American Women Biographies

De joven, Selena Quintanilla cantaba en un grupo llamado Selena y Los Dinos con su hermano y su hermana. La familia actuaba en ferias, bodas, fiestas de quince años y en las esquinas de su Texas natal. Selena aprendió a cantar en español y pronto se hizo muy popular entre la comunidad latina, hasta el punto de convertirse en la artista latina más vendida de la década de 1990. Selena estaba lista para llegar a la cumbre del éxito, pero su vida se vio truncada tras ser herida de muerte por la presidenta de su club de fans.

In this historic memoir, Lee reflects on her life, her spiritual transformation, and her critical role in the Second Great Awakening - a movement that initiated a number of reforms. Today, it remains an important chronicle of faith and an invaluable record of a pioneer who broke through barriers of race, gender, and institutional inertia.

Maya Lin is known throughout the world as the creator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. But many people weren’t happy when she was chosen to design the memorial, objecting to her gender, age, race, and more. Still, she persisted, and her design stands out today as one of the most memorable monuments in the country. Her creations, which were always connected to surrounding landscapes and nature, have inspired many to follow in her footsteps and follow their creative dreams. Learn about the amazing life of Maya Lin—and how she persisted.

Carefully researched and expertly told, this Newbery Honor and Sibert Medal-winning book is a moving account of the life of a talented and determined artist who left her mark on musical and social history. Through her story, Newbery Medal-winning author Russell Freedman illuminates the social and political climate of the day and an important chapter in American history. Notes, bibliography, discography, index.

Pioneering Chinese American actress Anna May Wong made more than 60 films, headlined theater and vaudeville productions, and even starred in her own television show. Her work helped shape racial modernity, as she embodied the dominant image of Chinese, and more generally, “Oriental” women between 1925 and 1940. In Anna May Wong, Shirley Jennifer Lim re-evaluates Wong’s life and work as a consummate artist, and positions the actress as a historical and cultural entrepreneur who rewrote categories of representation.

When Diana Taurasi was a girl, professional women's basketball didn't exist in the US. Diana knew she was talented, and she worked hard to create opportunities for herself and other female athletes. She won high school and college championships before going pro with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and winning five Olympic gold medals, inspiring many girls to follow in her athletic footsteps. In this chapter book biography by award-winning author Monica Brown, listeners learn about the amazing life of Diana Tauras—and how she persisted.

Mae had a dream to make one-of-a-kind hats. But the path for a Black female designer was unclear, so Mae made a way, leaving her home in the segregated South to study at the Chicago School of Millinery. Mae had the skills, but craved the independence to create her own styles. So Mae found a way. In Philadelphia, she became the first Black woman to own a business on South Street. Whether you were Lena Horne or a lady from the neighborhood, Mae wanted you to look good and feel special in one of her original hats. A mother, an entrepreneur, and a community advocate, Mae led the way.

Augusta Savage was arguably the most influential American artist of the 1930s. A gifted sculptor, Savage was commissioned to create a portrait bust of W.E.B. Du Bois for the New York Public Library. She flourished during the Harlem Renaissance, and became a teacher to an entire generation of African American artists, including Jacob Lawrence, and would go on to be nationally recognized as one of the featured artists at the 1939 World’s Fair. She was the first-ever recorded Black gallerist, and worked to advance equal rights in the arts. And yet popular history has forgotten her name.

When Patsy Mink won her seat the House of Representatives as a Democrat from Hawaii, she became the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman elected to Congress. A co-author of the Title XI amendment of the Higher Education Act, she was a champion of rights for women, children, immigrants, and minorities throughout her twenty-four years in Congress. She helped paved the way for many other women to succeed.

A powerful document about slavery, emancipation, faith, and resilience, Narrative of Sojourner Truth chronicles the life of a nineteenth-century trailblazer in the battle for racial and gender equality. Beginning with her earliest reminiscences of her brutal childhood, Truth recounts the first thirty years of her life in bondage, including her marriage and her trials as a mother, and then describes her eventual liberation. At the heart of this extraordinary record is Truth’s spiritual epiphany.

When Oprah Winfrey was growing up, her family expected her to become a maid like her grandmother. But she had different dreams. She went after them and turned her dreams into reality, becoming a media superstar and inspiring countless other people along the way. Complete with an introduction from Chelsea Clinton!

Gymnast Simone Biles won four Olympic gold medals in 2016, and she plans to compete at the Olympics again in 2021. Engaging text and critical-thinking questions will make this book a hit with young gymnastics fans.

This glorious biography of Maya Angelou’s life - from her traumatic childhood through her work as a freedom fighter and her triumphant rise as a poet - is a powerful tribute to a phenomenal woman.

Aretha Franklin was a musical and cultural icon whose legacy spanned six decades! Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1942, Aretha got her start singing in front of her father's Baptist congregation and found minor success as a gospel singer. She then set her sights on becoming a pop-music artist and used her powerful voice and impressive skills on the piano to get a record deal. Aretha released her first of many celebrated albums at the age of 18. In 1987, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making her the first female artist to grace the prestigious list.

The Portable Anna Julia Cooper brings together, for the first time, Anna Julia Cooper's major collection of essays, A Voice from the South, along with several previously unpublished poems, plays, journalism, and selected correspondences, including more than 30 previously unpublished letters between Anna Julia Cooper and W. E. B. Du Bois. This volume will introduce a new generation to an educator, intellectual, and activist whose prescient insights underlie some of the most important developments in modern American intellectual thought and African American activism.

Serena Williams began playing tennis when she was just a child and is now an Olympic champion who's won more Grand Slam singles titles than anyone else. Throughout her life she's battled many things, from life-threatening illnesses and sports injuries, to sexism and racism in the tennis world. Now she's an icon in sport, fashion and activism, an inspiration to every young person who has dared to dream big. Extraordinary Lives is a bold, inclusive biography series shining a light on modern and historical figures.

Winsome Earle-Sears sent shock waves across Virginia and the country at large when she pulled off her stunning upset victory in November 2021 and became the first woman lieutenant governor of Virginia and the first Black woman, the first naturalized female citizen, and first female veteran elected to statewide office. She earned intense national coverage because of her unwavering support for Second Amendment rights and her strong commitment to education opportunity for all students. Now Winsome will tell her story and explain how she arrived at that historic moment in time.

Today I spoke with a dead woman. Or rather, she spoke to me and I listened. To be more specific, today a dead woman spoke to me, through a medium of sorts. Not a psychic. The woman who brought the dead woman to life, was an actress. Not just any actress, but a magnificently talented one. Perhaps I should explain….

Kara DioGuardi is an award-winning hitmaker, a savvy record executive, and a successful music publisher whose songs have been recorded by such superstars as Pink, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Santana, Steven Tyler, CÉline Dion, and so many others. She was also the feisty fourth judge on American Idol. But success wouldn’t have happened for this songwriter, artist, and producer without the dark times of defeat. Filled with the grace, raw honesty, and haunting emotion of her hit songs, A Helluva High Note is the soundtrack to Kara’s life....

Serving for seventeen months during the period between the British surrender at Yorktown and the signing of the final treaty, a time when peace was far from secure, Deborah Sampson accomplished her deception by becoming an outstanding soldier. Alfred Young shows us why she did it and exactly how she carried it off. He meticulously reconstructs her early life as an indentured servant; her young adulthood as a weaver, teacher, and religious rebel; and her military career in the light infantry—followed by service as an orderly to a general at West Point.