Reclaiming Clio

Womens history traveled a long and fascinating path before it became a respected and recognized academic field in twentieth-century America. This book explores the fields development as a multiracial and multigenerational effort, going beyond the careers of individual women historians to focus on how the discipline itself took shape. Focusing on the foundational period between 1900 and 1968, Jennifer Banning Toms shines a light on the work performed by archivists and professional historians that gave womens history its own identity and legitimacy.The women in Reclaiming Clio laid the groundwork for the fields remarkable expansion during the final wave of twentieth-century feminism after 1970, when a genuine movement for womens history emerged. Their contributions made the later success of womens history possible. Toms reveals the dedication and vision that turned womens history into the thriving, influential field it is today.