Creating a Progressive Commonwealth

"In her innovative study of women activists in late twentieth-century Virginia, Megan Taylor Shockley argues that feminists challenged the traditional patriarchal system in the state by engaging directly with the legislature and mobilizing grassroots educational and lobbying efforts on the issues of the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion rights, and violence against women. Shockley suggests that feminists' work fundamentally changed Virginia, making it a better place for women, and helping to create a more progressive commonwealth. Using both archival sources and oral histories, her study examines who these activists were, what their motivations were in trying to battle recalcitrant legislators and conservative citizens, and what kinds of issues they gained ground on"--