A Voice of Our Own

Prominent activists, academics, politicians, journalists, mothers, and daughters celebrate the indomitable spirit of the American woman and reflect on what democracy means to women's lives. Foreword.

Preface.

A Vote of Our Own.

My Vote, My Self (Mary Chapin Carpenter).

Impact (Gwen Ifill).

Finding America (Rebecca Walker).

Our Struggle for Full Citizenship.

Women Who Shaped the Constitution (Rosalynn Carter).

Lessons from the Women's Suffrage Movement (Lucinda Desha Robb).

The Politics of Sisterhood (Elisabeth Griffith).

The Women's Movement Across Generations (Sarah McClAndon).

American Democracy: A Puerto Rican Perspective (Sara E. MelAndez).

No More Sounds of Silence (Martina Navratilova).

Breaking the Barriers of Discrimination.

A Gift of the Spirit (Mary Adelia Rosamond McLeod).

Turning the World Rightside Up (Beverly J. Harvard).

Or You Can Get to Work (Ada E. Deer).

GAnder, Race, and Democracy (Diane C. Yu).

Family, Work, and Community.

Women, Work, and Family (Judy Woodruff).

Do What is Right (Esther Peterson).

My Life with the League of Women Voters (Anne Firor Scott).

Keepers of the Culture (Corinne C. "Lindy" Boggs).

My Democracy (Barbara Davis Blum).

Challenges and Change in One Woman's Life (Rosalynn Carter).

Our Collective Challenges.

Equal Opportunity for Recovery (Betty Ford).

Harvard Medicine in the Woman's Era (Bernadine P. Healy).

Our Collective Challenges (Donna Shalala).

Whose Nation is This? (Antonia Hernandez).

For the Next Generation.

A Call to Action (Hillary Rodham Clinton).

Entering the Twenty-First Century--On Our Own Terms (Wilma P. Mankiller).

Small Steps, Giant Leaps (Condoleezza Rice).

My Daughter's Generation (Maria Luisa Mercado).

Imagining the Real Future (Nancy Y. Bekavac).

NANCY M. NEUMAN is former president of the League of Women Voters and author of The League of Women Voters in Perspective 1920-1995 (1994). A lecturer and writer on women in politics and public policy, she has been a distinguished visiting professor at Washington and Jefferson College, Bucknell University, and Pomona College. Conceived by the League of Women Voters, A Voice of Our Own honors the 75th anniversary of the 19th amAndment to the Constitution of the United States--the amAndment that guaranteed women the right to vote.Written by prominent American women-activists, academics, politicians, journalists, mothers, and daughters--A Voice of Our Own is a collection of twenty-nine original essays that celebrate the indomitable spirit of the American woman. The book includes an eclectic group of contributors:

• Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Journalist Gwen Ifill
• Professional athlete Martina Navratilova
• Lawyer and activist Antonia Hernandez
• First ladies Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Each voice, every poignant story, brings a personal experience to light reflecting on what democracy means to women's lives.