March 2025: Women’s History Month

Mar 13, 2025 | Announcements, Library

By Research Librarian Jessica McClain

In February of 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as the first national observance of Women’s History Week with the following statement:

From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.

Since then, Women’s History Week has expanded to a month-long celebration of women’s contributions to American history. Please check out the following selection from the Athenæum’s collection featuring noteworthy American, New Hampshire, and Portsmouth women.

Members, find the listed titles on display in the Sawtelle Reading Room through the month of March.

The Indigo Girl: A Novel

FICTION

Boyd shares the true story of Eliza Lucas and her cultivation of indigo as a cash crop in 18th century South Carolina. Drawn from research into historical documents, including Eliza’s own letters, this novel covers the years 1739-1744 and explores politics of gender inequality, race, and class as it relates to the development and production of indigo dye.

Boyd, Natasha. The Indigo Girl: A Novel. PS3602 .O93058 I54 2017

The Signature of All Things: A Novel

FICTION

While not based on a true story, this greatly researched work of botanical historical fiction set in 19th century Philadelphia draws upon the lives and experiences of several pioneering scientists including American botanist Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton, naturalist Mary Treat, and biologist and botanical artist Marianne North.

Gilbert, Elizabeth. The Signature of All Things: A Novel. PS3557 .I3415 S54 2013

Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy

BIOGRAPHY

Listed by The New Yorker and Vanity Fair as a best book of 2022, this biography of American performer turned British spy and hero of the French Resistance is impeccably researched and reads like a fast-paced thriller. Lewis’ work focuses on Baker’s activities as entertainer and secret agent during World War II, presenting a well-deserved look into the life of a remarkable woman and her fight against Nazi ideals.

Lewis, Damien. Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy.

A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune

BIOGRAPHY

This biography of educator, activist, and presidential advisor Mary McLeod Bethune works to connect her work centering the progress of Black girls and women within greater political and social liberation movements of her era with the modern civil rights movement. It examines her focus on education and its connection to freedom through access to the vote and economic self-sufficiency.

Rooks, Noliwe. A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

BIOGRAPHY

Skloot presents an examination of the life, death, and family of Henrietta Lacks, known to the scientific community as HeLa, the first immortal human cell line. While these cells have been vital within scientific and medical research, their acquisition and subsequent use raises significant bioethical issues. This work explores the intersection of race, class, ethics, and medicine, as well as the human consequences of medical experimentation, particularly on members of the Black community.

Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Portsmouth Women: Madams & Matriarchs Who Shaped New Hampshire’s Port City

NON-FICTION

This collection of essays celebrates notable women of Portsmouth, NH. It includes sketches of Mayor Mary Carey Dondero, sailors Ellen and Helen Gerris, and red-light district madams Mary Baker and Alta Roberts, among several others in an assortment as colorful as the city itself.

Pope, Laura, ed. Portsmouth Women: Madams & Matriarchs Who Shaped New Hampshire’s Port City. F44 .P8 P67 2013

More Than Petticoats: Remarkable New Hampshire Women

NON-FICTION

A selection of 13 short biographies of women whose work shaped New Hampshire. It includes discussions of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy, composer Amy Cheney Beach, and photographic artist Lotte Jacobi, among others.

Parker, Gail Underwood. More Than Petticoats: Remarkable New Hampshire Women. F33 .P27 2009

The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars

NON-FICTION

Sobel’s book discusses the contributions of women working at the Harvard College Observatory during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While initially wives, sisters, and daughters of male astronomers were hired as calculators who interpreted telescopic observations, the group eventually included graduates of women’s colleges. The Glass Universe describes the half million glass plates that allowed women to observe and make their own astronomical discoveries.

Sobel, Dava. The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars. QB34.5 .S63 2016

A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812

NON-FICTION

Ulrich presents a portrait of midwife and healer Martha Ballard, based on diaries discussing her work and life in Hallowell, Maine. This glimpse into the ordinary life of an industrious woman gives a unique glimpse into life in New England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812. F29 .H15 U47

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

NON-FICTION

Ulrich coined the now-popular phrase “Well-behaved women seldom make history” during the 1970s in a scholarly article about funeral sermons of Christian Women. In this later work, she examines the lives of three very different women: Christine de Pizan, a member of the French Court who authored “The City of Ladies;” suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton; and author Virginia Woolf. Ulrich examines their attempts to reimagine possibilities for women while looking at women who without trying to make history brought about change.

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History. HQ1121 .U517 2007

IMAGE: Collage from the Portsmouth Athenæum photograph collection. (TOP LEFT) Author and activist Gloria Steinem shakes hands with NH State Rep. Juanita G. Bell (1923-2006) of Portsmouth, NH, circa 1991. P0031_0519; (TOP RIGHT) Press photo of the Pro-Choice Rally in front of the Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building on the corner of Daniel and Penhallow streets, Portsmouth, NH, circa 1990. The woman speaking at the podium is State Rep. Amanda “Mandy” Merrill of Durham, NH. P0031_1181; (LOWER LEFT) Mayor Mary C. Dondero (1894-1960) smiling as she holds a bouquet of flowers, most likely at Portsmouth City Hall, Daniel Street, Portsmouth, NH, in December 1944. Dondero was the first woman mayor to be elected in New England. PS3272; (LOWER MIDDLE) U.S. Senator Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), of Maine, shakes hands with an unidentified woman in Market Square in Portsmouth on Feb. 22, 1964. Smith was visiting Portsmouth during her recently launched presidential campaign. P0001_1253; and (LOWER RIGHT) Photograph from a scrapbook by Doris Moore (1916-1993), of Pickering Street in Portsmouth, depicting her tour of duty with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in World War II. Women are marching past the equestrian statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in Rouen, France, June 1945. PS2727_07.