Grit, Not Glamour: Female Farmers, Ranchers, Ropers, and Herders of the American West

Grit, Not Glamour celebrates the contributions of our foremothers who devoted their lives to farming and ranching related pursuits. Some embraced their roles; others detested the life; often their contributions were minimized or overlooked.

Readers will meet a community of spunky, brazen, plucky, (and in a couple of cases dishonest), hardworking gals who donned trousers, tucked long hair under a straw hat, nurtured plants and baby livestock, studied the markets, fretted over the weather, disseminated vital information, scraped animal dung from their boots, enjoyed a few hours of deep sleep afforded by hours in the fresh country air, only to rise early the next day and start all over again. Anyone who has lived and worked on a family farm or ranch may relate to the experiences of the women who are profiled. Town dwellers and urbanites generations removed from the farm or their rural communities, who grew up hearing grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ stories, will appreciate these women who may or may not resemble in any way their foremothers.

Cheryl Mullenbach is the author of books for young adults and children including Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II, The Industrial Revolution for Kids, The Great Depression for Kids, Women in Blue, and Torpedoed! She is also the author of nonfiction for adults, including Stagecoach Women (TwoDot) and Women of the Spanish-American War (Lyons Press). Her work has been recognized by the International Literacy Association and the National Council for Social Studies. The American Library Association named Double Victory to its “Amelia Bloomer Top Ten List” in 2014. The FDR Presidential Library and Museum honored her as one of ten authors at their Roosevelt Reading Festival in 2013. Her talk at Hyde Park was broadcast by C-SPAN’s “Book TV.”