The American women's movement, 1945-2000 : a brief history with documents

This volume, by esteemed labour and women's historian Nancy MacLean, traces the evolution of modern feminism from the end of the Second World War to the beginning of the twenty-first century. The introduction traces the deep roots of the women's movement and demonstrates the continuity from women's activism in the labour movement and New Deal networks, the black civil rights movement, and the peace movement to the height of Second Wave feminism and into the Third Wave.The primary sources reflect the social breadth and depth of the movement. Dispelling the misconception that the American women's movement was solely a white, middle-class cause, the documents include the voices of women of all ages, classes, and ethnicities.Document headnotes, a chronology of the women's movement, questions for consideration, a selected bibliography, and index support student learning, classroom discussion, and further research. The American women's movement was one of the most influential social movements of the twentieth century. Longstanding ideas and habits came under scrutiny and institutions were changed. Maclean's introduction and collection of primary sources engage students with the most up-to-date scholarship in U.S. women's history.