Women of Colonial America

November 30, 2015
In this addition to the Women of Action series, Miller (Women of the Frontier) examines European, indigenous, and African women who lived, worked, and raised families in colonial America. Familiar individuals like Pocahontas and poet Anne Bradstreet appear alongside lesser-known women, such as Martha Corey, who was accused of witchcraft and hanged, and Christina Campbell and Jane Vobe, successful tavern owners at a time when few women owned property. Other chapters focus on broader topics like the rigid societal and marital expectations for women and the lives of indentured servants in the colonies. Miller maintains a balance between objective historical accounts and personal biographies, offering insight into what it meant to be a woman in America’s fledgling days. Ages 12–up.

December 1, 2015
A collection of brief yet informative biographies of American women of the Colonial era. Most of the women described in this effort were exceptional for their time. Some, such as Pocahontas, Puritan lay preacher Anne Hutchinson, and poet Anne Dudley Bradstreet, may be familiar to readers. The brief biographies of others will provide new revelations regarding the lives of the women of the era. Elizabeth Ashbridge started as an indentured servant and became a respected Quaker leader; Mary Rowlandson heroically survived being taken prisoner by Indians during King Philip's War; and Eliza Lucas Pinkney, whose letters reveal much about her life, managed her father's plantation at the age of 16. With literacy still relatively uncommon among women of the time, and since they only rarely rated the attention of male record keepers, it becomes the exceptional woman for whom biographical information survives. However, each chapter includes enlightening history of the time and place, and the biographies make it clear that these women were not always typical of their time. Parts of the book were originally published in 2003 as the much shorter, juvenile nonfiction work Good Women of a Well-Blessed Land: Women's Lives in Colonial America. Detailed endnotes and an extensive bibliography round out an excellent nonfiction offering for sophisticated readers. A valuable and entertaining resource for both budding historians and those seeking biographical information on a few of the many nearly forgotten women of that time. (index not seen) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

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January 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Miller highlights prominent women-whose contributions have often been left out of traditional history texts-in this thoroughly researched and engrossing look at Colonial America. The book covers nearly 200 years of history and consists of 13 chapters, each of which contains biographical sketches of several women, making the subtitle a little misleading. Miller begins with a description of the gracious hospitality of a 16th-century Native American woman who welcomed explorers employed by Sir Walter Raleigh in what is now North Carolina and concludes in the 1770s with accounts of successful businesswomen in Virginia. The intervening decades are packed with narratives of Native American women who navigated their rapidly changing world with bravery and skill and women who left (willingly or by force) their familiar lives in Europe for the unknown in the colonies. There are women who were born in the colonies and grew up to be successful planters, authors, and theologians. Among the topics covered are servitude, slavery, childbearing, marriage, education, and housewifery. Where historical records are silent about the specifics of a woman's life, Miller skillfully weaves in what is known about women in general who shared a similar background. For instance, few established facts exist about Pocahontas, so Miller creates a substantial portrait of her using what is known about Algonquin women of the time. Miller incorporates excerpts from period letters and government records. Serviceable black-and-white illustrations are interspersed. VERDICT A strong option for those looking for more materials on women's contributions to American history.-Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC

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