Georgia Women - (Southern Women: Their Lives and Times) by Kathleen Ann Clark & Ann Short Chirhart (Paperback)

About the Book

The essays in the second volume of Georgia Women portray a wide array of Georgia women who played an important role in the state's history, from little-known Progressive Era activists to famous present-day figures such as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

Book Synopsis

Women were leading actors in twentieth-century developments in Georgia, yet most histories minimize their contributions. The essays in the second volume of Georgia Women, edited by Ann Short Chirhart and Kathleen Ann Clark, vividly portray a wide array of Georgia women who played an important role in the state's history, from little-known Progressive Era activists to famous present-day figures such as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

Georgia women were instrumental to state and national politics even before they achieved suffrage, and as essays on Lillian Smith, Frances Pauley, Coretta Scott King, and others demonstrate, they played a key role in twentieth-century struggles over civil rights, gender equality, and the proper size and reach of government. Georgia women's contributions have been wide ranging in the arena of arts and culture and include the works of renowned blues singer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and such nationally prominent literary figures as Margaret Mitchell, Carson McCullers, and Flannery O'Connor, as well as Walker.

While many of the volume's essays take a fresh look at relatively well-known figures, readers will also have the opportunity to discover women who were vital to Georgia's history yet remain relatively obscure today, such as Atlanta educator and activist Lugenia Burns Hope, World War II aviator Hazel Raines, entrepreneur and carpet manufacturer Catherine Evans Whitener, and rural activist and author Vara A. Majette. Collectively, the life stories portrayed in this volume deepen our understanding of the multifaceted history of not only Georgia women but also the state itself.

Review Quotes

A comprehensive and interesting collection of essays that reveals both the depth and the breadth of the contributions women have made to the state's modern history. The volume highlights the many ways race, class, family structure, historical and economic forces, and creativity shaped the lives of these interesting women.--Susan Youngblood Ashmore "author of Carry It On: The War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama, 1964-1972"

An amazing group of women shines forth in this collection of essays. They represent the best of Georgia in the twentieth century, from the farm to the city; in the classrooms, the arts, and the halls of law; and on the streets, fighting for social justice. Georgia women have brought significant vitality and change to their home state, and their stories come together brilliantly in this volume.--Rebecca Sharpless "author of Cooking in Other Women's Kitchens: Domestic Workers in the South, 1865-1960"

Overall, Volume 2 of Georgia Women is a well-researched and finely written collection that should be a valuable resource for both students and scholars, particularly those interested in women's, Georgia, and southern history.--June Melby Benowitz "The Journal of Southern History"

The diversity of experiences presented here makes components of this volume useful in courses on women's history, Southern history, political history, or the long civil rights movement. This highly readable volume is commendable in its own right, but it also adds much to the invaluable Southern Women series.--Daniel Manuel "Southern Historian"

About the Author

Kathleen Ann Clark (Editor)
KATHLEEN ANN CLARK is associate professor of history at the University of Georgia and the author of Defining Moments: African American Commemoration and Political Culture in the South, 1863-1913.

Ann Short Chirhart (Editor)
ANN SHORT CHIRHART is an assistant professor of history at Indiana State University.