American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country – Inspiring Profiles of Pioneers in Government, Business, Education, and Healthcare

by Kay Bailey Hutchison

As long as there has been an America, the indomitable spirit of American women has shaped both the country's history and society. Regardless of the time and place these women were born each excelled in her respective field, making it easier for the next generation. This is what makes them heroines. In American Heroines, Kay Bailey Hutchison presents female pioneers in fields as varied as government, business, education and healthcare, who overcame the resistance and prejudice of their times and accomplished things that no woman–and sometimes no man –– had done before. Hutchison, a pioneer in her own right, became the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the State of Texas. Interspersed with the stories of America's historic female leaders are stories of today's women whose successes are clearly linked to those predecessors. Would Sally Ride have been given the chance to orbit the earth had Amelia Earhart not flown solo across the Atlantic Ocean fifty years before? Had Clara Barton not nursed wounded soldiers on Civil War battlefields, aid may not have reached the millions it did while the Red Cross was in the hands of women like Elizabeth Dole and Bernadine Healy. Had Oveta Culp Hobby not been appointed the first Secretary of the Department of Health and Education by President Eisenhower, the country may have been deprived of such leaders as Secretary of State Madeline Albright and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice. As a young girl, Senator Hutchison dreamed of an America where the qualifier "the first woman" had become obsolete. The profiles contained in American Heroines, illustrate how her dream is coming true, one courageous step at a time.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Biography, Audiobook

372 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2004

Reviews

[Tracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cool to read about all of these amazing women in our country's history. But sometimes their life stories got bogged down by too many mundane details, so I felt like I was plowing through at points.

[Ashley Williams Clawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

In theory, the premise of the book is appealing. In it's execution, I have some problems. The book is divided into eleven chapters, each one centered around a theme/topic (e.g. "education for everyone," "pioneers and preservationists," and "setting records, making history"). All but one chapter ("the voice of her people") also include "women of today," which is interesting to connect the women of the past and the present.
One of my issues is the sometimes lack of focus throughout a vignette. For example, the first woman discussed is Mary Austin Holley. However the last two paragraphs turn attention to Anna Maria Taylor, Senator Hutchinson's great-great-grandmother and that she "left no written account of her experience in the Runaway Scrape" and her experiences have been passed down through family stories. Hutchinson's son "is named for them [Mary's family] and for their friend and fellow revolutionary Sam Houston" (16). This is not the only instance of Hutchinson connecting the women she writes about to her own family, something that is not necessarily needed and can take away from the woman central to the section.
Another example of this frustrating lack of focus is later in the first chapter with Jane Long. The first paragraph briefly introduces Long before the second paragraph starts "Mary Austin Holley was forced to follow the dramatic developments of the war from the safety of distant Lexington, Kentucky, but her contributions to the cause was no less noteworthy." The rest of the vignette centers on Holley. Why Hutchinson decided to switch back the focus to a previously written female, I do not know and I find it both frustrating and confusing.
Periodically, Hutchinson interjects her own history or thoughts and not always separate. In the section on Emma Willard, who sought education beyond what most girls received and later to create schools for girls, Hutchinson interspersed two different thoughts from her own life. The first one is about changing people's thoughts on girls' education as Willard attempted, just as women senators have spoken out "in many forums and on the Senate floor about the plight of women in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries where women are suppressed" (71). Later, she writes a paragraph about being taught homemaking in school, how it has made her "very handy," and that "most modern girls are not getting this practical skill" (73).
All of that said, I will say the second half of the book is better than the first. I think this may be in part to focusing on more recent women where sources are more readily available. This book can be an interesting read and bring forgotten or unknown women to the public eye; however there is room for improvement as a whole.

[LAMONT D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good Senator has done a masterful job of capturing some the female pioneers and greats in American history. There were many names I did not recognize so I learned quite a bit about these tenacious women from this comprehensive historical lesson. Each chapter highlights 2-3 women that made a lasting impact on society and paved the way for future generations. As she argues in the introduction: "America is the best place on earth to be a woman." She hoped to raise the awareness of some of these women and the impact that they had in our country. In the back of the book is further reading for those that she wrote about in the various 11 chapters. She also added short interviews with more contemporary woman delving into several short topics for each at the end of each chapter.

[Jane Tennyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting choices

This was an interesting collection of women who all had in common their desire to achieve. Each was dedicated in her quest and many also shared the same commitment to being the best they could be.

[Bonnye Reed]

BookBub 199

[EXO Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book deeply disappointing. I'd been very excited to find it, too. As a writer, I typically like to base my characters on people in history (whether real or imagined), creating these long lists of inspired names to be used at some point down the road. Yet as a student of history trying to put this system in practice, there is an unassailable, unmistakable truth: whether through deeply-seeded cultural and structural misogyny, or the fact that it's just plain harder being a female human being here on planet Earth, the role of women is severely underrepresented in the annals of history. So this book on "female role models in America" should be just what the doctor ordered, right?

Now, I read a fair amount of non-fiction history books, but American Heroines was a first for me in the genre--in a very bad way. Perhaps some fans of the good Senator appreciated this aspect of the book, but I found it extremely tiring and then quickly infuriating how much of Kay Bailey Hutchinson's personal narrative had been added to her biographical sketches. Senator, quite frankly I don't give a damn about how you're related to this woman, or that one, or if woman X lived close to where you grew up in Texas, (or your kid's names--more then once), or any of the other personalized injections included in so many of the sketches. THIS GOT OLD EXTREMELY FAST. JFK didn't use Profiles in Courage to wax poetic about his teenage role models. He chose whom he admired then wrote about them with passion, trying to convince us with his words while leaving the personal to the side. Ditto for pretty much every non-fiction history book I've ever read except this one.

Now, I can appreciate the fact that ANY history book is inherently biased by virtue of being written by human beings with all of our biases, inherent or otherwise. And while historians are almost always trying to make a point (or two, or more) in their works, it's never based on personal injections--it's based on who and what the author decides to focus on, and why, along with the power of the writing and how the narrative is framed. Maybe I would be more forgiving of this book if it had been true about what it really is: some sort of history/biographical hybrid written by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, sort of a history flip book (heavy on religion and Texas) with personalized notes. But then again, I probably wouldn't have picked it up if this was the case...

All in all, I think I was caught up with the packaging most of all, looking for something that this book never was or intended to be. I guess that's my fault. But having read it (and honestly skimming through a good third of it in frustration), and thinking about it again, I should have paid far more attention to the quote on the cover. "A compellingly themed ... mix of social history, thumbnail biography, and personal recollection." What I really want to know is what was excised from the quote with that ellipse (...). "A compellingly themed but _______ mix of social history, thumbnail biography, and personal recollection." Frustrating? Tiresome? Poorly executed?

If you're a fan of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson's (and/or a Texan?), by all means pick up this book. But for everyone else out there, buyer beware. I certainly don't think it was worth the $15 I paid for my hard copy, expecting, as always, to take copious notes. In fact, you can have my entirely clean copy if you want. I doubt I will be opening it again.

[Shirley Brosius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firsts. That’s what this book is about. Women who faced the challenge to use their talents and skills to gain offices and honors that had never before been attained by a woman.

The first native-born American to be canonized (Elizabeth Seton); the first woman publisher (Elizabeth Palmer Peabody); the first woman to gain international recognition as a major artist (Mary Cassatt); the first woman to be elected to both houses of Congress (Margaret Chase Smith); the first African American to serve as National Security Advisor (Condoleezza Rice); the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (Marguerite Higgins). Those are just some of the firsts you meet on these pages.

Other heroines excelled in sports, broke color barriers or became known in music, nursing and government. By building on the stories of past heroines with interviews with women today, the reader learns what characteristics shaped these women into the heroines they have become and the qualities made them great. The book includes an index and a section of suggested reading in case you want to know more about any particular heroine. A worthwhile read.

[Brad Lucht · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book ... isn't good.

First I learned that her great-grandmother and other early relatives were "American Heroines".

Other American heroine was the inventor of Christian Science, who developed the religion based on the assumption you could heal using mental telepathy. In fact, many of the "heroines" in the first half of this book are religious zealots.

Oh, and we also learn that Elizabeth Dole and Lynn Cheney are also American heroines.

Hopefully you're starting to grasp what it takes to be a heroine according to Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

Only the second half of the book has any value, when women in the arts, science, journalism and sports are discussed.

NOT recommended.

[Meta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is sectioned off into different fields, e.g., athletes, politicians, etc. There are examples from history followed by interviews with women currently in the field. The interviews are of a set format with questions, e.g., what was the persons biggest obstacle, how do they negotiate with the "opposition", who was the biggest influence on them, and what was the best advice they'd receive or pass on. It is well written and there is a bibliography listing further reading sources.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book because I appreciate reading about innovative, strong, and brave women. Unfortunately, it included way too many details and read like a textbook. I did appreciate the chapter on Clara Barton and used the book as a catalyst to do more research on the women who were mentioned. Their lives and actions definitely shaped our country, and for that we can all be grateful as we shape our future.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice concept, but poorly written.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book about women who helped shape our country. It isn't one to finish quickly, however. It is one to pick up and read a little at a time - a coffee table book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting