A Reading List for Women's Rights

Ensuring that this nation’s promise of equality for all is fully realized — now and over the next 250 years.

We’ve made it to July 1, 2026, Contrarians — another eighth of the Trump administration’s days behind us, halfway through a hell of a long year, and the eve of a long weekend to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. President Donald Trump’s apparent glee that women were absent from his recent White House UFC Fight was just the shot of inspiration I needed to collect and curate some of the best feminist takes on democracy to carry us through the national holiday.

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

Everybody’s gone surfing (the web)

Feminist 250, our nation’s story in three parts presented by the editors of Ms. Magazine, includes America’s Founding Feminists, essays, commentary, and poetry that brings a unique historical lens to the founding ideals of American democracy; Feminist Lessons, which explores modern movements over the past 50 years and their foundational work to secure legal, economic, and social equality; and Democracy’s Feminist Future, a selection of policy proposals by the nation’s current thought leaders to catalyze a better and more feminist future.

Heather Cox Richardson’s 250 to 250 compilation is an extraordinary extension of her essential Substack, Letters from an American. The collection of one-minute videos — each one brilliantly narrated and beautifully presented — offers bite-sized history lessons featuring some of the defining activists, organizers, artists, scientists, and leaders in American history. The notable focus on women is not to be missed — Rachel Carson, Willa Cather, Fannie Lou Hamer, Patsy Mink, Rita Moreno, Frances Perkins, and Emily Roebling, among them.

Founders, Not Footnotes: 250 Years of America by the digital-first National Women’s History Museum is a curation of the untold stories of women who helped shape our country from the very start. It features an interactive timeline and a companion campaign, She Is Not a Footnote, to address and rectify the under-representation of women in our national record.

Ms. Americana and America 250 at the National Museum of Women and the Arts offers an excellent virtual companion to its real-life exhibition in Washington, D.C., of the still life paintings, portraits, and landscapes created by the following American artists whose works spanned the early-1800s through the mid-20^th century: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Cecilia Beaux, Ellen Day Hale, Clementine Hunter, Lilla Cabot Perry, Sarah Miriam Peale, Anna Claypoole Peale, Jane Peterson, and Lilly Martin Spencer. The site provides riveting biographies for each artist, which itself is an engaging experience: “These women pursued their own independence and personal enlightenment. They traveled the world, ran their own businesses, and actively engaged politicians and heads of state.” The paintings, even as web replicas, are gorgeous to boot.

The Meteor posted a list of 25 moments when the American experiment worked — “when people (often women) pushed, pulled, persuaded and otherwise laid the stepping stones for a better and more inclusive future.” Among those moments: when federally funded childcare was real, when anti-discrimination laws became part of the national compact, when we all said #metoo, and more than 20 others.

Another collection, Revolutionary by The 19th, reexamines the nation’s founding and its “unfulfilled promises and unsung heroes through the lives, labor, and leadership of those initially excluded from dominant historical narratives” through images and commentaries on the modern “revolutionaries” — teachers, librarians, domestic workers, local political leaders — shaping our stories today.

Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), a historical preservation and education society created in 1890, composed of women with direct ancestry to soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, maintains a running list of America 250 events happening all across the country, from coast to coast. (A timely note: last week DAR officially rejected a proposed ban on transgender women from joining the organization, releasing a powerful public statement: “Transgender Americans are patriots, family members, volunteers, historians, and descendants of Revolutionary War ancestors just like anyone else. Excluding or targeting people because of their gender identity contradicts the values of respect, service, and sisterhood that the DAR claims to uphold.”)

Best beach reads (really!)

The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader by my colleague NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray — who is simply the best of the best in explaining the rule of law to everyday people, legal experts and democracy enthusiasts alike. In her new book, she dives in to the U.S. Constitution, distilling the entire document, each and every article and amendment, with historical and practical context.

Giving Up is Unforgivable by Contrarian regular and national treasure Joyce Vance — who is among the most constant and stalwart voices guiding all of us through this era. Her book offers a much-needed blueprint for “avoiding burnout and despair, and for strengthening our democratic muscle.” I will always, ALWAYS, listen to Joyce. The opportunity to absorb her vision for where we go next gives me true hope.

The Fix, published in June, is Barb McQuade’s antidote to the Trump administration. By weaving together stories from her career as a prosecutor, lessons from history, and real-time legal analyses, she lays out strategies that any of us can assume — from organizing to protesting to running for local office — in order to win back our democracy.

And a throwback. The Contrarian’s own Jen Rubin’s Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump reminds us we have been here before and we have the collective know-how, savvy, and determination to meet the moment when it comes to standing up for our rights and for democracy.

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Here’s to happy weekend reading, internet viewing by moonlight, and fireworks watching goodness to all of you! It is a profound privilege and pleasure to be part of The Contrarian community and engage with you on issues of gender, feminism, and democracy each week. Onward to ensuring that this nation’s promise of equality for all is fully realized — here and now, and over the next 250 years.

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She also leads strategy and partnerships at Ms. Magazine.

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