It is a history written through loneliness and deprivation, but guided by courage and stamina.” It is an examination of families and friendships, communities and congregations, sewing circles and temperance unions. It is an intimate look inside the dugouts and the soddies, the schools and the barnyards, the stores and the churches of early Kansas. Stratton says, “It is a personal account of the pioneer experience, described by those for whom “history” was nothing more than daily life. Pioneer Women offers a rare glimpse at the courage it took to civilize the American frontier. Monroe was never able to publish the material during her lifetime.Stratton stumbled onto the material in a relative’s file cabinet in the mid-1970s. Her great-grandmother, Lilla Day Monroe, collected the stories from other surviving pioneers in the 1920s. Stratton rediscovered a collection of autobiographical accounts written by hundreds of Kansas pioneer women in the early twentieth century. Pioneer Women: Voices From the Kansas Frontieris a treasure trove of material for anyone interested in the pioneer west, especially from a woman’s perspective. Joanna Stratton has created a remarkable book filled with stories of women on the frontier. Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier.
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