Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary is a three-volume biographical dictionary published in 1971. Its origins lay in 1957 when Radcliffe College librarians, archivists, and professors began researching the need for a version of the Dictionary of American Biography dedicated solely to women.[1]: xi 

Significance

Notable American Women was the first major modern reference book of women's biographies, although the genre was common in earlier eras, such as the 1804 A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women Of Every Age and Country by Matilda Betham.[1] It appeared when Women's studies in U.S. universities had created great interest in understanding women's past.[2] Upon its publication it was viewed by scholars as a magnificent contribution to understanding the role of women in U.S. history.[3]

Writing of the changes in perspective on biography inspired by Notable American Women, 1607–1950 Susan Ware observed, "1,359 entries showed the range and depth of women’s contributions to American life, a pointed correction to women’s near-total exclusion from existing biographical dictionaries at the time and a dramatic spur to further research."[4]

Updates

Notable American Women: The Modern Period : a Biographical Dictionary updated the set for subjects who died between 1951 and 1976. The work for the fourth volume was a joint project of Radcliffe College and Harvard University Press funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and edited by Barbara Sicherman and Carol Hurd Green.[2][5]

In 2004 volume 5 was issued: Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century.[6] The fifth volume in the series and was edited by historian Susan Ware who was assisted by Stacy Braukman. The women who were included had to have died prior to 2000. The volume differed from its predecessors because first ladies were not automatically included. Fame was not a factor, rather those chosen for inclusion had to have been influential or have contributed innovations or pioneering work in their area of expertise in their era.[7]

Reception

A 1973 review of Notable American Women, 1607-1950 by Mary Elizabeth Massey in The American Historical Review describes the work as "the most scholarly of all female reference works yet published", and notes, "As might be expected in a work of this kind, special attention is given to political activists, feminists, and suffragists, but the opponents of feminism and woman suffrage have not been ignored."[8] In a 1973 review for The William and Mary Quarterly, Barbara Welter writes, "Although white middle-class women who were reformers and authors predominate, women of other ethnic groups, holding diverse occupations, also appear. The sources consulted for even the most obscure of the lives are impressive - manuscripts, archives, collateral accounts, as well as exhaustive secondary material."[9]

Accordng to Marjorie F. Gutheim in a review for New England Quarterly, "There is someone here to interest everyone. If the longest articles seem a bit overpowering, or the more familiar ones too well known, turn to Mary Peck Butterworth, counterfeiter of colonial days; Margaret Hardenbrook Philipse, who carried on a mercantile business in her maiden name [...]; Kate Kennedy, who in the late 1860's fought for "equal pay for equal work"; Ellen Demorest who developed paper dress patterns; Alice Kober who helped decipher Linear B; Ida Lewis, a lighthouse keeper renowned for her rescues; Annie Peck, the mountain climber; Ann Eliza Young, a disaffected wife of Brigham Young; Emma Edmonds who served for two years in the Army of the Potomac disguised as a man."[10]

In a review of the fifth volume, Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing The Twentieth Century, P. Palmer writes for Choice Reviews, "The entries emphasize achievement rather than fame. Ware selected knowledgeable authors to write the alphabetically arranged, signed entries; e.g., Ruth Bader Ginsburg writes about Burnita Shelton Matthews, the Mississippi native who was the first woman to become a lifetenured federal trial court judge. Throughout the work, writing is balanced and detailed."[11] A review in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education states "Often historical compendiums assembled by white historians and editors tend to shortchange the contributions of members of minority groups. But this is not the case in the publication of Notable American Women", and 69 of the 442 biographies in the fifth volume are Black women, including "Black women from the fields of art, literature, sports, music, government, and entertainment", as well as "some of the most notable black women educators of the period".[12] In a review for Feminist Collections, Mary Hitchcock writes, "One potential drawback to the structure of the books in this series is that without a comprehensive index to all the volumes, it could prove time-consuming to locate an entry for a particular woman if one is not certain when she died. Overall, however, the series and this volume in particular are very valuable resources, providing useful information about women whose lives might be glossed over or ignored completely by more general biographical dictionaries."[13]

Women included in Volumes 1-3

Abolitionists

Actresses and Theatre Managers

Anthropologists and Folklorists

Architects and Interior Decorators

Art Collectors and Patrons

Art Critics and Historians

Art Educators

Astronomers

Authors (by literary period)

1607-1820

1821-1860

1861-1900

1900-1950

Biologists

Botanists and Horticulturists

Chemists and Physicists

Children's Authors

Circus Performers

Civil War Figures

Classicists

College Administrators

Composers

Dancers

Educational Reformers

Educators of the Handicapped

Explorers and Travelers

Feminists

Film Actresses and Directors

Geographer and Geologists

Hawaiian Nobility

Health Reform Advocates

Heroines

Historians

Historical Preservationists

Home Economists

Illustrators

Indian Captives

Indian Reform Advocates

Indian Women

Inventors

Kindergartners

Labor Leaders

Labor Reformers

Lawyers

Lecturers and Orators

Librarians

Literary Scholars

Magazine Editors

Mathematicians

Ministers and Evangelists

Missionaries

Missionary Society Leaders

Mormon Women

Music Educators and Patrons

Naturalists

Negro Women

Newspaperwomen

Performing Musicians

Nurses

Painters

Peace Advocates

Performing Musicians

Philanthropists

Philosophers

Photographer

Physicians

Political Figures

Advisers and Appointees

Congresswomen and Senators

Other Elected Officials

Party Workers

Propagandists

Printmakers

Prison Reformers

Psychologists

Religious Educators

Religious Founders and Leaders

See also Ministers and Evangelists; Missionaries

School Founders and Administrators

Sculptors

Settlement House Leaders

Social and Civic Reformers

See also Health Reform Advocates; Laborers; Settlement House Leaders

Social Economists

Social Leaders

Social Workers

Socialists and Radicals

Temperance Advocates

Suffragists

Temperance Advocates

Translators

Welfare Work Leaders

See also Social Workers

Wives of the Presidents

Women's Club Leaders

Women included in Volume 4

Agriculture and Rural Life

Anthropology and Folklore

Architecture

See also Landscape Architecture

Art

See also Photography

Astronomy

Aviation

Biology

Birth Control

Chemistry

See also Medicine: Researchers; Nutrition

Botany

Broadcasting

Children's Literature

Civil Liberties

Civil Rights

Classics and Archaeology

Community Affairs

Conservation

Cookery

Dance

Demography

Economics

Education

College Founders and Administrators

School Founders and Administrators

Writers and Researchers

Other

See also Physical Education

Engineering and Industrial Design

Entertainment

Exploration

Fashion

Feminism

Film

Geology

Government and politics

Appointees

Congresswomen

Other Elected Officials

Party Workers and Officials

Wives of Presidents

History

Home Economics

Housing Reform

Journalism

Labor

Landscape Architecture

Law

Librarianship

Literature

Editors and Publishers

Scholars

Translators

Writers

Magazine and Journal Editing

Mathematics

Medicine

Physicians

Researchers

Military

Music

Nursing

Nutrition

Peace

Penology and Criminology

Philanthropy

Philosophy

Photography

Physical Education

Physics

Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis

Public Health

Religion

Settlements

Socialism and Radicalism

Social Reform

Social Research

Social Welfare

Social Work

Sociology

Sports

Suffrage

Antisuffrage

Temperance and Prohibition

Prohibition Repeal

Theater

Women's Organizations

American Association of University Women

League of Women Voters

National Association of Colored Women

National Council of Negro Women

National Federation of Business and Professional Women

National Woman's Party

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Women's Trade Union League

YWCA

Other

Women included in Volume 5

Advertising/Public Relations

Anthropology/Folklore

Archaeology/Classics

Architecture

Art

Art Collectors/Dealers

Astronomy

Aviation

Biochemistry

Biology

Birth Control/Family Planning

Botany

Business/Entrepreneurship

Chemistry

Child Advocacy/Education

Children's Literature

Civil Rights

El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española

Mexican American Political Association

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Southern Christian Leadership Council

Southern Conference on Human Welfare

Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

Community Activism/Local Government

Computer Science

See Mathematics

Conservation/Environmentalism

Conservatism

Consumer Affairs

Crafts/Decorative Arts

Dance

Economics

Education: General

Engineering/Technology

English/Literary Theory

Fashion/Textile Design

Feminism

Film

Food

Gardening

Government: Appointed Officials (State and Federal)

History

Home Economics

See Nutrition

Housing Reform

Journalism

Labor

Law and Judiciary

Librarians/Archivists

Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Science

Medicine: Physicians and Health Care Activists

Military

Museums/Curators

Music: Classical

Nursing

Nutrition/Home Economics

Peace

Penology and Criminology

Philanthropy

Philosophy

Photography

Physics

Political Science

Politics: Elected Officials/Activists/Volunteers

Psychiatry/Psychoanalysis/Psychiatric Social Work

Psychology

Public Health/Women's Health

Publishing/Editing

Radicalism/Socialism

Radio/Television

Religion/Spirituality

Social Work

Socialite/Hostess

Sociology

Sports/Physical Education/Recreation

Theater/Vaudeville/Comedy

Women's Health. See Public Health

Women's Organizations

American Association of University Women

Coalition of Labor Union Women

League of Women Voters

National Consumers' League

National Council of Negro Women

National Federation of Business and Professional Women

National Organization for Women

National Woman's Party

National Women's Political Caucus

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Women Strike for Peace

Women's Trade Union League

Young Women's Christian Association

Other

Writers/Poets

Zoology

Bibliography

  • Notable American Women: a biographical dictionary completing the twentieth century. (2004). Ware, Susan (editor), Stacy Braukman, assistant editor. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass. ISBN 067401488X.

References

  1. 1 2 James, Edward T.; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S., eds. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  2. 1 2 Sicherman, Barbara; Green, Carol Hurd, eds. (1980). Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-62733-8. OCLC 834112895.
  3. ↑ Miller, Roberta Balstad (January 1974). "Women and American history". Women's Studies. 2 (1): 105–113. doi:10.1080/00497878.1974.9978340.
  4. ↑ Ware, Susan (Winter 2010). "Writing Women's Lives: One Historian's Perspective". Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 40 (3): 413–435. doi:10.1162/jinh.2010.40.3.413. S2CID 145478898.
  5. ↑ Rothman, Sheila M. (September 1981). "Biography as Prescription". Reviews in American History. 9 (3): 415–421. doi:10.2307/2701975. ISSN 0048-7511. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Ware, Susan; Braukman, Stacy Lorraine, eds. (2004). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01488-6. OCLC 937332808.
  7. ↑ Farrell, Joelle (March 27, 2005). "A Woman of Notable Achievement: Susan Ware Helps Shape Women's History". Concord Monitor. Concord, New Hampshire. p. B1, B8. Retrieved 25 January 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Massey, Mary Elizabeth (1973). "Review of Notable American Women 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Volume 1, A-F; volume 2, G-O; volume 3, P-Z". The American Historical Review. 78 (1): 144–145. doi:10.2307/1854029. ISSN 0002-8762. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Welter, Barbara (1973). "Review of Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary". The William and Mary Quarterly. 30 (3): 518–522. doi:10.2307/1918498. ISSN 0043-5597. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Gutheim, Marjorie F. (1972). "Review of Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary". The New England Quarterly. 45 (2): 281–283. doi:10.2307/364762. ISSN 0028-4866. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  11. ↑ Palmer, P. (July–August 2005). "Notable American women: a biographical dictionary completing the twentieth century". Choice Reviews. 42 (11/12): 1954, 1956. ProQuest 225797911
  12. ↑ "The Esteemed Sisterhood of the Late Twentient Century". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (48): 126–127. 2005. doi:10.2307/25073263. ISSN 1077-3711. ProQuest 195551867
  13. ↑ Hitchcock, Mary (Winter 2005). "Susan Ware, ed., Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century". Feminist Collections: a Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources. University of Wisconsin. 26 (2/3): 22. ISSN 0742-7441. ProQuest 221218442
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