Between 1785 and 1812 a midwife and healer named Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her arduous work (in 27 years she attended 816 births) as well as her domestic life in Hallowell, Maine. On the basis of that diary, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich gives us an intimate and densely imagined portrait, not only of the industrious and reticent Martha Ballard but of her society. At once lively and impeccably scholarly, A Midwife's Tale is a triumph of history on a human scale.

The secret history of the rebellious Frenchwomen who were exiled to colonial Louisiana and found power in the Mississippi Valley. In 1719, a ship named La Mutine (the mutinous woman), sailed from the French port of Le Havre, bound for the Mississippi. It was loaded with urgently needed goods for the fledgling French colony, but its principal commodity was a new kind of export: women. Falsely accused of sex crimes, these women were prisoners, shackled in the ship's hold. Of the 132 women who were sent this way, only 62 survived. But these women carved out a place for themselves in the colonies that would have been impossible in France, making advantageous marriages and accumulating property. Many were instrumental in the building of New Orleans and in settling Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, and Mississippi. Drawing on an impressive range of sources to restore the voices of these women to the historical record, Mutinous Women introduces us to the Gulf South's Founding Mothers.

Vol. 88. “Reassembling Female Lives: A Special Issue.”

This is an exploration of the significant achievements of women defying odds and convention throughout US history. It is full of fascinating profiles and accounts, and offers an exciting new view of American history - and how women shaped it.

Chronicles what American women did from the emergence of the republic through the end of World War I and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. A broad spectrum of activities are depicted, showing their many accomplishments and how their activities affected the world around them. It was an era of great transition for all women. A who's who of American women and some men (those who showed great support or, ironically, great opposition to women's reform) are described one year at a time, beginning with 1789 and ending with 1920. Each year's activities are organized into seven possible categories: domesticity, work, education, religion, the arts, the law and politics, and joining forces. The book is thoroughly indexed.

Traces the almost unbelievable history of the relationship between women and medical practice, from the "wandering womb" of Ancient Greece to the rise of witch trials across Europe, and from the dawn of hysteria as a catchall for difficult-to-diagnose disorders to the first forays into autoimmunity and the shifting understanding of hormones, menstruation, menopause, and conditions like endometriosis. Packed with character studies and case histories of women who have suffered, challenged, and rewritten medical orthodoxy--and the men who controlled their fate--this is a revolutionary examination of the relationship between women, illness, and medicine.

In this second edition, Judith Walzer Leavitt has collected 35 articles representing important scholarship in this once-neglected field. Organized chronologically and then by topic, this volume covers studies of women and health in the colonial and revolutionary periods and the 19th century through the Civil War. The remainder of the book concentrates on the late 19th and 20th centuries and addresses such controversial issues as body image and physical fitness, sexuality, fertility, abortion and birth control, childbirth and motherhood, mental illness, women's health care providers (midwives, nurses, physicians) and health reform and public health.

Vol. 20, no. 3. "The Essential Guide to Researching Female Ancestors [Special Issue]."

This important publication is designed to introduce researchers to the opportunities for discovering American women's history and culture at the Library of Congress. It covers materials such as textual sources, films, sound recordings, prints and photographs, and other audio or visual material. This item is also available to view and interact with online at American Women: A Guide to Women's History Resources at the Library of Congress.

Lists types of records the author has found particularly useful in piecing together life stories of females.

Includes a state by state breakdown of laws and records related to women's history. In particular detail are timelines for marriage and divorce laws in each state, as well as property laws, suffrage, and other topics unique to each jurisdiction.

Family history researchers are accustomed to searching among vital records, censuses, and other commonly used sources, but there are any number of more-obscure sources that can lead researchers to vital information: bankruptcy records, special censuses, employment records, and coroners' records are only a few of the kinds of records you can turn to when other sources prove unfruitful. This handbook does not focus on female ancestors, but because the identity of female ancestors can be so elusive, some of the unusual sources described might lead to a missing link in a given case.