We are pleased to announce that Ask a Suffragist: Stories and Wisdom from America’s First Feminists will be followed by three more Ask a Suffragist books, channeling the lived experiences of suffragists spanning 100 years—from about 1830 to about 1930—for modern inspiration.

Whose images are on the covers?

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a Civil War and Reconstruction era abolitionist, suffragist, poet and novelist represents her generation on the cover of Ask a Suffragist: Stories and Wisdom from America’s First Feminists.

Victoria Claflin Woodhull, the first American woman to run for president, represents her generation on the cover of Ask a Suffragist: Stories and Wisdom from Activists Who Built a Movement.

Mary Church Terrell, the founding president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, represents her generation on the cover of Ask a Suffragist: Stories and Wisdom from Leaders Who Mobilized for Change.

Zitkala-Sa (also known as Red Bird and Gertrude Simmons Bonnin), an advocate of suffrage for indigenous people, represents her generation on the cover of Ask a Suffragist: Stories and Wisdom from Fighters Who Won (and Lost) the Right to Vote.

What time periods are covered?

America’s First Feminists covers the 1830s through the 1860s, when the idea of equality for women was new and its supporters were vilified. Besides suffrage, these early activists fought for abolition, career opportunities and the right to wear pants instead of those exasperating dresses and petticoats.

Activists Who Built a Movement covers the 1870s-1880s, when suffragists organized into thriving (but competing) groups and achieved early success in the West. Women’s rights activists expanded their toolkit to include protests, civil disobedience and court battles. Support increased but unity dwindled as differences of opinion about strategy and priorities divided the movement.

Leaders Who Mobilized for Change transitions from the 19th century to the 20th, when a new generation revitalized the stalled suffrage movement and expanded its human rights vision. New initiatives sought to address working conditions and poverty, but racism tainted suffrage organizations led by white women, leading black women to form their own intersectional movements.

Fighters Who Won (and Lost) the Right to Vote covers the 19th Amendment victory and beyond, when women barred from voting by racial discrimination fought for their rights. Suffrage victories in the West and ultimately nationwide enfranchised many American women, but indigenous women still fought to be recognized as citizens and women of color mobilized against discriminatory voting laws.

The first book in the Ask a Suffragist series, America’s First Feminists, is available now. Get it today!

Buy Ask a Suffragist on Amazon.

Order Ask a Suffragist from your local independent Bookstore.

Large Print Edition

is available on Amazon or Indiebound.

And while you wait for other books in the series to be available, we’re sharing recommendations of our other favorite memoirs, biographies, history books and fiction by or about suffragists to get you in the mood for the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment. Happy reading!

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