Dare to Question

To coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, this nonfictionbook tells the inspiring story of Carrie Chapman Catt, who fought for women's suffrage. Out with the dour and stern. Out with the grim old gals. In with suffrage sundaes, good-looking girls flipping griddlecakes, ball games, boxing matches, sandwich boards, and socialites. By 1915, American women had been working for the vote for more than six decades. They had tried everything they could think of--speeches before Congress, petitions a mile long, elaborate ground campaigns, and even Supreme Court cases. But they hadn't seen what the invincible duo, Carrie Chapman Catt and her life partner, Mary "Mollie" Garrett Hay, could accomplish together. The suffrage movement was about to get a wake-up call. We Demand an Equal Voice follows Carrie's life from her earliest days as an Iowa farm girl through her growth as the nation's preeminent suffrage leader, a role for which she was handpicked by her mentor, Susan B. Anthony. Carrie's career hit its stride in 1915 when she and Mollie turned their fringe cause into a mass movement with a campaign that was bigger, more spectacular, more outrageous, and more, well . . . fun than any campaign, for any movement, in the history of the country, if not the world. This groundbreaking campaign propelled the movement forward through gripping twists and turns as Carrie attracted more than two million women from every color, class, and creed to the cause--ultimately demonstrating that when everyday people take everyday steps towards big, bold ideas, they can change the world.