Betsy Mix Cowles: Champion of Equality, 1810-1876

“Praise for LIVES OF AMERICAN WOMEN”
“An eclectic collection of books, readily accessible to students who will be able to see the contributions of women in many fields over the course of our history. Long overdue, these books will be a valuable resource for teachers, students, and the public at large.”
–Cokie Roberts, author of “Founding Mothers” and “Ladies of Liberty”
“For educators keen to include women in the American story, but hampered by the lack of thoughtful, concise scholarship, here comes ‘Lives of American Women, ‘ embracing Abigail Adams’s counsel to John–‘remember the ladies.’ And high time, too!”
–Lesley S. Herrmann, Executive Director, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
“Just what any professor wants: books that will intrigue, inform, and fascinate students! These short, readable biographies of American women–specifically designed for classroom use–give instructors an appealing new option to assign to their history students.”
–Mary Beth Norton, Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History, Cornell University

Betsy Mix Cowles–a champion of equality whose circle of acquaintances included Frederick Douglass, Abby Kelley, and William Lloyd Garrison–is a brilliant example of what an educated and independent woman can accomplish. A staunch defender of abolitionism, Cowles also took up the cause of women’s rights and dedicated her life to the advocacy of women’s access to education, equal rights, and independence in the pre-Civil War era. The life of this devoted social reformer illuminates the struggles and historical developments relating to abolitionism and the fledgling women’s movement during one of the most contentious periods in American history.

Stacey M. Robertson is the Oglesby Professor of American Heritage at Bradley University. She is the author of “Parker Pillsbury: Radical Abolitionist, Male Feminist”; “Hearts Beating for Liberty: Women Abolitionists in the Old Northwest”; and coauthor of “Antebellum Women: Private, Public, and Political.”
Series Editor Carol Berkin is a well-known women’s historian and the author of many popular and scholarly books, including “Civil War Wives.” She is Professor of History Emerita at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and she is a member of the Society of American Historians.