For those researching female American family histories and genealogy-rejoice! This reference book by Christina Kassabian Schaefer contains comprehensive information for those of us looking for civil records on our female ancestors. At first I was skeptical about the timeliness of this book since it was first published almost 10 years ago; but as I delved into the book, the scope and content began to impress me.

In her introductory sections, Schaefer gives a personalized preface that details her purpose for the text, which she states is "to identify [and] then demonstrate how the legal status of women can be applied to genealogical research" (p. ix). The time period she considers in her book is the 1600s to 1941 (though many of the records she points to are not available until the 1800s for most states). She includes information about Native Americans, along with immigrants from Europe, Africa, and Asia and their descendants. Schaefer also provides valuable historical context for interpreting records throughout her text.

After the preface, she includes a section called "How to Use This Book," which gives a quick overview of the records she refers to and their locations. She then she includes abbreviations frequently used in the text. The introduction is what is most useful about this book-Schaefer gives 47 pages of context for doing research on female ancestors. This context is valuable because, as Schaefer points out, "Looking for women requires a readjustment in how we view traditional record sources" (p. ix).

What she then does, using this context, is to show us how to look for women's records that we might not be able to find otherwise. For example, in her Introduction she includes a section titled "Important Dates and Events Since the American Revolution."

• Under the date 1780, she writes, "Congress authorizes half-pay to widows and orphans of officers in the Continental Army killed during the War."
• The year 1850 states, "Oregon Donation Land Act provides that half of a land grant be in the name of the wife."
• 1911: "Missouri becomes the first state to pass a widows' pension law."
• 1941: "Almost seven million women enter the workforce as a result of the labor shortage caused by World War II."

Schaefer then divides her Introduction into these distinct areas: Finding Women in Federal Records, Military Records, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Miscellaneous Federal Records, Searching Non-government Sources, Searching State Court Records, and Manumission Records. In each of these areas, she gives a basic overview of what the record is, where it is held (either the LDS Family History Library or National Archive), and how to find it. She also gives further information for research, include w ebsites. Just the comprehensive nature of this Introduction alone makes this book worth reading or purchasing.

The bulk of Schaefer's book is a state-by-state overview, divided into these sections: Important Dates in State History, Marriage and Divorce Records, Where to Find Marriage and Divorce Records, Property and Inheritance, Suffrage, Citizenship, Census Information, Other, Bibliography, and Selected Resources for Women's History (which includes names and address for records repositories and websites). Out of curiosity, I looked at the sections for some of the states where my female ancestors lived, namely Ca lifornia, Connecticut, Georgia, Texas, and Utah. As I mentioned earlier, I was concerned about the timeliness of this text, so after reading over each state's section, I looked at the online sources to see if the links were still live and if the information she included could be easily found. Unfortunately, most of the links were no longer at the URL included in the book. But I could find most of the websites just by using a search engine, such as Google.

The information in each chapter points specifically to film and fiche records and includes their respective numbers in the Family History Library Catalog of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. Readers just need to type in these numbers on the online catalog and will immediately be pointed to that source for further information. The research process is thus made much easier thanks to Schaefer's organized approach.

This book is designed to be reader friendly, with bulleted and highlighted text that is a standard font size and easy to read. However, there are a few pages where in-text clip art makes the text difficult to read. Otherwise, the design is pleasing and well organized. Schaefer also includes interesting graphics, charts and photos relevant to women's history and genealogy throughout her book. There is also a glossary and an index. But the best reference material is the detailed bibliography at the end of t he book. She has her sources listed in the categories of history, law, women's studies, ethnic research, and by localities. Overall, I recommend this book, "The Hidden Half of the Family: A Sourcebook for Women's Genealogy" by Christina Kassabian Schaefer. It is an interesting source book that will ease your research.

Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli