In Honor of Women's History Month--Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts

     The month of March holds special significance for women all across the United States, as it marks a month-long celebration of the vital achievements and strives that we have made throughout our nation's history.  Women's History Month celebrations began in 1981 when the United States Congress passed legislation which requested that former President Ronald Reagan proclaim the week beginning on March 7th as, "Women's History Week."  Over the next five years, Congress continued to pass resolutions declaring a week in March as, "Women's History Week", culminating in 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress ultimately approved legislation that delegated the entire month of March as, "Women's History Month."  Since 1988, President's Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama have each issued a series of proclamations designating the month of March as, "Women's History Month."
     On a cold, wintry March morning in 1987, a twelve year-old girl sat in her homeroom class as a seventh grader, listening to the assistant principal of her junior high school over the PA, reading the daily morning announcements.  The assistant principal mentioned that in honor of, "Women's History Month", the entire school would be participating in a contest.  A few minutes later, her homeroom teacher, Miss. Gallanda, passed around a brief, 10 multiple choice question quiz that assessed their knowledge of the actions of several famous women across the centuries.  Quickly, to her amazement, the girl was able to answer the questions, and when time was called, she passed up her paper to the front of the classroom for the teacher to collect.  Four days later, during morning announcements, the assistant principal announced the winners per grade level, and the girl was astonished to hear her name called.  She went upstairs to the library to receive a certificate, as well as a Susan B. Anthony coin.  A photographer from the local town newspaper was on hand to take a photo of the winners to go alongside a short blurb scheduled to run in next week's edition.  Fast forward to today, and somewhere, tucked among the pages of my numerous scrapbooks, is my medal, and a faded newspaper clipping marking my achievement.  The stories behind these brave, enterprising women that I was able to identify, inspired me from that day forward, to follow a path to becoming a writer, an educator, and most importantly, a mother.

       Needless to say, these special memories of this time in my life came flooding right back when I was recently given the opportunity to read and review Founding Mothers, written by New York Times Best-Selling author/political commentator Cokie Roberts.  The lives behind each of the women that Ms. Roberts chose to profile for this fascinating recollection are filled with courage, tenacity, hope and remarkable bravery during a time in our nation's history that was at the dawn of our country's emerging independence.

     While each of the women of this particular century that Roberts has shined a well-deserved spotlight on, were not allowed to do many of the things that women of today's society can do (and perhaps, take for granted)---attend college; maintain a career or run for political office--they did not, however, let this stop them from speaking out through their written words.  The journals, letters and poems from women including Phylis Wheatley (born a slave in Boston, Massachusetts, who, through the kind intervention of the daughter of her owner, quickly learned to read and write English), Esther DeBerdt Reed (who, after her husband Joseph went off to fight in the Revolutionary War, published the famous article, "Sentiments of an American Woman", which appealed to the women of the colonies to support the troops who lacked the essentials of clothes, food and housing.  Her plea quickly caught steam and soon, women all across the colonies raised more than $300,000 for the troops), and Mercy Otis Warren (a well-educated wife and mother from Massachusetts who was inspired to write poems and plays attacking the governor of her state, who was in league with the British), continue to shine brightly almost 240 years later.

Founding Mothers
Written by Cokie Roberts and Illustrated by Diane Goode
Publisher:  Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Childrens (2014)
Website:  www.harpercollinschildrens.com
ISBN: 978-0-06-078002-9
For ages 7 thru 12
Accelerated Reader Book Level: 6.8
Accelerated Reader Points: 1.0
Retails for $17.99 (Hardcover)