Washoe County Library System

Profiles the lives of thirteen American women who have left their mark on U.S. history, including Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Margaret Chase Smith, and Oprah Winfrey.

"An intimate and rousing memoir by progressive trailblazer Ilhan Omar-the first African refugee, the first Somali-American, and one of the first Muslim women, elected to Congress. Ilhan Omar was only eight years old when war broke out in Somalia. The youngest of seven children, her mother had died while Ilhan was still a little girl. She was being raised by her father and grandfather when armed gunmen attacked their compound and the family decided...

"This lyrical picture book biography tells the story of one of America’s most celebrated children’s book authors, Virginia Hamilton, the first African American to win the Newbery Medal, and is perfect for fans of Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré. Virginia was free. To be a dreamer. To be a wanderer. To be her own unique self. Free to be. Virginia Hamilton was only nine years old when she decided she would...

Born into poverty and a broken family, Maya Angelou's gift for poetry and storytelling propelled her to international renown as a leader in African-American culture and literature. Ultimately, her personal story and written words inspired and delighted millions from all races around the world. Witness a close-up portrait of a legendary figure in this first feature documentary about her life.

Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or astronauts walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used their knowledge, pencils, adding machines, and writing paper to calculate the orbital mechanics needed to launch spacecraft. Katherine Johnson was one of these mathematicians who used trajectories and complex equations to chart the space program. Even as Virginias Jim Crow laws were in place in the early...

"Priscilla Joyner was born into the world of slavery in 1858. Her life story, which she recounted in an oral history decades later, captures the complexity of emancipation. Based on interviews that Joyner and formerly enslaved people had with the Depression-era Federal Writers Project, historian Carole Emberton draws a portrait of the steps they took in order to feel free, something no legal mandate could instill. Joyner's life exemplifies the deeply...

"As a working mother whose livelihood as a poet-lecturer depended on travel, Camille T. Dungy crisscrossed America with her daughter, not just as a mother and child, but as black women. With a poet's eye, she celebrates her daughter's acquisition of language and discoveries of the natural and human world around her. At the same time, history shadows her steps everywhere she goes: from the San Francisco of settlers' and investors' dreams to the slave-trading...

"Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears shows readers how her Christian faith, unwavering patriotism, and fervent commitment to conservative principles propelled her to serve and sacrifice for her country and a better future. Winsome Earle-Searssent shockwaves across Virginia and the country at large when she pulled off her stunning upset victory in November 2021 and became the first woman lieutenant governor of Virginia and the first Black...

"In grocery store aisles and kitchens across the country, smiling images of 'Aunt Jemima' and other historical and fictional black cooks can be found on various food products and in advertising. Although these images are sanitized and romanticized in American popular culture, they represent the untold stories of enslaved men and women who had a significant impact on the nation's culinary and hospitality traditions even as they were forced to prepare...