No Ordinary Women How Progressive Era Reformers Reshaped America

By: P. O’Connell Pearson

Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026-03-24

Acclaimed author P. O’Connell Pearson tells the inspiring story of the trailblazing women of the Progressive movement and their work that led to political, economic, and social change that impacts us to this very day in this nonfiction middle grade book.

A country torn apart. A staggering gulf between rich and poor. Rampant inequality. The United States in the 1800s sounds a lot like it does today. But the actions taken by everyday citizens back then can empower us now.

Through grassroots movements, people remade American society and government from the ground up. These activists were the Progressives, and thousands of them were women—even though women did not yet have the right to vote. From every part of the country and from every background, women set about seeking reforms—broadening democracy, moving American society from the perspective of me to us, and ushering in a new way of thinking about our responsibilities to one another. The result was sixty years of political, economic, and social national achievement.

All Americans have the power to create equity and justice. After all, the people at the forefront of this movement were just ordinary women—who did something extraordinary.