Take a walk through US history with the women whose voices shaped the nation.
Dana Rubin’s ground-breaking anthology is changing the conversation about whose voices matter, and who should be heard.
Click on each image to see what these women had to say.
“Speaking While Female highlights an unassailable truth: that women have always used their voices and ideas to actively engage in the public square.”
Charity C. Elder
“Speaking While Female brings to life the unsung heroines of public speaking whose intellect and eloquence have shaped American history.”
Amanda Foreman
“It’s hard to overstate the value of Dana Rubin’s work as a critical counter to a culture that persistently erases what some think, believe, know, and say.”
Soraya Chemaly
“This is a vital book. By identifying and elevating the voices of women across the ages, Dana Rubin has successfully led all of us to examine our assumptions and listen with new ears and open minds.”
Jon Meacham
“Now that we know women have always been speaking out, shaping our values and institutions, American history will never be the same.”
Margaret Hoover
Learn more about the activists, advocates, doers and dreamers who contributed to the making of America.
Special thanks to our Kickstarter fans
Audra Agen
Silvia Ahmed
Sarah S. Alfadl
Kimm Alfonso
Karl Andinach
Dennys Antunish
John Armato
Dawn Arnall
Ken Askew
Susie Avnery
Christine Bader
Ren Bagley
Felicity Barber
Waylong Baumgardner
Patricia Behre
Chelsea Bielitz
Patricia Goian Bell
Edith Black
Hilary Blair
Leslie Bobrowsky
Suzaan Boettger
Barbara Breaden
Stephen Breslin
Erik Bringard
Sarah M. Britigan
Janine Buis
Patrick Burke
Barie Carmichael
Avrom Caplan & Marla Cohen
Rob Caron
Natasha Chisdes
Laurie Chock
Christine Clapp
Lilli Cloud
Mary Clutts
Sharon Cordes
Mary Ellen Cosenza
Margaret Corvini
Greta Cowan
Carol Cox
Jean Iannelli Craciun
Colleen Davis
Julie Cummings-Debrot
Harley Dembert & Amy Wessan
Alex Czurylo
Cheryl Andre de St. Amant
Christa Dhimo
Hannah Dougherty
Romney Dunbar
Lili Dwight
Terry Edmonds
Miriam Edelman
Tina & Leonard Epstein
Stacy Feiner
Henry Feintuch
Melanie Felton
Joan Fernandez
Paul Ficalora & Gale Goldman
Betty Fitte
Peying Fong
Tirzah Gabourel
Aileen Gagney
Isasabel Gaudeul-Ehrhart
Julie Geller
Steve Geller
Susan Gibson
Barbara Seymour Giordano
Sherry Glied
Marc Goldich
Roslyn Goldstein
Alanna Gordon
Ann B. Graham
David Green
Debra Foster Greene
Karen Greenspan
Sandra Gregor
Karen Gross
Tamar Guy
Meg Hanington
Regan Hansen
Denise Harris
Scott Hawthorn
Julie Haynes
Tim Yahes
Lisa Heid
Elizabeth Hohl
Martha Hollander
Lyn Hopkinson
Nei Hrab
Julie Salmons Hubbard
Katherine Hurbis-Cherrier
Artie and Alisa Isaac
Karen Jacobsen
Linda Rios Johnson
John Kador
Ellen Kampinsky
Kristen Kearby
Cliff Kennedy
Rose King
Joe Kolman & Lenore Skenazy
Shiho Fukuda Koski
Benjamine Knight
Mitzi Krockover
Stephen Krupin
Chris Kujawa
Sue Lawley
Carol Lawson
Randy Lee
Alicia D. Leff & Stephen Shanfield
Carol Lempert
Rob Lewis
Dave Lieber
Angee Linsey
Sharon Lipinsky
Laurie Litwack
Margaret Loeb
Lynda R. Louis
Matt & Michele Ludmer
Kathy McAfee
Jack McCarthy
Scott McCartney
Clinton McDade
Alyce M. McKenzie
Debbie McLeod
Robert Mansfield
Kimberly Marcus
Anne Mattina
Mary Meadow
Christopher Merlo
Linda & Michael Mewshaw
Chris Mikesell
Ashley Milne-Tyte
Lech Mintowt-Czyz
Libby Morse
Nancy Murphy
Sean Murphy
David Murray
Sarah Murray
Ed Nebb
Alexa Nick
Sara Noble
Peggy Northrop
John Onoda
Elizabeth O’Shea
Michele Owens
Anne Perkins
Mary P. Perez
Ann Picirillo
Daniel H. Pink
Deborah Perry Piscione
Karyn Polak
James Power
Robert Prigge
Suzanne Prouty
Keri Putnam
Gerit Quealy
Kristina Respeto
Jenny Rider
Delia Rios
Michaelene Cristini Risley
Shelby Robert
Mathieu Roberts
Amanda Rollinson
Lucy Rose
Hyla Rosenberg
Beverly Kasman & Rob Roth
Hannah Rubenstein
Devora Rubin
Frances Rubin
Maury Rubin & Brianna Shipp
Carol Rusoff
Sheri Lair Saginor
Ilonka M. Salisbury
Seamus Sands
John Santoro
Molly Guilday Sargent
Reshma Saujani
Afkenel Schipstra
Laura & Barry Seaman
Evan J. Segal
Shari and Stuart Schwartz
Wendy Scott
Fraser Seitel
Sara Speer Selber
Aaron Seymour
Dana Otstott Shear
Shaun Shelby
Laurie Shwiff
Charly Simmons
Martha Singer
Ane Whelehan Smego
Catherine Smith
Fran Smith
Dave Snook
Amy Solas
Michele Spano
Shelley Spector
Gabriella Stern & Jeff Levy
Lisa E. Stone & Scott Cantor
Susanna Stern
Sean Sullivan
Jonathan Talbott
Joyce Thompson
Ray Thompson
Rachel B. Tiven
Rena Tobey
Mai Ton
Lucinda Trew
Vernon Tyerman
Devang Vaidya
Nicole Wagner
Jim Walser
Stuart Warmflash
Joann Weiner
Elaine Weiss
Pete Weissman
Michael Timothy Wells
Ann C. Wheeler
Dan P. Wiener
Lindsey Willis
Gigi Yellen & Wolf Kohn
Gay Yellen & Donald Reiser
Susan Kraft Yorke
Sandra Zimmer
Ladema Zinsmeister
Teresa Zumwald
Anna Julia Cooper
“Woman’s wrongs are indissolubly linked with undefended woe, and the acquirement of her ‘rights’ will mean the final triumph of all right over might.”
Sojourner Truth
“May I say a few words? I want to say a few words about this matter. I am a woman’s rights.”
Temple Grandin
“If you didn’t have people that were interested in things, we wouldn’t have any computers, we wouldn’t have any electricity — think about it. Back in the caveman days, the really social people did not make the first stone sphere.”