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 Johnremember the ladies. And high time, too! Lesley S. Herrmann, Executive Director, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Julia Lathrop offers the historical context in which women reformers had to maneuver at the turn of the century. If we can measure the advancement of social welfare by the opportunities that existed at the time, then Miriam Cohen has done a service to us all by bringing Julia Lathrop s career back into focus. Joanne L. Goodwin, University of Nevada, Las Vegas A social servant, government activist, and social scientist, Julia Lathrop expanded notions of women s roles in public life during the early 1900s. Lathrop was instrumental in shaping progressive reform, fighting for immigrants rights and welfare for poor people at Hull House, the nation s most famous social settlement, and later serving as chief of the U.S. Children s Bureau, created in 1912 to promote child welfare. Following her life from childhood through social service and government work, this book recounts Lathrop s enduring contribution to progressive politics. It also offers a look at how this influential woman worked within the bounds of traditional conventions about gender, race, and class, and also pushed against them. Miriam Cohen is Evalyn Clark Professor of History in the Department of Women s Studies at Vassar College. Her book, Workshop to Office: Two Generations of Italian Women in New York City, was a finalist for the Thomas Znaniecki Prize of the American Sociological Association. She has published numerous articles on the history of social welfare. 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."