More than 140 entries in this book depict events which have had lasting national significance in opening opportunities in the struggle for equal civil rights and opportunities for women. The impact of many of the included events was initially felt on a local level; but in time it created repercussions that spread across the country. These stories show women assuming roles of providers and heads of households, and their leadership, exerted in and outside the home, would often manifest in the community at large and, in turn, in the nation and in the world.The book is divided into four parts: One: The Seeds Are planted; Two: 19th Century – The Movement Takes Root; Three: 20th Century – Reaching for the Sunlight; Four: 21st Century – Coming into Full Bloom. The book begins with Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer and ends with Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah Winfrey, and Sarah Palin.
