Rosanne Welch – författare

A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys--Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy.Capitalizing on the show's success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined, and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers.Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers' move into films such as Head, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

"A welcome addition to women's- and film-history collections." – BooklistBy exploring a range of films about American women, this book offers readers an opportunity to engage in both history and film in a new way, embracing representation, diversity, and historical context. Throughout film history, stories of women achieving in American history appear few and far between compared to the many epic tales of male achievement. This book focuses largely on films written by women and about women who tackled the humanist issues of their day and mostly won.Films about women are important for all viewers of all genders because they remind us that the American experience is not just male and white. This book examines 10 films, featuring diverse depictions of women and women's history, and encourages readers to discern how and where these films deviate from historical accuracy. Covering films from the 1950s all the way to the 2010s, this text is invaluable for students and general readers who wish to interrogate the way women's history appears on the big screen.

The Civil War on Film informs high-school and college readers interested in Civil War film history on issues that arise when film viewers confuse entertainment with historical accuracy.The nation's years of civil war were painful, destructive, and unpleasant. Yet war films tend to embrace mythologies that erase that historical reality, romanticizing the Civil War. Opening with a timeline and introduction the book goes on to explore ten films across decades of cinema history in ten chapters, from Birth of a Nation, which debuted in 1915, to The Free State of Jones, which debuted 101 years later. It analyzes and critiques the myriad of mythologies and ideologies which appear in American Civil War films, including Lost Cause ideation, Black Confederate fictions, Northern Aggression mythologies, and White Savior tropes. Readers will better understand how particular films mirror the time in which they were written and filmed, and a list of further resources guides readers to explore the topic in more detail.

Showcases the life of the first American woman in space, from her childhood, to her accomplishments as a tennis star, and her pioneering achievements as an astronaut and science educator.Explore Sally Ride’s life and contributions and understand the historical context of landmark events, movements, and women who paved the way for her success. Ride's groundbreaking achievement represented a moment of triumph in an ongoing struggle for gender equality propelled by pivotal events such as the 1960's Civil Rights Movement advocating for equal rights for all individuals, and the enactment of Title IX in 1972 ensuring gender equity in education. Written for students of American and women's history, this examination of Ride's life places each milestone in its historical context. This illuminates not only the world she lived in, but also her enduring significance to the contemporary challenges women and LGBTQ+ people continue to face in their efforts to pursue careers in STEM. A detailed chronology, curated sidebars throughout, chronological sequencing, and primary source documents make this a singular and necessary first-stop reference resource on Ride's life and work.

This collection of 23 new essays focuses on the lives of female screenwriters of Golden Age Hollywood, whose work helped create those unforgettable stories and characters beloved by audiences--but whose names have been left out of most film histories. The contributors trace the careers of such writers as Anita Loos, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Lillian Hellman, Gene Gauntier, Eve Unsell and Ida May Park, and explore themes of their writing in classics like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Ben Hur, and It's a Wonderful Life.

From the invention of eyeglasses to the Internet, this three-volume set examines the pivotal effects of inventions on society, providing a fascinating history of technology and innovations in the United States from the earliest European colonization to the present.Technical Innovation in American History surveys the history of technology, documenting the chronological and thematic connections between specific inventions, technological systems, individuals, and events that have contributed to the history of science and technology in the United States. Covering eras from colonial times to the present day in three chronological volumes, the entries include innovations in fields such as architecture, civil engineering, transportation, energy, mining and oil industries, chemical industries, electronics, computer and information technology, communications (television, radio, and print), agriculture and food technology, and military technology.The A–Z entries address key individuals, events, organizations, and legislation related to themes such as industry, consumer and medical technology, military technology, computer technology, and space science, among others, enabling readers to understand how specific inventions, technological systems, individuals, and events influenced the history, cultural development, and even self-identity of the United States and its people. The information also spotlights how American culture, the U.S. government, and American society have specifically influenced technological development.

Shaping Global Cultures through Screenwriting: Women Who Write Our Worlds is a powerful testament to the undeniable impact of an international collection of female screenwriters. Spanning film, television, virtual reality, games and digital media, these case studies showcase instances when women have used screenwriting to challenge injustice and give voice to communities across the globe.Acknowledging global disparities in wealth and power, the book exposes screenwriting as activism, which shifts attitudes and alters lived experiences. Whether about gender and race or war and colonization, or other serious issues, each chapter reveals the deep connections between storytelling and social change.More than just a study of the craft, this is a celebration of the women writers who use their artistic lens to educate and empower others.Geared toward readers interested in screenwriting, media studies, sociology, women’s studies and a wide range of humanities subjects, including history and population studies, this book brings long-overdue attention to the vital role women take in shaping global cultural landscapes.

Details the life and activism of Gloria Steinem, using her life as a lens through which readers can examine the evolution of women's rights in the United States over the past half-century.This work traces the life and career of the feminist activist, providing an examination of her life and her efforts to further equal opportunity among all people, especially women, in the United States from the second half of the 20th century to the present. It follows Steinem in a primarily chronological fashion to best convey the impact of her own efforts as well as the changing nature of women's status in American society during Steinem's half-century as an active reformer and public figure. The book notably includes her work with Ms. magazine and details of her personal life.This wider coverage of Steinem's life, from her early childhood to the present, adds to previous works, which tend to stop at the height of the women's movement and the rise of the Conservative movement in the early 1980s. With one of the defining aspects of Steinem's work being her lifelong commitment to women's rights and human equality, the treatment of her whole life helps readers understand the full extent of both her commitment and impact.

This book provides new and exciting interpretations of Helen Keller's unparalleled life as "the most famous American woman in the world" during her time.Helen Keller: A Life in American History explores Keller's life, career as a lobbyist, and experiences as a deaf-blind woman within the context of her relationship with teacher-guardian-promoter Anne Sullivan Macy, and overarching social history. The book tells the dual story of a pair struggling with respective disabilities and financial hardship and the oppressive societal expectations set for women during Keller's lifetime. This presents a comprehensive study of Helen Keller's role in the development of support services specifically related to the deaf-blind.Readers will learn about Keller's challenges and choices as well as how her public image often eclipsed her personal desires to live independently. Keller's deaf-blindness and hard-earned but limited speech did not define her as a human being as she explored the world of ideas and wove those ideas into her writing, lobbying for funds for the American Federation for the Blind and working with disabled activists and supporters to bring about practical help during times of tremendous societal change.

Re-introduces the social and political life and work of one of the world’s most recognizable artists, examining her impact on the broader society of her time, legacy, and how she was later shaped into a feminist and commercial icon.Frida Kahlo is best Known for her colorful self-portraits, which represent some of the most direct renderings of women’s experiences in the 20th century, and for her active membership in Mexico’s modernist artistic circles. Her fame, as we we know it today, grew only after her early death in 1954. Since the 1970s, she has become an iconic figure who is connected to feminist and LGBTQ+ movements around the world. Her face, adorned by a flower wreath and monobrow, has become a highly profitable brand featured on posters and a wide array of design products. Yet this fame has also made it difficult to distinguish between the mythology and the artist she was during her lifetime. This biography reassesses the artist’s life by re-introducing the Frida Kahlo behind the brand, retracing how Kahlo made history as a modernist painter and socialite in a time when Mexico was undergoing significant social and political changes. From her childhood in Mexico City in the midst of the Mexican Revolution, to her politics and tumultuous marriage to Diego Rivera, to her teaching a new generation of artists, this work provides a comprehensive look at the whole life of the artist and traces how her legacy developed into contemporary times.Images throughout illustrate the text and vividly connect readers to Kahlo's life. A timeline, chronological sequencing, and curated next-step resources make this a necessary first-stop reference source that shows the importance of revisiting iconic figures to assess their lives beyond the myths.

A fresh look at the legacy of Sandra Day O’Connor from hardscrabble childhood in the Arizona desert, to facing adversity as a female in politics, to her work as the first woman Justice on the US Supreme Court.By being the first woman on the Supreme Court, O’Connor set the stage for future gender equity in America’s legal system, becoming one of the most significant people in US history. This accessible analysis of O'Connor's life, examines how her early beginnings in the remote desert of the American Southwest, where her family’s ranch was 32 miles from the nearest school, shaped her world view and in turn, decisions at the US Supreme Court that affect us today. At first, she aspired to be a cattle rancher, but instead, went on to enroll at California’s Stanford University at the age 16. This biography follows her determination as she overcame prejudice and made history by being appointed to the US Supreme Court in 1981; and it places O’Connor in the context of her times by examining how her decisions on the Supreme Court helped to move the country forward and continue to impact us today.

The Civil War on Film informs high-school and college readers interested in Civil War film history on issues that arise when film viewers confuse entertainment with historical accuracy.The nation's years of civil war were painful, destructive, and unpleasant. Yet war films tend to embrace mythologies that erase that historical reality, romanticizing the Civil War. Opening with a timeline and introduction the book goes on to explore ten films across decades of cinema history in ten chapters, from Birth of a Nation, which debuted in 1915, to The Free State of Jones, which debuted 101 years later. It analyzes and critiques the myriad of mythologies and ideologies which appear in American Civil War films, including Lost Cause ideation, Black Confederate fictions, Northern Aggression mythologies, and White Savior tropes. Readers will better understand how particular films mirror the time in which they were written and filmed, and a list of further resources guides readers to explore the topic in more detail.

A biography that places a life and achievements in the context of modern American history, particularly multiculturalism, race relations, women’s equality, and growing political polarization.The daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India who met at UC Berkeley and were involved in the civil rights movement, Kamala Harris understood early in life the importance of social justice and political engagement. This volume highlights Harris’s journey from her childhood in Oakland, CA through her 2024 presidential campaign; from her family and cultural influences to her education at Howard University and then law school; from her early legal and political career in the San Francisco Bay Area to her election as the first African American and first woman to serve as California Attorney General, as well as her years in the US Senate—all which paved the way for Harris to become the first woman to ever serve as vice president. A useful first-stop resource for students of American history, political science, and women's studies, this biography places each of Harris's milestone accomplishments in its historical context, illuminating not only the current political landscape but her significance to the contemporary challenges women of color continue to face in US politics. A detailed chronology, curated sidebars, narrative sequencing, and a comprehensive bibliography of vetted sources guide readers through the topics and to a better understanding of Kamala Harris’s legacy in American history.