Women of Valor: The Struggle Against the Great Depression as Told in Their Own Life Stories

This welcome history casts light on the critical but often overlooked roles played by women in the 1930s. As the editors of the writings excerpted here observe, ``the United States could never have survived the Depression without the collective contributions of American womanhood.'' Of the 16 women represented, (among them Dorothy Day, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frances Perkins, ``Mother'' Bloor), the majority are city dwellers who at one time worked in New York. Most of the women are white and Protestant; their economic backgrounds are diverse and their marital histories often troubled. Each reveals the personal courage that motivated entry into public life in a time of narrowed resources and opportunities for most women. Those represented here are in the vanguard of social activism as we know it today. Both editors are history professors who teach in Ohio, Sternsher at Bowling Green State University, Sealander at Wright State University. (Sept.)