Freedom's Daughters The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970

THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF THE VITAL ROLEWOMEN -- BOTH BLACK AND WHITE -- PLAYEDIN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTIn this groundbreaking and absorbing book, credit finally goes where credit is due -- to the bold women who were crucial to the success of the civil rights movement. From the Montgomery bus boycott to the lunch counter sit-ins to the Freedom Rides, Lynne Olson skillfully tells the long-overlooked story of the extraordinary women who were among the most fearless, resourceful, and tenacious leaders of the civil rights movement.Freedom's Daughtersincludes portraits of more than sixty women -- many until now forgotten and some never before written about -- from the key figures (Ida B. Wells, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella Baker, and Septima Clark, among others) to some of the smaller players who represent the hundreds of women who each came forth to do her own small part and who together ultimately formed the mass movements that made the difference.Freedom's Daughtersputs a human face on the civil rights struggle -- and shows that that face was often female.

Lynne Olson, who cowrote The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism, lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and daughter.