Review in Canada’s History
Penni Mitchell has done a wonderful job in the latest volume of the About Canada series, Women’s Rights. She succinctly covers hundreds of years of women’s achievements in just over two hundred pages. The well-organized book begins by looking at the role First nations women played in brokering trade and peace agreements; it follows with the deeds of colonial women and then Confederation-era women. The remaining chapters are dedicated to shorter periods, including suffrage, war years, women’s liberation, and the concluding part of the twentieth century. “Strides were made, yet equality remains elusive,” concludes Mitchell, who is also the editor of Herizons magazine. You will find familiar faces in the black-and-white illustrations, while the text honours the efforts of the nameless and faceless women who picketed, protested, advocated, wrote about and fought for both enfranchisement and a better quality of life. Women’s Rights is small and pocket-portable – easy for commuter or bedtime reading. It can be read chronologically, but each chapter stands alone, so readers can pick and choose according to their curiosity or interests. I especially appreciated the various charts and graphs that appear in the latter half of the book. All Canadian girls and women should have a copy as a reminder of the legacy we have inherited and the obligation we have to nurture it.
— Tanja Hütter for Canada’s History (Feb/Mar 2016)