We Remember: Women Born at the Turn of the Century Tell the Stories of Their Lives in Words and Pictures

by Jeanne Marie Laskas, Lynn Johnson (Photographer), Hillary Rodham Clinton (Introduction)

Twenty-four women born in 1900 reflect on a century of social and political changes, discussing the triumphs of family and career and struggles with discrimination

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Womens

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Jeanne Marie Laskas is an American writer and professor.

From 1994 until 2008 she was a regular, syndicated columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, where her "Significant Others" essays appeared weekly. She has written feature stories for GQ, where she is a correspondent. Formerly a Contributing Editor at Esquire, her stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Best American Sportswriting. She also is the voice behind "Ask Laskas" in Reader's Digest and writes the "My Life as a Mom" column for Ladies' Home Journal.

A professor in the creative writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, she lives in Scenery Hill, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1999, this book features the stories of 24 women born at the turn of the previous century. Each woman gets just a few pages of text interspersed with several photos of her youth and photos of her now. It's a very browsable book and a fast read, but it left me wanting more. The women highlighted lived such fascinating lives and I wanted to be able to go deeper into many of them.

It surprised me over and over to read about the changes they witnessed in the course of their lifetimes because it seems incredible that someone could have lived to see the invention of the telephone, anesthesia, AND email. They were born into a world where they couldn't vote and had no way to control family size, and by the end of the century we have seen women achieve the highest level of political leadership (although still not in this country). They got to see all of this happen, not see it but live it. Until it's all laid out like that,it's so easy to forget how recent some history really is.

I really appreciated the diversity of women, including two daughters of former slaves, a former Japanese internment camp prisoner, a Winnebago Indian (her chosen term, not mine) and many, many immigrants. Their life paths were also a very diverse, including a nun, a Broadway singer, and a homemaker. Many of the women were asked if things were better now than they were before, and their answers were as varied as you'd expect. The most standout response to me was a daughter of the former slave: "ain't nothing better about today that I can see...I say most things was better before. It wasn't like it is now, everybody for their self. Before, people would help each other, colored or white."

[Autumn Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being fond of learning about the exploits and daily lives of strong women, I was eagerly looking forward to the arrival of this book.

Upon receipt, however, it quickly became apparent that the quality was of the "Time-Life" or "Reader's Digest" variety. The book was beautiful, with intriguing, descriptive photos. However, the stories were one or more per page with large photos interspersed. Basically, about 2 paragraphs of copy per person featured.

Some were slightly longer, some shorter. The book probably doesn't deserve a weak rating since my own expectations were at fault, but I can't help thinking that with such excellent material, so much more could have been done.

[Gail Segreto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful stories of women who have seen a century.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very poignant stories of women telling it like it was!

[Lesa]

just adding to my need to read list

[Griffnilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short bios of women who reached ~age 100 when this book came out; varied backgrounds, and fascinating histories, all of them. I'd like this book to be used in schools - I imagine picking it up in homeroom, say - enough time to read one woman's story.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

25 women around a hundred years old tell what their life was like growing up in America. Humbling, interesting, sad, funny, happy, with pictures with each story. The only fault is that you wish to know more of each lady as each story is fairly short. (However the shortness also makes this book an easy and enjoyable read)

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful life stories.