More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women

January 07, 2016 Posted by: Tom Dewey, Librarian

More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women, by Elaine Warner. Guilford, CT: Morris Book Publishing, 2012.

More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women profiles the lives of thirteen of the state's most interesting and important historical figures. Author Elaine Warner introduces us to women from all across Missouri, from many different backgrounds, and from various walks of life.The women profiled here all showed strength and compassion as they broke through social, cultural or political barriers to make contributions to society.

The book features brief biographical essays (approximately 10-12 pages) on each subject. Some of the women featured include: Phoebe Couzins, an advocate of the Women's Suffrage movement;Cathy Williams, a female slave who became a Buffalo Soldier;Laura Ingalls Wilder, a pioneer and writer;Josephine Baker, an international entertainer;and Susan Blow, the woman who helped start the concept of the American kindergarten. Other subjects include: Virginia Alice Cottey Stockard, Kate Chopin, Alice Berry Graham, Katherine Berry Richardson, Rose Cecil O'Neill, Mary E. Mahnkey, Nell Donnelly Reed, and Mary Tiera Farrow.

At the end of Warner's essay on Laura Ingalls Wilder, she sums up the writer's life and writes: "Having witnessed the transformation of a nation from its pioneer past to a position of world power, Laura Ingalls Wilder died a few days before her ninetieth birthday….to millions of readers she will always be young- a spunky, brown-haired , blue-eyed youngster whose stories gave a better picture of frontier life than any history book ever written."

Warner's book does not delve deeply into these women's lives, but she provides readers with a solid introduction to all of these remarkable women.

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Last updated: January 7, 2016

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