A portrait of America's first woman cabinet member describes how Frances Perkins worked to create new safety laws in the aftermath of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and how her bold vision of inclusivity helped create the Social Security program.

Profiles Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labor appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and the first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet, who became involved in many aspects of the New Deal.

Describes the adventures of two sisters who tried to overcome the male-dominated social norms of the late nineteenth century and achieved a remarkable list of firsts, including the first woman-run brokerage house and the first woman to run for president.

The first full authoritative biography of Dorothy Day, American icon, radical pacifist, Catholic convert, and activist whom Pope Francis I compared to Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. After a middle-class Republican childhood and a few years as a Communist sympathizer, Dorothy Day converted to Catholicism and became an anomaly in American life for almost fifty years. As an orthodox Catholic, political radical, and a rebel who courted controversy,...

Details the author's personal experience, challenges, and efforts as a lawyer and social advocate to find justice for America's most marginalized people.

A biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, the most socially and politically active--and controversial--First Lady America had ever seen. Ambassador, activist, and champion of civil rights, Eleanor Roosevelt changed the soul of America forever. Includes selected quotes from Eleanor's own writings.

Activist Belva Lockwood never stopped asking herself the question Are women not worth the same as men? She had big dreams and didn't let anyone stand in her way--not her father, her law school, or even the U.S. Supreme Court. She fought for equality for women in the classroom, in the courtroom, and in politics.

"An autobiography about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his life growing up in New York, becoming the basketball star he's known to be, and getting involved in the world around him as an activist for social change"--

"A brilliant physician and writer, Rush was known as the "American Hippocrates" for pioneering national healthcare and revolutionizing treatment of mental illness and addiction. Yet medicine is only part of his legacy. Dr. Rush was both a progressive thorn in the side of the American political establishment-a vocal opponent of slavery, capital punishment, and prejudice by race, religion or gender-and close friends with its most prominent leaders....