By the end of the 1960s, both
Florence Howe and her then husband Paul Lauter had taught in the
Freedom Schools in Mississippi, and Howe was already attempting to compile a
women's studies curriculum for her writing students at
Goucher College in Baltimore. As the 1970s approached, Howe was convinced that, just as she needed texts for teaching about women, so would other educators. Her initial appeal to a number of university and trade publishers to issue a series of critical feminist biographies proved of no avail. Ultimately, the Baltimore Women's Liberation, an active local group and publishers of a successful new journal, helped to raise money for the press's first publications. On November 17, 1970, the first meeting of the newly formed press was held in Florence Howe's living room. The first book to be published was Barbara Danish's children's book
The Dragon and the Doctor in 1971. The new press was associated with the burgeoning
women in print movement, an effort by
second-wave feminists to establish autonomous communications networks of feminist periodicals, presses, and bookstores founded by and for women. Howe saw her dreams of producing feminist biographies come true with the publication of
Elizabeth Barrett Browning at the end of 1971. In 1972, the press issued this work by Rebecca Harding Davis as the first of its series of rediscovered feminist literary classics. Olsen's second suggestion,
Daughter of Earth by
Agnes Smedley, and
Elaine Hedges’s suggestion,
The Yellow Wallpaper by
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, were published in 1973. Both have become staples of American literature and women's studies curriculums since, with the 1990
Norton Anthology of American Literature including both
Life in the Iron Mills and
The Yellow Wallpaper. In the spring of 1971, Howe and her husband moved to New York, where she brought the burgeoning Press to her newly accepted professorship at the State University of New York (SUNY)/Old Westbury. The president of the school, who was interested in bringing women's studies programs to the college, allowed Howe to operate out of the corridor of one of the buildings. The press was met with excitement and support from students who worked in the small office in exchange for college work-study. Two New York City publishing professionals, Verne Moberg and Susan Lowes, contributed to the publication of three volumes of reprinted fiction released in 1972 and 1973, which Howe believed to exemplify the press's enduring commitment to producing course-adoptable books to supplement curriculums dominated by male writers. In 1972, the Feminist Press became a
501(c)3 organization with tax-exempt status and in 1975, the press moved into its own headquarters in a separate house on campus, a cottage which had been faculty apartments and a garage. The Feminist Press was committed to creating a democratic workplace where staff served on the board which made all publishing and policy decisions. In addition, all paid staff received equal salaries and served on committees including editorial, finance, and marketing & distribution. The press continued its innovative program of publishing work in three categories: feminist biographies, reprints of important works by women writers, and nonsexist children's books. For each category, the press enlisted advisory committees of distinguished feminist writers, scholars, and educators. The Reprints Advisory Committee was established in 1973 with Founding members including Roslyn Baxandall, Mari Jo Buhle, Ellen DuBois, Florence Howe, Paul Lauter, Laurie Olsen, Lillian Robinson, Deborah S. Rosenfelt, Elaine Showalter, and Catharine Stimpson. In 1973, the press received funding from the
Rockefeller Foundation to survey secondary school textbooks in English and history and to plan for a project to develop supplementary texts. Books in the Women's Lives/Women's Work series, alphabetically by author: • Cantarow, Ellen with O’Malley, Susan Gushee; Strom, Sharon Hartman (1980).
Moving the Mountain: Women Working for Social Change. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Elsasser, Nan; MacKenzie, Kyle; Tixier y Vigil, Yvonne, eds. (1980)
Las Mujeres: Conversations from a Hispanic Community Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Hedges, Elaine; Wendt, Ingrid, eds. (1980)
In Her Own Image: Women Working in the Arts Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Hoffman, Nancy, ed. (1981)
Woman’s “True” Profession: Voices from the History of Teaching. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Hoffman, Nancy; Howe, Florence, eds. (1979)
Women Working: An Anthology of Stories and Poems. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Jensen, Joan M., ed. (1981)
With These Hands: Women Working the Land. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Kessler-Harris, Alice (1981)
Women Have Always Worked: A Historical Overview. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Nicholas, Susan Cary; Price, Alice M.; Rubin, Rachel (1979)
Rights and Wrongs: Women’s Struggle for Legal Equality. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Romer, Nancy (1981)
The Sex-Role Cycle: Socialization from Infancy to Old Age. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Sterling, Dorothy (1979)
Black Foremothers: Three Lives. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Swerdlow, Amy; Bridenthal, Renate; Kelly, Joan; Vine, Phylis (1981)
Household and Kin: Families in Flux. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . • Twin, Stephanie L., ed. (1979)
Out of the Bleachers: Writings on Women and Sport. Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press; New York: McGraw-Hill. . The Feminist Press also played a pioneering role in the nascent field of women's studies by providing curricular materials, bibliographies, directories, and a newsletter. The Clearinghouse on Women's Studies, established at the press, was the primary source of information until the
National Women's Studies Association was founded in 1977. In 2001, Jean Casella became the executive director of the press, followed by Gloria Jacobs, former
Ms. Magazine editor, and writer
Jennifer Baumgardner, cofounder of Soapbox, Inc, and later founder of
Dottir Press.
Jamia Wilson was the subsequent executive director of the Feminist Press, appointed in 2017, and was both the youngest director in the press's forty-nine-year history and the first woman of color to head the organization. “I grew up reading Feminist Press books from my mother’s shelf, and they were instrumental in developing my voice as an activist and writer. It’s an honor to join this intergenerational team to enliven the Press’s intersectional vision of publishing unapologetic, accessible texts that inspire action, teach empathy, and build community,” Wilson explained upon her appointment as ED. In 2022, Margot Atwell, formerly at
Kickstarter, was appointed the newest executive director. == Notable publishing endeavors==