The Re-Education of the American Woman
Anna Brown
The Re-Education of the American Woman explores what educational resources write about women and gender-nonconforming people, and what they omit. Textbooks teach us to believe their content as fact, but how true can it be if they fail to include the perspectives of half the population? The book's first half presents chapters from content I found necessary in my research: stories of women from all American backgrounds with creative practices that should be taught in classrooms. I weave my annotations, personal connections, and family photographs throughout this section.
The second half incorporates pages from McDougal Littell’s The Americans with a critical intervention: it preserves only the original content about women and gender-nonconforming individuals. Negative space becomes as revealing as the text itself. The wide gaps between entries emphasize how infrequently these figures appear. At the same time, the remaining content underscores how history has framed their roles—often as passive supporters rather than agents of change. This approach turns their invisibility into a visible and undeniable absence, compelling the reader to question what history textbooks include and why they leave out.
I interpret the quilts made in the Gee's Bend Quilting Collective of Boykin, Alabama, through my quilt patterns. The book also features Risograph prints and woodcut illustrations, which emulate traditional craft arts historically assigned to women. The final book consists of two spiral-bound sections connected by an American flag Risograph print, with pink accents to signify femininity and modernity. Every typeface used throughout this project comes from women designers.