Description
Book SynopsisLange's examination of the fights that led to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 reveals the power of images to change history.
Trade Review"...a digital collection of historical portraits and artifacts that tells a more inclusive story of the women's suffrage movement with a spotlight on the less familiar stories of Black women's activism throughout this period."-- "Forbes" "Lange offers an overdue and compelling account of the visual campaigns disseminated by national suffragists."-- "The Annals of Iowa" "An in-depth look at how American suffragists fought to control their own image in the long battle for the vote and political representation. Long before the pantsuit, American women were fighting to tell their story, their way. Lange's book is a story of historical courage whose ramifications still echo today."--Former US senator Barbara Mikulski, longest-serving woman in congressional history "By considering visual images of women from the 18th to the 20th century, this engaging book is more than just a study of women's suffrage, offering a breadth of coverage with wonderful classroom value. Lange instructs on how to read the visual images that most people barely notice. The book is likely to inspire much classroom discussion and further research."--C. E. Neumann "Choice" "In this richly researched and lavishly illustrated book, Lange argues that the American suffragists were successful in their battle for the vote in part because they used images to transform the public's notion of political womanhood. She takes special care to address how women of color developed activist visual campaigns. Linking power with visibility and weaving history with visual culture, Lange narrates a fascinating take on the history of the Nineteenth Amendment."--Kate Clarke LeMay, National Portrait Gallery "Picturing Political Power cogently delineates the intrinsic role of visual media in the struggle for women's rights. Lange shows how we cannot truly grasp the causes of and conflicts over women's suffrage without addressing its visual record. Sensitive to gender, class, and race, this groundbreaking book demonstrates the importance of rigorous engagement with visual evidence to uncover new insights about the past."--Joshua Brown, Graduate Center, City University of New York
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Setting the Standards Chapter 2. Dominant Images of Gender and Power in Antebellum America Chapter 3. Portraits as Politics Chapter 4. A “Fine Looking Body of Women”: Female Political Leaders on the Rise Chapter 5. Competing Visual Campaigns Chapter 6. White Public Mothers and Militant Suffragists Win the Vote Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
