While Women’s History Month is coming to a close, there’s still plenty of time to explore some new books at the DePaul University Library about the accomplishments and contributions of Chicago women:
A Brick and a Bible: Black Women’s Radical Activism in the Midwest During the Great Depression highlights Black women’s leadership and participation in marches, strikes, and radical activism before the civil rights movement. Focusing on Chicago, as well as Detroit, St. Louis, and Cleveland, Melissa Ford explores a rich legacy of social activism and revolution in the Midwest that was driven by working-class African American women and draws connections with the Ferguson Uprising and Black Lives Matter movement.
Growing Up Chicago is a collection of 23 coming-of-age stories and memoirs about formative experiences in Chicago and includes contributions by renowned women writers like Ana Castillo, Rebecca Makkai, Maxine Chernoff, Samira Ahmed, and DePaul professor Erika L. Sánchez, as well as emerging talents. Reflecting the diversity of the Chicagoland area and highlighting themes of culture, social identity and personal growth, this anthology explores how we shape and are shaped by the city we call home.
Legendary Chicago ballerina Ruth Page was an innovative dancer, as well as a groundbreaking choreographer, artistic director and manager. Biographer Joellen A. Meglin examines Page’s Chicago-based career within the global context of twentieth-century dance and the enduing legacy of her experimental and sometimes controversial work in forms like opera-ballets, danced poems, feminist ballets, and televised adaptations. Ruth Page: The Woman in the Work challenges notions of gender and genre in the evolution of American ballet.