The Women Who Made New York

An illuminating, elegant history of New York City, told through the stories of the women who made it the most exciting and influential metropolis in the world
Read any history of New York City and you will read about men. You will read about men who were political leaders and men who were activists and cultural tastemakers. These men have been lauded for generations for creating the most exciting and influential city in the world.
But that's not the whole story.
The Women Who Made New York reveals the untold stories of the phenomenal women who made New York City the cultural epicenter of the world. Many were revolutionaries and activists, like Zora Neale Hurston and Audre Lorde. Others were icons and iconoclasts, like Fran Lebowitz and Grace Jones. There were also women who led quieter private lives but were just as influential, such as Emily Warren Roebling, who completed the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge when her engineer husband became too ill to work.
Paired with striking, contemporary illustrations by artist Hallie Heald, The Women Who Made New York offers a visual sensation -- one that reinvigorates not just New York City's history but its very identity.

Julie Scelfo is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, where her stories about how we live routinely appear on the Times's more e-mailed list. Prior to joining the Times in 2007, Scelfo was a correspondent at Newsweek, where she covered breaking news and wrote about society and human behavior. She covered the events of September 11, 2001, live from lower Manhattan, then reported extensively on the attack's environmental and emotional aftermath. Scelfo lives with her family in New York City.
Hallie Heald is an illustrator and stylist living and working in New York City. Her work has appeared in various magazines, including Darling, Galore, Vogue India, Jute, Tantalum, and MODO magazines. Her styling clients have included Theory, Bloomingdales, Macy's, Helmut Lang, and DKNY.