Laborers for Liberty

In the years following the Civil War, American women discovered new opportunities and obstacles in their quest for social and political equality. As the nation's boundaries and industrial might expanded, more women worked on the land as well as in factories. Women found new educational opportunities, but at the same time faced old barriers to their entry into male-dominated professions such as medicine and law. They also embarked on a remarkable endeavor, organizing hundreds of women's clubs to pursue common interests and promote social causes. Clubwomen sought to enhance their own education, end the consumption of alcohol and prevent violence against women, increase women's educational opportunities, initiate reforms within their own communities, and obtain the right to vote. Laborers for Liberty brings alive the stories and contributions of women from all class and ethnic backgrounds as they faced the challenges and opportunities of a nation preparing for the 20th century.

Harriet Sigerman is the author of An Unfinished Battle: American Women 1848-1865 and Land of Many Hands: Women in the American West. She holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and was a researcher there for the Stanton Anthony Papers. She lives in New Jersey.