February 16, 2006 Library of Congress Launches Women Who Dare Series

First Six Titles to Debut at March 9 Event

Press Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022 | Lory Osterhuber, Pomegranate Communications (800) 227-1428

The first six titles in the new Women Who Dare book series have been published by the Library of Congress in association with Pomegranate Communications. Author readings, book signings and a reception will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, at the Sewall Belmont House and Museum, 144 Constitution Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C. The event, which is sponsored jointly by the Library’s Publishing Office and the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Women’s National Book Association is free and open to the public but guests are asked to contact rsvp@sewallbelmost.org.

“For more than 200 hundred years, the Library of Congress has been gathering materials necessary to tell the stories of women in America,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “Drawing on women’s history resources in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Women Who Dare book series is designed to provide readers with an entertaining introduction to the life of a notable American woman or a significant topic in women’s history.”

The Women Who Dare series celebrates the lives of women who have changed the course of American history through their courage and spirit, often in the face of overwhelming obstacles. The first six titles are “Eleanor Roosevelt” by Anjelina Michelle Keating, “Helen Keller” by Aimee Hess, “Amelia Earhart” by Susan Reyburn, “Women of the Civil War” by Michelle A. Krowl, “Women of the Suffrage Movement” by Janice E. Ruth and Evelyn Sinclair and “Women of the Civil Rights Movement” by Linda Barrett Osborne. Taken as a whole, these works span the pre-Civil War days, when women first demanded the right to vote, through the years of the civil rights movement, when brave women took to the streets. The series also surveys individual women—some famous, others less well known—whose actions paved the ways for future generations.

Each 64-page title, containing 40 illustrations, is available for $12.95 in bookstores nationwide and in the Library of Congress Sales Shop, Washington, DC 20540-4985. Credit card orders are taken at (888) 682-3557. Online orders can be placed at www.loc.gov/shop.

Built in 1800, the Sewall-Belmont house has been the headquarters of the National Woman’s Party since 1929. The National Woman’s Party has been a leader in the campaign for women’s suffrage and equal rights. One of the premier women’s history sites in the country, this National Historic Landmark houses an extensive archives documenting the history of the women’s rights movement.

For a guide to Library of Congress resources for the study of women’s history and culture visit https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml.

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PR 06-045
2006-02-16
ISSN 0731-3527