Geisha, The Devil Wears Prada, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. She studied at The Royal National Theater and lives in New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Susanna on January 31, 2020

From the title I expected stories about the rank-and-file supporters of women's suffrage, the "ordinary" activists who did the work behind the scenes and under the radar. This book isn't quite that (though I'd welcome such a thing if/when it appears). Most of these women were not at all "behind the......more

Goodreads review by Cassidy on April 24, 2020

It has been 100 years this year since the US government passed the 19th Ammendment which gave all women in the United States the right to vote. It boggles my mind because 100 years is actually not that long ago. I found this book so interesting and liked that Ware focused on suffragists that weren't......more

Goodreads review by Holly on September 17, 2020

"I speak as loudly as I can....I even speak louder than I can" - Susan B. Anthony This felt like important reading for the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment and a divisive election cycle. I'm inspired by these women's stories and their courage.......more

Goodreads review by Diana on July 29, 2019

I liked how each chapter was its own story but linked to the broader theme of the suffrage movement. I also appreciated learning about some of the "foot-soldiers" of a movement that mobilized literally millions. We all know Susan B. Anthony but I loved reading about some of the lesser known suffragi......more

Goodreads review by Emma on September 10, 2020

Although there were times when ‘Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote’ assumed more background knowledge than a book aimed at a lay audience should assume, the majority of Susan Ware’s well-researched dive into suffrage in the United States was illuminating a......more


Quotes

“Ware’s excellent compendium expertly shows there are new ways to tell the suffrage story…A must-read for those interested in women’s and American history.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Ware does a wonderful job of highlighting people and subjects often passed over…A broad and detailed look at the movement.” Library Journal (starred review)

“Susan Ware’s lively and delightful book zooms in on the faces in the crowd to help us understand both the depth and the diversity of the women’s suffrage movement.” Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, author of Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

“This entertaining and lively history of the women’s suffrage movement is full of surprises…What a fresh take on the traditional narrative.” Marjorie J. Spruill, author of One Woman, One Vote

“Susan Ware’s book should be required reading for anyone who cares about our democracy and has forgotten how hard women had to fight.” Tanya Selvaratnam, author of The Big Lie