For politics professor Gwendolyn Mink, having a hand in creating a major new book about U.S. women's history gave her a chance to enrich the story of women in this country. In the process, Mink provided 16 UCSC colleagues with a similar opportunity to leave their own mark on history. Mink is one of five editors of the landmark book, The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History, a 672-page volume dedicated to capturing the experience of women in the United States from precolonial times to the present. With more than 400 articles written by over 300 contributors, the book fills a unique niche, offering insightful commentary on topics as diverse as feminist theology, Native American cultures, and Prohibition.
Mink recalls being immediately intrigued by the prospect of such a major undertaking.
It took nine months to define the initial subject categories, and then an advisory board of historians weighed in. Both were very long meetings, and after that it was hundreds of hours on telephone conference calls. We'd talk for three or four hours at a time every week or two. By fall 1994, the editors began to make assignments. Mink particularly enjoyed giving women who have made history an opportunity to showcase their own ideas, accomplishments, and expertise.