50 Years of Ms., edited by Katherine Spillar and the editors of Ms., will awaken memories of the hope inspired by the publication's inaugural issue in January 1972. Filled with nearly 200 photographs, this collection from five decades of Ms. celebrates the country's first national feminist magazine, which suggested, Gloria Steinem writes, "the radical idea that women are people." Younger readers may be astounded at the early resistance to feminism. For example, the New York Times referred to "Miss Steinem of Ms. magazine" until 1986. Steinem, the iconic feminist and cofounder of Ms., writes the foreword for this historic anniversary collection, and executive editor Katherine Spillar and publisher Eleanor Smeal describe in the introduction their efforts 30 years ago to rescue Ms. from financial turmoil. With women's rights "under intensifying attack," they write, "feminist ideas and innovations are more necessary than ever."
Organized by decades, 110 essays, stories, interviews, reports, and poetry from the magazine's history offer lines begging to be read aloud, some in celebration of progress in equality for all (Ms. advocates for women but also for racial and gender rights), and others in frustration. The book includes pieces about international feminist movements as well as pragmatic tips: a "Populist Mechanics" series in the magazine touched on such topics as "Tires--One More Thing Women Can Change." Famous, provocative covers that resonated--the five iterations of Wonder Woman; the close-up of a woman's bruised face on the "Battered Wives" issue--offer a retrospective of Ms. During the "significant patriarchal backlash to the fifty years of progress" that Ms. has helped to propel, this inspiring collection is a reminder that advocates for equality can effect change. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.