INTRODUCTION

This short history book attempts to portray women s

status and their contributions to the development of West-

ern civilization from prehistoric times to the present. As

the whole story cannot be told in a short survey, the scope

of the study is focused on what seems to be the most

representative of women in each historical period.

Heretofore almost all of history has been written by

men, about actions which are important to men, and

about the accomplishments of men. Women s lives have

been virtually ignored. Throughout the United States,

girls and boys for most of their 12 years in grades one

through twelve in social studies or history lessons are

required to learn almost exclusively about the accomplish-

ments of men. In 1979, in spite of the women s move-

ment, affirmative action programs, and publishers

guidelines, in the United States History texts, for exam-

ple, for every 700 pages about men there were only 14

pages about women.1

The omission of women in history is a serious void in

the education of both boys and girls. It fosters an attitude

that says in effect what females did or do is unimportant,

an attitude that cannot help but adversely affect human

relationships. This author believes that the imbalance in

the teaching of history helps to perpetuate sex discrimina-

tion and it demeans girls. This book is one small effort to

help balance history so that both boys and girls can ~earn

about the buried history of one-half of the population.

Though this is a history of women, it includes wom-

en s relationships with men. For, throughout history and

before, women have lived their lives alongside men. What

women could or could not accomplish, depended on

what their relationship was with the men in the society.

Also, women s lives are always intricately woven into the

society of the historical period in which they live. So it is

necessary to have some knowledge of what was going on