Non-Fiction Books About Women in History

by Margot Lee Shetterly
Time Period: 1930s - 1960s

This is a remarkable non-fiction account of the Black female mathematicians - known as "human computers". They helped calculate America's most outstanding engineering achievements, like launching the first rockets and astronauts.

While brilliant Black women were originally relegated to teaching math in segregated public schools, many of these women suddenly found new opportunities open to them when the aeronautics industry suffered labor shortages during WWII.

The government was in dire need of anyone who possessed high-level math skills. This book interweaves the stories of four African American women who answered the call. Over three decades - from WWII, through the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Space Race - participated in some of NASA's greatest successes.

The Book Girls Say... While we generally believe the book is always better, we highly recommend watching the movie version after reading Hidden Figures. While the film covers only the slice of time leading up to NASA's Mercury 7 launch, it does an excellent job of portraying the challenges these brilliant women faced. This includes crossing both gender and racial barriers in an era where their field was not only dominated by men, but where Jim Crow laws enforced both segregation and discrimination against African Americans.

If you're interested in more books like Hidden Figures, you might also be interested in reading:

Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us from Missiles to the Moon to Mars
by Nathalia Holt
Set in the 1940s and 50s, before the events in Hidden Figures, Rise of the Rocket Girls is also a true story about the female mathematicians that helped bring about America's first satellites.

Rocket Girl: The Story of Sherman Morgan, American's First Female Rocket Scientist
by George D. Morgan
This is the story of a young farm girl, raised in North Dakota, who dreamed of a career in chemistry. Years later, during the Cold War, when the US rocket program couldn't find a solution to repeated failurs, the challenge was assigned to young Mary.

And if you want even more books like Hidden Figures, read on... because this list is full of them!

by Lauren Marino
Time Period: Throughout History

Throughout history, female authors have broken countless barriers. And their pens, typewriters, and keyboards have given readers a unique opportunity to step into someone else’s struggles. From Jane Austen to Agatha Christie and Maya Angelou to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, this book includes 50 different mini-biographies of talent writers who overcame different forms of oppression to share their work.

The Book Girls Say… This one is best enjoyed in print so you can see the illustrations that accompany each author’s story. It’s a great one to leave on the coffee table to read one story at a time rather than reading it straight through like a typical book.

by Kate Moore
Time Period: 1910s - 1920s

The newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty and the wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of World War I.

Across the US, hundreds of girls toiled in the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covered their bodies from head to toe; they lit up the night like industrious fireflies.

With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill. This shocking non-fiction book explores the radium craze and its lasting aftermath.

The Book Girls Say... We have both read this book, and both highly recommend it! It is heartbreaking and, at times, hard to read because of the terrible illnesses that the women suffer. Still, it's a riveting account of a little-known and important piece of American history.

If you liked Radium Girls, you may also be interested in The Poison Squad. Though not exclusively about women's history, this book is a fascinating true story about the many dangerous things that could be found in food at the turn of the 20th century as manufacturers embraced industrial chemistry.

Milk might contain formaldehyde, meat was preserved with salicylic acid and borax, and human testing was done on a group that came to be called "The Poison Squad." For 30 years, Chemist Dr. Harvey Wiley, together with a team that included Fannie Farmer, the most famous cookbook author in the country, fought for food safety and consumer protections.

by Janet Dewart Bell
Time Period: 1960s

While many men played essential roles in the forefront of the civil rights movement, many brave women took on vital roles behind the scenes. Their quiet work lead to significant contributions, but few know their names.

To write this book, the author met with nine spectacular women, several now in their 90s, to gather and document their previously untold stories in the form of first-person essays. The author left the stories in the direct words of the featured women, which means you lose a little of the flow that comes with great editing, but you gain a more personal feel and history told directly from those who lived it.

The Book Girls Say… For a look at an amazing woman who broke through racial barriers to start her own business in 1906, try Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker. She became a millionaire and focused on philanthropy, working to advance equal rights before the civil rights moment. Self Made is also an excellent 4 episode mini-series on Netflix starring Octavia Spencer.

by Natalia Holt
Time Period: Post-WWII

Did you know that a group of four female agents were essential in the foundation of the CIA after WW2? These smart agents were at the top of their class, and instrumental in the development of new intelligence-gathering tools. However, their work was not limited to office jobs.

Adelaide rose through the ranks as she advanced communication tools. Mary worked in Europe & Asia, developing new partnerships that would span decades. Elizabeth was in the Middle East, gathering information on Russian weapons. Elosie influenced operations that helped expose international terror threats.

As the women excelled in their careers, they also maintained a friendship and challenged the “male, pale, and Yale” stereotypes of American spies.

The Book Girls Say… Before these women helped launch the CIA, an American woman named Virginia Hall helped win WW2. Her gender and prosthetic leg disqualified her from foreign service, but she talked her way into a British agency and became a target of the Gestapo because of her skill as a spy. Read more about her in A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II.

by Claire L. Evans
Time Period: 1980s - 1990s

From Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Bryon, who turned numbers into the first program for a mechanical computer in 1842 to Stacy Horn who ran one of the first social networks from her NYC apartment in the 1980s, women have been the unsung heroes of the internet.

The author walks through these women and many others whose contributions over the last 180 years continue to touch our daily life each day.

The Book Girls Say… We’re especially grateful for the innovators in this book as their work helps us connect with all of you! f you enjoy reading about the foundations of our current technology, you may also be interested in Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer.

by Lily Koppel
Time Period: 1960s

This book tells the fascinating, true story of the wives behind the men of the 1960s space program. NASA viewed the families of their astronauts as their business - selecting only men with seemingly perfect family lives, and giving the wives strict orders to create homes that wouldn't produce any undue stress or "mental chores" for the men.

Rocketed to celebrity (see what we did there?) by their husbands' selection as the original Mercury 7 astronauts, these women were featured on the cover of Life magazine. Under a deal with NASA, each wife was assigned a reporter who was embedded into her daily life - following her everywhere and placing her in a fishbowl even at the tensest of moments as she awaited word of her husband's fate on each mission. Only able to confide in one another, the "astrowives" formed a tight-knit community in Houston.

The Book Girls Say... This book gets mixed reviews, and most complaints seem to come down to the fact that it's written more like a work of feature journalism. But this is a quick read and Angela found it fascinating. She couldn't put this book down! If you enjoyed the style of historical non-fiction books like Hidden Figures, we think you'll appreciate this book, too!

by Jim Popkin
Time Period: 1980s - Present

Just days after 9/11, a senior Pentagon analyst named Ana Montes was arrested in her cubicle. Despite just winning a prestigious CIA fellowship, it was revealed that she also had a second full-time job, working for Fidel Castro.

For nearly 17 years, by day she was one of the US government’s top Cuba experts. At night, she listened to coded messages and even slipped into Havana in a wig.

This major betrayal wasn’t just to her country. Her father was a US Army Colonel. Her brother and sister-in-law were FBI agents. Most shocking, her sister Lucy worked for the FBI as a language specialist and specialized in helping the FBI flush Cuban spies out of the United States.

The book weaves together the story of the two sisters, one of whom was forced to put her country ahead of her only sister to help keep all of us safe. Throughout the book, you’ll see how women are still playing essential roles in the spy community.

by Rebecca Skloot
Time Period: 1950s

For more than half a century, scientists knew her as HeLa, but the story of Henrietta Lacks deserves to be heard. A poor Southern tobacco farmer, when Henrietta fell ill, she was treated in the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital. It was here that she had a tissue sample taken while undergoing cancer treatment, and -without her consent - those cells became the first "immortal" human cells grown in culture.

Still alive today, the HeLa cells have been used to develop the polio vaccine, to discover cancer treatments, to advance gene mapping, and much more.

It wasn't until more than 20 years after Henrietta's death that her family learned of her "immortality." Having never seen any profit from their mother's immeasurable contribution to science, and with the looming shadow of the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the news was devastating to the Lacks family.

The Book Girls' Say... For some reason, Angela resisted reading this book when it was recommended by a close friend years ago, but when she finally read it, she was blown away by both the science and the story of Henrietta's life and family. It raises so many important lessons about history, as well as ethical scientific questions that persist today.

by Liza Mundy
Time Period: WWII

Readers who enjoyed Hidden Figures will love this astonishing, untold story of the American women who cracked Axis codes to help secure the Allied victory.

Recruited by the US Army and Navy, more than ten thousand women from small towns and elite colleges served as codebreakers during WWII. But, unfortunately, their efforts were largely erased from history due to their strict vow of secrecy.

The Book Girls Say... This book is on the long side, at more than 600 pages, but it's well worth it!

by Danielle Dreilinger
Time Period: 1870s-Present

Over the years, home economics has gotten a bad rap, and some may associate the term with a time when women were told their place was in the home. But this stigma overlooks the true origins of the field of home economics. This book examines and uncovers the roots while also exploring whether it remains relevant today.

This field of study was first developed in the late 19th century by a female chemist named Ellen Swallow Richards. The first woman to attend MIT, she defined her life’s work as “Chemistry in Relation to Household Economy” and she was fascinated by chemistry’s application to everyday problems, such as water sanitation and testing wallpaper for arsenic.

The concept of home economics has evolved greatly in the past century and a half, sometimes following trends in American culture and other times helping to shape them.

by Elaine Weiss
Time Period: 1920

In 1920, after a seven-decade crusade for the right of women to vote, thirty-five states had ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, twelve have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state - Tennessee is needed. The suffragists face vicious opposition from politicians, clergy, corporations, racists who don't want black women to vote, and even the "Antis" - women who oppose enfranchisement, fearing the nation's moral collapse.

Following a handful of remarkable women who led the charge, this is the final chapter in the long history of how America's women won the right to vote.

The Book Girls Say... While it is commonly stated that the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920, it is important to note that laws remained in place that kept most Black women from the polls until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We were pleased that this book addresses the racial disparities in the first for suffrage.

by Walter Isaacson
Time Period: 1970-Present

While Jennifer Douda’s high school counselor told her that girls didn’t become scientists, her dad encouraged her, leaving a paperback copy of The Double Helix on her bed. This fueled her interest in getting to the bottom of how nature works. Her ongoing curiosity continued into her career, and with a collaborator, she came up with an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA, known as CRISPR.

The development of CRISPR opened a brand new world of both healing possibilities and moral questions. How should this technology be used, and where is the line?

by Kate Moore

In this non-fiction read by the author of The Radium Girls, we learn about a pioneer of rights for women and mental health patients, Elizabeth Packard. She was sent to the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois by her husband in 1860. He was tired of her independent nature and wanted to put her back in her place.

While her marriage was bad, life inside the hospital was even worse. Elizabeth quickly realized she was only one of many women who did not need any medical care. The other women were silenced by the stigma of their gender and the labels that come with being institutionalized. But Elizabeth is different and knows she has nothing to lose by fighting back.

The Book Girls Say… During our Decades Reading Challenge, many of us read books about journalist Nellie Bly’s efforts in the late 1880s to expose the insane asylums in New York that held perfectly sane women and mistreated them while also mistreating those with real mental health challenges. This is a great companion book to learn about another hero who helped stop this horrific practice.

by Denise Kiernan
Time Period: WWII

Oak Ridge, Tennessee didn’t even exist before 1942, and didn’t appear on any maps until 1949. The town was created from scratch as one of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities, and at the height of WWII, it was home to 75,000 - many of them young women recruited from small towns throughout the southern US.

All of the women working in Oak Ridge knew that something big was happening, but the penalty for talking about even the most mundane details of their work was eviction, so few of them pieced together the true nature of their work. But when the US dropped the bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, the secret was out - the women of Oak Ridge had been enriching uranium to build the atomic bomb.

Through historical research and interviews with dozens of the surviving women - many of whom still call Oak Ridge home - Denise Kiernan tells the story of the science and the women in a format that makes this the perfect book for fans of Hidden Figures and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

The Book Girls Say... If you'd rather read a historical fiction novel based on the real life events that unfolded in Oak Ridge, pick up The Atomic City Girls.

by Katherine Zoepf
Time Period: 2000s and 2010s

The author wrote this non-fiction book after spending more than a decade living in and reporting on women's lives in the Arab world. During that time, she has observed dramatic changes.

Just a decade ago, girls went straight from childhood to marriage. Now young women are experiencing adolescence in a new way, and young Arab women outnumber male students in universities. They are more frequently delaying marriage to pursue independence and career goals. But those changes have not come about quickly, and the fight for freedom and equality is still ongoing. This book examines the role of women in multiple Arab countries over the past two decades.

Book Girls Say... If you are interested in learning more about women in Arab countries, consider Manal Al-Sharif's memoir Daring to Drive. Raised in a modest family in Saudi Arabia, Manal was a religious radical in her adolescence. In her twenties, she worked as a computer security engineer - one of the few women at the company - and it was here that she experienced contradictions that became harder and harder to ignore, leading her to become an "accidental activist." She provides an intimate look at the lives of women in Saudi Arabia and how she became a leader in fighting for women's right to drive.

by Linda R. Hirshman
Time Period: 1980s - 1990s

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Conner broke one of the highest glass ceilings in the United States when she was appointed as the first female member of the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan. Twelve years later, in 1993, the second woman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was appointed by Bill Clinton.

Despite coming from different regions, religions, and political outlooks, these trailblazing women had a special relationship and worked together in ways that have benefited all American women. Sisters in Law tells stories of the changing law and culture during their time on the bench, along with personal anecdotes from their friendship.

The Book Girls Say... If you'd like to learn more about these two remarkable women, you can read their individual biographies, including First: Sandra Day O'Connor by Evan Thomas, My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

by Keith O’Brien
Time Period: 1920s - 1930s

In the 1920s & 1930s, the treacherous sport of air racing was extremely popular and, as you would expect, dominated by men. Female pilots existed but were met with ridicule instead of praise.

However, once five unlikely women banded together, they reached new heights in the sport. Among the five women, you’ll find Amelia Earhart, who wasn’t a stranger to breaking glass ceilings. She wasn’t the best in racing, but along with Florence Klingensmith, Louise Thaden, Ruth Elder, and Ruth Nichols, she fought for the chance to race against the men.

by Ellen Fitzpatrick
Time Period: 1872, 1964, & 1972

One hundred and fifty years ago, Victoria Woodhull made an unprecedented and bold move in her bid for the presidency of the United States. At that time, women were not allowed to vote, but she believed that she could fast-track equality between genders if she could earn a spot in the White House.

In 1964, Senator Margaret Chase Smith also believed she could make a positive difference by holding the highest office. However, she was quickly chastised for being too old (66) and too female. However, she still became the first woman to have her name on the ballot of a major party.

In 1972, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm faced an even greater challenge in her bid for the office. However, she wasn’t new to breaking barriers. Four years earlier, in 1968, she became the first black woman elected to congress.

You’ll learn more about the experiences of all three trailblazing women, along with the ways these first female presidential candidates paved the way for future candidates.

by Betty Boyd Caroli
Time Period: Throughout U.S. History

The role of the First Lady, the title bestowed upon the President's wife, has evolved over the centuries but has never been officially defined. In addition to traditionally serving as a hostess for White House events and representing the nation at home and abroad, each First Lady has created her own unique role - some choosing to be less visible, and others utilizing their influence to affect policies and legislation.

In addition to providing brief, but informative biographies of each President's wife, the book also discusses the roles that each First Lady took on and how they became a part of broader American discussions about women's roles in society and other pressing issues of the day. Reviewers say that this book particularly excels at highlighting the achievements of some of the lesser-known First Ladies.

This comprehensive book has been updated to include all 45 First Ladies, up through Melania Trump, but does not yet include Jill Biden.

The Book Girls Say... If you're interested in a more intimate look at what life is like for the First Ladies, pick up Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, written by J.B. West, who served as the chief usher of the White House for nearly three decades.

by Karen Abbot
Time Period: 1860s

Did you know there were female spies on both sides during the Civil War? Charming Belle Boyd was a courier and spy for the Confederates, Emma Edmonds pretended to be a man to fight for the Union, Rose O’Neale Greenhow gathered intelligence for the Confederates, and Elizabeth Van Lew led an espionage ring for the Union.

The author alternates between the stories of these bold women, including their interactions with more well-known historical figures. Many of the book's details came from interviews with descendants and the women’s own writings, adding a personal touch to this narrative non-fiction read.

The Book Girls Say… This book is on the longer side at 513 pages, and some readers find the story bouncing between four different leads to be a bit confusing. However, our history classes never taught us about the role of women during the Civil War, so we were intrigued by this book. When we read a review that described it as, "A League of Their Own had a lovechild with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night," we knew it had to be added to our TBR immediately!

by Nathalia Holt
Time Period: 1930s - 2010s

In the beginning, Disney Studios was a stereotypical boys’ club. However, a group of women quietly create some of the artwork and storylines that have become classics. They had to endure abuses well beyond the typical workplace sexism of the time. They persevered and fought for their own recognition and for female characters to be depicted positively.

The book begins in 1936 with the earliest female employees and follows all the way through the 2010s and the making of Frozen, which was the first female-directed full-length film.

by Dr. Rebecca Hall, Illustrated by Hugo Martinez
Time Period: 18th Century

This non-fiction graphic novel tells the previously buried stories of women who planned and led revolts on both slave ships and once they arrived across America. The author, Dr. Rebecca Hall is a descendent of slaves who decided to look deeper into her history.

As she researched, she continued to find stories of brave women. Through extensive research, the adult recreates the journey of two women who led revolts in colonial work. At the same time, she shares how these stories have shaped her own life as an attorney and historian.

by Julia Cooke
Time Period: 1960s - 1970s

One of the most glamorous and envied jobs for women in the late 1960s was to be a stewardess, especially for PanAm. While it was easy to look at the beautiful women and judge them, PanAm stewardess, you had to have a college degree and speak at least two languages to be hired as a PanAm stewardess. However, that doesn’t mean they were focused only on brains. It was also required to be between 5′3" and 5′9" tall, between 105 and 140 pounds, and under 26 years of age at the time of hire.

The book covers the roles of several stewardesses, including Hazel Bowie, one of the relatively few black stewardesses of the era. They played several roles during the Vietnam War that are covered, including Operation Babylift—the dramatic evacuation of 2,000 children during the fall of Saigon.

The Book Girls Say... Angela originally picked up this book because she’s always been intrigued by the glamor and prestige of Pan-Am, but this book delivered so much more. In addition to stories of jet-setting to far-flung destinations, it’s also a story of women’s history and, surprisingly, a very insightful look at aspects of the Vietnam War that aren’t covered in school history books.

It’s written in a factual and straightforward manner, making it easy to read. If you’re looking for a non-fiction book that reads more like a novel, you may be disappointed. However, Angela appreciated the deep dive into the topic and learned much more than she anticipated.

by Olivia Campbell
Time Period: 1800s

Women in White Coats tells the history of three women who fought their way into the male-dominated medical field and overcame many obstacles to earn medical degrees in the 1800s. Not only did they pave the way for more women to become doctors, but they also changed the way that women receive health care - both in the 19th century and today.

In the early 1800s, many women were dying from treatable diseases. Examinations performed by male doctors could be both demeaning and painful, and the stigma from an illness or diagnosis could make it hard for a woman to find a husband. These reasons, among others, too often caused women to avoid receiving needed medical care. The rise of female doctors led to the creation of medical care for women by women for the first time.

Medical care is another area where we have a way to go, especially as statistics continue to show discrepancies in health outcomes between races. Without these women breaking barriers in the 1800s, we'd be even further behind today. We hope getting to the finish line of equal care for all comes more quickly.

by Pauline Bren
Time Period: 1920s-1980s

Have you read The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis? Or the Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath? Both of these fiction reads were based on the real Barbizon Hotel.

The Barbizon was a residence for women in New York City. Specifically, the women staying at the Barbizon were modern women, most hoping for a career in the arts. There were 700 rooms, and over the years, they were filled with endless familiar names from Gracy Kelly to the unsinkable Molly Brown.

Mademoiselle magazine, Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School, and the Ford modeling agency each had interns, students, and employees housed at the Barbizon, creating a haven for glamorous and forward-thinking women. Throughout the book, you’ll learn about many of these women and how their time at the Barbizon shaped them. And In turn, how the Barbizon helped shape the world.

by Anna Malaika Tubbs
Time Period: First Half of the 20th Century

Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin are common names from the Civil Rights movement, but what about Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin? These three women are the mothers who raised extraordinary sons.

All three black women grew up in the period of Jim Crow laws and experienced many trials and indignities of prejudices against them. Despite this hard life, each woman raised their sons to become leaders in the dream of achieving justice and dignity for all.

by Eliza Reid
Time Period: Throughout Iceland's History

For twelve years in a row, Iceland has been ranked first in equality between genders by the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. Iceland's First Lady dug into the history of the country to explore the country's "sprakkar", which is an ancient Icelandic word meaning extraordinary or outstanding women.

She interviewed dozens of sprakkar to put together tell their stories and explore how Iceland has become a country that values women. She also takes a fair look at areas that still need to improve. Because Eliza Reid was born in Canada and immigrated to Iceland, she's also able to share her experiences and impressions as a newcomer to the country.

by Sherry Boschert
Time Period: 1970s - Present

In 1972, Title IX was passed to prohibit sex discrimination in federally funded education. This changed the future of education for girls both in the classroom and on the sports fields.

Getting Title IX passed was a substantial legal and legislative battle, and the book covers the history of how it was passed and then digs into impacts, both positive and negative. Some students have benefited more than others, and this book is a perfect primer on both the history and current state of Title IX.

Publication Date: April 12, 2022