Women Storytellers of the American West

Examining American history through female storytelling about and within the American West in literature, film, radio, theater, and television. It spotlights how women across various communities developed archetype female characters from history, solidified female intellectual traditions, and chronicled shifts in society from San Francisco to Hollywood, and from the Midwest to Western boomtowns. Some women created novels, short stories, and dramas delineating or challenging gender roles, while others told stories to cut through male-dominating cowboy narratives. Also covered here are some of the naturalist/environmentalist writers who redefined women as equal partners to men in the Western landscape. Their collective works speak of a need for respect, reforms, and economic equity within marriage, self-determination, and full citizenship for themselves and their daughters. Written with the 21st century reader in mind, entries are organized chronologically and can be read as standalone accounts or together for a more comprehensive view. Sidebars provide a nuanced look at similarities and differences within Western female writing about environment, race, colonialism, and gender.