We're proud to announce the first title in The Progressive's new series of Hidden History eBooks: Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall. Now available from Amazon.com, Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall is a timely selection of articles from The Progressive's archives covering the great civil-rights movements since the magazine's founding in 1909.
When President Obama, in his Second Inaugural address, declared "that all of us are created equal" and that this principle "is the star that guides us still, just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall," he laid out a vision of our country's progressive values and the historic journey toward a more just society that includes women's rights, racial equality, gay rights, and immigrant rights.
The Progressive documented that struggle, throughout its early, suffragist years under the guidance of Belle Case La Follette, during the great civil rights battles of the 1950s and 1960s, and with joyful declarations of gay liberation by Allen Ginsberg and Harry Hay, founder of the modern gay rights movement, who said in a Progressive interview: "We have to be people who set each other free."
(One note: You don't need a Kindle or a dedicated eReader to view these books. Using free Kindle software -- available here -- you can read our eBooks on iPads, iPhones, PCs, Macintoshes, and Android devices. The Nook version will be released shortly as well.)
Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall
Amazon Barnes and Noble
273 pages
Chapter One: Seneca Falls
Clara Bewick ColbyVictory in SightJuly 22, 1911A great march for suffrage in London.
Olympia Brown
To the Citizens of Wisconsin
August 19, 1911
Olympia Brown, a well-known suffragist and one of the first ordained women ministers in the United States, urges her fellow citizens to vote for women's suffrage.
Dr. Anna BlountThe Benefits of Woman SuffrageDecember 16, 1911The obstetrician and advocate for women's rights explains the need for women's suffrage.Jane AddamsIf Things Were ReversedApril 6, 1912The founder of Hull House imagines the tables turned, arguing why men might be denied the vote.
Carl Sandburg
My Baby Girl
February 10, 1912
The poet and journalist delights in his new daughter, and responds to those who say, "too bad it's a girl."
Harriet Burton LaidlawThe Vitalized SuffragistsFebruary 8, 1913A prominent feminist explains why the women's vote is inevitable.Senator Robert L. OwenWhy I Believe in Woman SuffrageSeptember 6, 1913The argument for letting women vote.Percy MackayeA Hymn for Equal SuffrageFebruary 28, 1914
Elizabeth Glendower Evans
An Audience at The White House
February 14, 1914
President Wilson, who was not ready to commit to the women's vote, confronts working-class women who press him on the issue.
William Jennings BryanLet Her Vote!August 8, 1914The Great Commoner declares he will ask no political rights for himself he would not grant his wife.
Belle Case La Follette
The Lady From Montana
June 1, 1917
A profile of Montana Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, in answer to the question, "How about women holding office?"
Belle Case La FolletteMay the Women of the United States Vote In 1920?February 1920The moment of victory was at hand.Isabel Bacon La FolletteA Room of Our OwnJuly 1941The daughter-in-law of Belle Case discusses housework and women's rights.Judith Nies McFaddenWomen's Lib on Capitol HillDecember 1970A Progressive reporter is denied access to the "gentleman's gallery" in the Capitol.Michelle WassermanRape: Breaking the SilenceNovember 1973An exploration of the rape-crisis center movement.Ruth ConniffAwesome Women in SportsMay 1993A celebration of female athleticism after Title IX.Elizabeth KarlinWhat Shall I Wear?October I994An abortion doctor puts on her bulletproof vest.An Interview with Katha PollittDecember 1994The poet, author, and Nation columnist talks about love, sex, and dreary antifeminists.An Interview with Gloria SteinemJune 1995The iconic feminist looks back on her career.An Interview with Ani DiFrancoMay 2000The feminist folk rocker talks about art, business, and staying independent.
An Interview with Lizz Winstead
May 2012
The author, comedienne, and Daily Show creator says Planned Parenthood should be like Cinnabon, in every mall.
An Interview with Cecile RichardsJune 2012The president of Planned Parenthood takes on the War on Women.Chapter Two: Selma Belle Case La Follette The Color Line August 23, 1913 The Progressive editor and suffragist takes on segregation in Washington, D.C. Belle Case La Follette Color Line to Date January 24, 1914 An investigation into segregation in the civil service.
Louis D. Brandeis
Twin Evils of the Literacy Test
April 6, 1915
The "People's Lawyer" and future Supreme Court justice explains why literacy tests and other barriers to voting are the enemies of democracy.
Robert M. La FolletteMurdering NegroesAugust 1919The Progressive's founder denounces lynching.Anna Howard ShawLynching Punishes the CommunityNovember 1919Speaking out against commonplace murder.Mary La FolletteDramatic Story of Marian Anderson's Outdoor Concert in Nation's CapitalMay 6, 1939A lyrical firsthand account of the concert that was a civil rights watershed.Charles Curtis MunzNegroes Seek Right to Join Democratic PartyMarch 2, 1940An exploration of the Southern Democrats' stubborn refusal to admit blacks.
William O. Douglas
One More Chance
December 2, 1946
The civil libertarian and Supreme Court justice calls on America to realize the promise of racial justice.
A. Philip Randolph
Revolt Against Jim Crow
May 1948
The president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters says, "The Government's case is untenable and cannot indefinitely withstand any frontal attack of nonviolent good will."
James Farmer
I Will Keep My Soul
November 1961
The national director of the Congress of Racial Equality gives an account of the first Freedom Riders.
James Baldwin
A Letter to My Nephew
December 1962
The novelist, essayist, and author of Go Tell It on the Mountain offers advice on survival in the face of deadly racism.
Murray Kempton
Intruder in the Dust
November 1955
The great journalist and author gives a riveting account of the trial after the murder of Emmett Till.
Milton Mayer
The Issue Is Miscegenation
September 1959
The Progressive columnist demands that liberals confront America's obsession with the specter of interracial marriage.
June Jordan
The Invisible People
March 2001
The poet and essayist interviews African Americans about the Presidential election that was stolen from them.
June JordanRequiem for the ChampApril 1992The poet and essayist remembers the neighborhood where she and Mike Tyson grew up.
An Interview with Jesse Jackson
January 1995
The civil rights icon and former Presidential candidate talks about politics and hope for a progressive future.
An Interview with Barack Obama
October 2004
Then-Senate candidate Obama discusses his relationship with the left, his core beliefs, and the meaning of progressive politics.
Bill Fletcher Jr.
Reflections on the 2012 Election
December 2012
The writer and activist explains what Republicans and white liberals alike overlooked in the 2012 elections.
Chapter Three: Stonewall
Richard GollanceI'm Proud to Be a SissieMay 1973Embracing gay identity before it was cool.Roger WilkinsInstitutional BigotryNovember 1980A civil rights leader joins hands with the gay rights movement.Leslie PowellThe Gay WriterNovember 1981Bumping up against homophobia in the literary world.George HeymontParents Come OutMarch 1982The beginnings of the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.Jim LynchWitch Hunt at Parris IslandMay 1989An investigative report on the Marine Corps' obsession with rooting out lesbians.Paul BassGay-Bashing at YaleFebruary 1990Harassment in the Ivy League.
An Interview with Randy Shilts
May 1991
The journalist who brought the AIDS epidemic to light talks about confronting anger in the gay community, discrimination in the straight world, and the importance of coming out.
Minnie Bruce PrattOne Good Mother to AnotherNovember 1993A lesbian mother describes the pain of separation from her child.
An Interview with Larry Kramer
June 1994
The activist and playwright tells how he helped create ACT UP and decided to "take that movement and turn it into an army."
An Interview with Allen GinsbergAugust 1994The beat poet says, "I'm banned from the main marketplace of ideas in my own country."Justin ChinSaved: Our Reporter Survives the Ex-Gay MinistriesDecember 1995A Progressive reporter undergoes antigay therapy and lives to tell the tale.An Interview with Urvashi VaidMarch 1996The writer and activist talks about growing up in the movement and finding love.Anne-Marie CusacFuneral for a FriendMarch 1997Remembering a high school friend who lived in the closet and died, secretly, from AIDS.An Interview with Harry HaySeptember 1999The founder of the modern gay rights movement talks about the joy of being out.John D'EmilioFifty Years of Gay and Lesbian ActivismJuly 17, 2001Looking back on an era of massive cultural change.John D'EmilioThe Legacy of Harvey MilkNovember 20, 2003How the Mayor of Castro Street changed the world.Kate ClintonI Do WeddingsJuly 2004The humorist and Progressive columnist officiates at gay marriages.An Interview with Dan SavageDecember 2012The sex columnist, writer, and activist celebrates the 2012 election results.