A
Kansas Notable Book Award Winner
A GOLD in the
ForeWord Book of the Year Awards
A
WILLA
Award Winner
A BRONZE in the
Independent Publishers' (IPPY) Awards
A finalist in the
PMA Ben Franklin Award
“Eickhoff’s exhaustive research
and extensive scholarship results in a sweeping biography of this
little-known but undeniably courageous champion of human rights.
Nichols’ story, clearly told and research-ready, is an important
addition to American and women’s history.” —Booklist
Clarina Nichols (1810-1885) was
set apart from other 19th-century women activists—both physically
and emotionally. As one of the few feminists to follow the nation’s
westward expansion, Nichols was separated from the women’s movement
just as it began to flourish under the leadership of Susan B.
Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other Easterners. Unlike many
activists, Nichols personally experienced some of the most troubling
heartbreaks and hardships that a married woman of her day could
know. This hard-won knowledge led her to sacrifice both health and
financial well-being to right the wrongs that were tolerated in her
time.
As one of the country’s first female newspaper editors and stump
speakers, Nichols criss-crossed the American frontier speaking out
for the rights of women , abolition and temperance at a time when
these were still unpopular stands not in the political mainstream.
Driven by a deep inner need to end the mistreatment of women,
Clarina Nichols left the comforts of her Vermont home and moved
West: first to the Erie Canal outpost of Brockport, New York; then
the wild frontier of “Bleeding Kansas,” where her sons fought
alongside John Brown and she helped shaped the state’s new
Constitution; and finally California, where she continued to
advocate for a variety of causes until her death.
Now, for the first time, the story of Clarina Nichols comes alive
thanks to Diane Eickhoff, whose meticulous, six-year quest to
collect and analyze Nichols’s scattered writings and papers has
yielded a richer understanding of this remarkable pioneer.
Revolutionary Heart: The Life of Clarina Nichols and the Pioneering
Crusade for Women’s Rights is a unique book: It’s an
original piece of scholarship praised by academic historians as
“thorough and illuminating,” a “full-bodied” and “exceptionally
detailed portrait.” Yet it is written for general readers, like the
thousands of people who have heard Eickhoff perform Nichols’s
speeches at chautauquas and other humanities events. Amply
illustrated, with detailed notes and an appendix that includes a
concise history of the early women’s movement, Revolutionary Heart
is more than an engaging biography. It is a window into an unjustly
overlooked period in American history and a resource for those
wanting to know more about the three great 19th century reform
movements—the rights of women, abolition and temperance. Above all,
Revolutionary Heart is a reminder of how far we have come in the
past one hundred fifty years. . . and how unsung heroes like Clarina
Nichols were responsible for many of the freedoms we have today.
“Diane Eickhoff’s biography of Clarina Nichols is a thorough and
illuminating treatment of one of the most instrumental—and
underappreciated—of the 19th century American feminists.”—Nancy
Isenberg, author, Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum America
Also available
Frontier Freedom
Fighter:
The Life of Clarina Nichols
An audio book for
Young Adult Readers. Click HERE for more information.
