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

The first comprehensive history of the vital role women--both black and white--played in the civil rights movement.

In 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 Daughters includes portraits of more than sixty women--many until now forgotten and some never before written about--from key figures like Ida B. Wells, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella Baker, and Septima Clark 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 Daughters puts a human face on the civil rights struggle--and shows that that face was often female.


About the Author
Lynne Olson has been a reporter and writer since 1970. After working for the AP and the Baltimore Sun for a decade, Olson became a freelance writer in 1981, writing for American Heritage, Smithsonian, Working Woman, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Ms., Elle, Glamour, and Baltimore Magazine. She is the author of eight books, including the New York Times bestseller Madame Fourcade's Secret War, as well as Last Hope Island and Citizens of London. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband, with whom she has co-authored two books.