Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women's Rights Movement (Pivotal Moments in American History) | 
 enlarge | Author: Sally Mcmillen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 78465
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0195182650
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.42097309034
EAN: 9780195182651
ASIN: 0195182650
Publication Date: February 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: hardcover book and dust jacket in excellent condition-fast ship
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In a quiet town of Seneca Falls, New York, over the course of two days in July, 1848, a small group of women and men, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, held a convention that would launch the woman's rights movement and change the course of history. The implications of that remarkable convention would be felt around the world and indeed are still being felt today.
In Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Woman's Rights Movement , the latest contribution to Oxford's acclaimed Pivotal Moments in American History series, Sally McMillen unpacks, for the first time, the full significance of that revolutionary convention and the enormous changes it produced. The book covers 50 years of women's activism, from 1840-1890, focusing on four extraordinary figures--Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Susan B. Anthony. McMillen tells the stories of their lives, how they came to take up the cause of women's rights, the astonishing advances they made during their lifetimes, and the lasting and transformative effects of the work they did. At the convention they asserted full equality with men, argued for greater legal rights, greater professional and education opportunities, and the right to vote--ideas considered wildly radical at the time. Indeed, looking back at the convention two years later, Anthony called it "the grandest and greatest reform of all time--and destined to be thus regarded by the future historian." In this lively and warmly written study, Sally McMillen may well be the future historian Anthony was hoping to find.
A vibrant portrait of a major turning point in American women's history, and in human history, this book is essential reading for anyone wishing to fully understand the origins of the woman's rights movement.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Women's suffrage July 21, 2008
Not an easy read, not entertaining on a Winter's Night (stick to Hot Chocolate) this book is as complete a record of the Movement for Women's suffrage as you would ever want. It is complete with names and dates and personal vignettes on the main characters. For anyone interested in this subject or the early aspects of the women's movement, this is a must read.
 HOW WE GOT TO THIS MOMENT March 5, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
What McMillen does best in this book is re-create the environment of the mid-nineteenth century (which will not feel totally unfamiliar to women who were living through the late 1960s) and then to paint a detailed and strikingly personal account of four women who acted against all constraints to begin to change the world.
No, they were not alone; yes, it mattered what they wore; of course, their male relatives often were mystified; and alas, we still have a way to go. This is the world and the pivotal moment in history that McMillen brings to us at another pivotal moment in our time. The light she shines is illuminating in every sense of the word and she manages to have a bit of fun in the telling of a serious subject. Come to think of it, that's the way history unfolds: undertaken by the brave and the committed, through the ups and downs, day by day.
The people part of history February 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What timing! Events in the lives of the four bright and strong-willed nineteenth century women highlighted in this book have heightened relevance in the current presidential election campaign. In both periods competing interests of minorities create potential conflict.
The way that Professor McMillen intricately wove the events leading up to and following the Seneca Falls Convention into the fabric of everyday life was brilliant. For the first time I began to understand: Why in the world did it take 72 years from Seneca Falls in 1848 to 1920 to pass the amendment giving women the right to vote? McMillen provided precious details about the human goings-on and the interpersonal relationships that explain the sputtering, two-steps-forward, one-step-back movement.
History often seems so top-down and conceptual, but this book reminds one of the significance of those day-to-day small steps. The Seneca Falls convention may have been the catalyst for a pivotal moment in womens rights, but McMillen allowed the individual personalities throughout the period to shine.
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Inspiring Read February 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was a great book! The stories of these four women is truly inspirational. It's so important for everyone (especially women) to know the history behind our gaining the right to vote and what a long struggle these women endured to make it happen. It's a story that has always touched my heart and McMillen really brought it to life. Fabulous work!
Excellent - a must-read February 8, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a wonderful book. Although I studied feminist history in college and have been familiar with the names and deeds of the four women featured in "Seneca Falls..." for years, it wasn't until reading this book that these women became human to me. The author does a stunning job of bringing them and their individual and collective struggles to life in a wonderfully engaging, accessible way. What an extraordinary story of patience and deep-seated belief in the possibility of change - a timely, inspiring message I'm very glad to have stumbled upon.
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