Women's History Month 2022: The Hidden Half of the Family

In this first week of Women's History Month, we are looking at genealogy methodology books for your reference library. 

Title: The Hidden Half of the Family: A Sourcebook for Women's Genealogy

Author: Christina Kassabian Schaefer

Publisher: Genealogical Publishing

Synopsis: "Look closely at those areas where the female ancestor interacts with the government and the legal system...where law, precedent, and even custom mandate the unequivocal identification of all parties, male and female. According to this thesis, the legal status of women at any point in time is the key to unraveling the identity of the female ancestor, and there this work highlights those laws, both federal and state, that indicate when a woman could own real estate in her own name, devise a will, enter into contracts, and so on."

Why You Need This Book: This book is older, 1999 and reprinted in 2009, but it doesn't matter. It's an exploration state-by-state of records that document women. It's a reference that is important to your research. It will not have the latest websites for you to take a look at. That doesn't matter. It has the dates, laws, and record types that you should explore. 

On a side note, Christina Schaefer wrote quite a few genealogy books in the 1990s and early 2000s. Buy them. They are on a range of topics including WWI and naturalization. They are all great resources.