An essential history of women in American journalism, showcasing the most renowned trailblazers since 1840. Undaunted is a representative history of the American women who ignored every impediment put in their way to do journalism’s most valued work. Brooke Kroeger examines the experiences of both the best remembered and the long-forgotten: beginning with Margaret Fuller’s improbable rise in the 1840s; tracing the breakthrough investigative triumphs of Nellie Bly, Ida Tarbell, and Ida B. Wells; revisiting the standout reporting of women who covered major news stories and every conflict at home and abroad since the Civil War; and celebrating many other outstanding careers up to the present, including those of Martha Gellhorn, Rachel Carson, Janet Malcolm, Joan Didion, Cokie Roberts, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault. Chronicled here as well is the collective fight for equity from the gentle chidings of the late 1800s through the #MeToo movement and today’s racial and gender issues. Undaunted unveils the huge and singular impact exceptional women have had on a field still dominated by men.
