The Girl Explorers: The Untold Story of the Globetrotting Women Who Trekked, Flew, and Fought Their Way Around the World by Jayne Zanglein is a must-read for anyone who is inspired by the stories of trailblazing women who defied convention and broke barriers, and is looking for an informative and uplifting narrative that celebrates the achievements of female explorers and their contributions to the world of science, history, and human rights.

What a great book for anyone wanting to learn more about women's history.
The amount of obstacles, both physical and social these women had to push through, around, and over were immense and yet, their drives to push the status quo made the world better.
This should be a must have for any library both public and personal.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found the woman highlighted inspiring and the book well written.

I really enjoyed this book!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS BOOK WITH ME!
I got behind in the COVID DRAMA and missed posting about this important book when it came out.
Thank you!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Inspirational and a must read. I love discovering historical figures that should’ve been taught in school.

This is a non-fiction book. This book switch around ideas and the tenses the story is being told in because of those two things I could not really get into this book. I did not like how this story was written which is sad because I really love the idea between this book. I wanted to love this book so much. I found parts of this book ok, but I found most of this book boring. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Sourcebooks) or author (Jayne E. Zanglein) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I loved the idea of showing off all the unspoken accomplishments of women in history! The author kind of jumps around from non-fiction to storytelling to her own opinions, so it got a little “ whiplashy “ at times. But I loved the amount of detail and research done for each the stories, these women felt more real, rather than a footnote in a history book. 💜

I had a hard time reading this one--on the one hand I love the subject and the idea of it, on the other hand I found the writing a little dry. The first part of the book was also hard to get through, because it's a lot of what the women thought about who they 'discovered' and it's very time period typical thoughts. Unfortunately, there's not much historical context for this, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
This book was quite interesting. The world has always felt like a mens world and travel adventures are the same but the truth is, Women are better! history has proved how much better women are at travel and experiencing and handling dangerous situations. This was a great example of all the women who had made a mark on the worldly traveling and conquering it.

This is a hard book for me to review. On one hand I LOVE the subject and information given. On the other hand it was very hard for me to get through and read. It was really dry in some parts and read more like a textbook. When I read nonfiction I prefer to read as if I'm conversing with someone and learning and sharing information. I don't want to feel like I'm reading a textbook. It also felt choppy at times - not sure if that was the formatting of my ebook's fault or the book itself.

This book was not quite what I was expecting, but it ended up being enjoyable. I'm really glad it did not take the direction of a collection of mini-biographies of each of these women. There was a lot of focus on the founder of the Society in addition to the women. All in all this was a very interesting book about some incredible women!

While The Girl Explorers by Jayne E. Zanglein was not exactly what I was expecting, I found it ultimately to be a fascinating and inspiring book, highlighting some of the intelligent, daring and determined women who rebelled against expectations and paved the way for women to participate in what were traditionally male pursuits.

“Fifty percent of the world population is female, but only .05 percent of recorded history relates to women.”

The Society of Woman Geographers was founded in 1925 after the exclusively male Explorers Club refused to lift its ban on women members, condescendingly dismissing their ‘suitability’ for exploration, and their many achievements. Founded by Blair Bebee/Niles, a travel writer and novelist; Marguerite Harrison, a widowed single mother and a journalist who became US spy in Russia just after WW1; Gertrude Mathews Shelby, an economic geographer; and Gertrude Emerson, an expert on Asia and editor of Asia Magazine, membership was extended to women whose “distinctive work has added to the world’s store of knowledge concerning countries on which they specialized.”

Settling on the term “geographers” instead of explorers because it was flexible enough to encompass explorers, scientists, anthropologists, ethnographers, writers, mountain climbers, and even ethnographic artists and musicians, the stated aims of the Society were, “...building personal relationships among members, archiving the work of its membership in the society’s collections, and celebrating the achievements of women.”

“With the passage of time—as so often happens with women’s careers—the names and contributions of these explorers tended to sink from sight, their achievements questioned or minimized.” - Elizabeth Fagg Olds, newspaper correspondent and former president of Society.

Though the Society accepted ‘corresponding’ members from any country, The Girl Explorers tends to focus on American adventurers. I recognised only a few names, icons such as aviator Amelia Earhart, anthropologist Margaret Mead, former US First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, and author, Pearl S. Buck. While I did think that it was a shame that the author wasn’t perhaps as inclusive as she could have been, I was nevertheless still fascinated by what I learned of the many women I’d never heard of.

Of the founding members, I considered the life of Blair Bebee née Rice (later Niles) to be particularly intriguing, in part because her story is the most complete, but also because of the sheer breadth of her achievements. I was also captivated by the intrepid mountaineer, Annie Smith Peck, who in 1895, at the age of 45, became the third woman to ascend the Matterhorn, though the first to do so in knickers (men’s knickerbocker trousers) and without a corset.

Zanglein’s narrative sometimes feels a little scattered and occasionally seems to veer off-topic, however the tone is personable, and what I learned was so interesting, I found I didn’t much mind. I highlighted screeds of information as I was reading that really doesn’t have a place in this review, but that intrigued me.

“Their stories change our history...”

The Society of Woman Geographers still exists today, they maintain a museum and library on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. with a robust membership that continues to meet regularly, and supports women geographers with fellowships and awards. I’m glad to have learnt more about organisation and the amazing women who are part of it.

The Girl Explorers
By Jayne Zanglein
Sourcebooks (March 2, 2021)

From the book:
Never tell a woman where she doesn't belong.
In 1932, Roy Chapman Andrews, president of the men-only Explorers Club, boldly stated to hundreds of female students at Barnard College that "women are not adapted to exploration," and that women and exploration do not mix. He obviously didn't know a thing about either...
The Girl Explorers is the inspirational and untold story of the founding of the Society of Women Geographers―an organization of adventurous female world explorers―and how key members served as early advocates for human rights and paved the way for today's women scientists by scaling mountains, exploring the high seas, flying across the Atlantic, and recording the world through film, sculpture, and literature.
Follow in the footsteps of these rebellious women as they travel the globe in search of new species, widen the understanding of hidden cultures, and break records in spades. For these women dared to go where no woman―or man―had gone before, achieving the unthinkable and breaking through barriers to allow future generations to carry on their important and inspiring work.
The Girl Explorers is an inspiring examination of forgotten women from history, perfect for fans of bestselling narrative history books like The Radium Girls, The Woman Who Smashed Codes, and Rise of the Rocket Girls.


My thoughts:

The Girl Explorers is a captivating look at a few intrepid women explorers who are now mostly forgotten. Thankfully, author Jayne Zanglein has removed them from obscurity and has given them the recognition they have long deserved. Their work was often diminished in their own time and contemporary accounts frequently emphasized their appearance rather than their accomplishments. They were, not surprisingly, excluded from the all-male Explorers Club and therefore formed their own organization, the Society of Women Geographers.

Several women explorers are the focus of the book, and the travels of some of them are related, although not in depth. Much of the book concentrated on the relationship between William Beebe, his soon-to-be ex-wife, Blair Beebe Niles, and their relationships with many of the women in the Society. Niles was the subject of an early chapter and was a consistent presence through the entire book.

I thought the book would have biographies of women and their explorations. There was some of that, but it was more about the society and the causes members chose to endorse, such as the woman’s suffrage movement. Those chapters were interesting, but they had nothing to do with geography or exploration, which the title led me to believe was the purpose of the book.

I did enjoy reading this book and appreciate the list of women explorers and the Society of Women Geographers membership list at the end. The women were interesting and the narrative moved at a good pace. Although The Girl Explorers did not get as in depth about the women’s explorations and adventures as I would have liked, it is an interesting book and it is a worthwhile read.

Favorite line: “There’s more to life than being a passenger.” Amelia Earhart.

I had such high expectations for this one and I really wanted to like this book, but the style of writing and information just wasn't my cup of tea. You can tell the author did a lot of research before writing this book and covers a wide range of accomplished women. This book introduced me to some names I’d never heard of before and I'd like to read more about some of them. I expected more focus on the exploration and on the adventurous side of less-known women, as the title suggested.

I really wanted to like this book, but the style of writing and information just did not click with me. I thought that I was going to learn about a few specific previously unknown women and instead got a lot of glossing and more information on Amelia Earhart. Like other reviewers, the writing style was choppy and not snappy. That being said, I would like to join the "Society of Geographical Woman."

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review, but my opinions are my own.

An account of the Society of Women Geographers and its members.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me. I was expecting mini-biographies of the women explorers, with plenty of detail about their experiences in the field, what happened to them on their trips and how it compared with what the men were doing. We did get some of this, particularly in chapter 10, which talked about marine biologist Gloria Hollister and artist Else Bostelmann. Bostelmann’s descriptions of painting underwater were truly fascinating. I also enjoyed chapter 15, which focused on aviator Amelia Earhart, and reading about mountaineer Annie Peck’s adventures in chapter 3. Her debate with rival Fanny Workman about proper climbing apparel was very amusing.

Disappointingly, most of the other women’s exploits were dealt with in a few sentences while more time was spent on such things as their marital/romantic relationships and their involvement in women’s rights. That’s not to say these subjects are unimportant or uninteresting, but from the book’s title I expected more focus on the exploration part of their lives. There was a lovely passage in chapter 9 where Blair Beebe describes sailing up the Orinoco River in Venezuela, and I wish there had been more like that rather than, for example, the details of her divorce and remarriage. This is a matter of personal taste, of course, and if you are looking for a broader picture then you will probably enjoy this book.

Even though the book as whole didn’t work for me, it did introduce me to some names I’d never heard of before, and people I’d like to read more about. It’s clear that a lot of research went into it, as shown by all the citation references at the end.

I’d like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for kindly providing me with a free advance digital copy in exchange for my review, I really appreciate that. All opinions are my own.

This is a hard book to classify in that it is really a lot of mini-biographies of woman who were famous (mostly in the late twenties and thirties) for being the first woman to accomplish feats of daring like climbing mountains, exploring jungles, flying planes, defining ethnological anthropological differences between human groups (such as Margaret Mead).

Because the 'Explorers' club excluded woman, they set-up their own group called "Society of Geographical Woman (SGW)" where they could meet other girls (their word) like themselves. It became a way for older women to share their experiences with other woman outside of the male dominated sciences. There is no question that they were discriminated against by academia and the media, but they persisted.

The writing is difficult mainly because the author usually writes fiction and it doesn't always transfer to the skill of writing biography. There is a tendency to laps into repetition where there is an overlap in the lives and accomplishments of some of the woman. There is also a problem with how Zanglein presents the woman themselves and those they work with or "travel" with. One example is a discussion of the shopping trip one of Amelia Earhardt's friend takes her in London (which makes the story too girlie).

Do not mistake The Girl Explorers to be a lightweight collection of mini-biographies of colorful females dressed in men's attire as they cheerfully cross the globe.

These females battled every sort of prejudice mankind could cook up. They faced sexual predation and ridicule. They fought for equality and against racism. They exposed the horror of prisons and stood for gay rights. Their work was attacked, diminished, forgotten. They were suffragettes and feminists and scientists and intrepid risk-takers.

Their achievements were significant, but how many can you recognize?

Amelia Earhart, of course. We all know that she disappeared. She also wrote her own wedding vows that did not include "obey" but did allow for her husband's infidelity.

Margaret Mead had to be 'rediscovered,' but in her lifetime, she was accused of presenting fake science.

Jayne Zanglein's history of the Society of Women Geographers is about the women I wished I knew about when I was growing up, back when I was reading about Robert Falcon Scott's doomed expedition with nary a female in sight.

No, the biographies I found about women were nurses and social workers and nuns and such. Traditional female roles, really, even if they were fierce.

I did have Jane Goodall and Mary Leakey who I read about in dad's National Geographic magazines, and later in books which I bought.

But so many of these women I had never heard of.

Their stories are the story of women's progress in their fight to be accepted as equals to the ruling male scientists and explorers. They were more than men's equals in their intrepid spirit, intelligence, endurance, and persistence.

Their work is beautifully described in memorable stories that I will not soon forget. This is a fantastic history, and a must-read for every young woman who dreams of high adventure and scientific endeavors.

I was given a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

While I would not necessarily call all the women portrayed in this great book explorers, I do agree that they were strong, determined, inspirational women who sought the life that they wanted to live. Each mini-biography contained in the book portrays brave souls who thought that women are equal to men in every way and lived their lives to prove it. They are oft unsung, unwitting heroes of the women’s rights movement who made a difference in the lives of all the women that would come after them. I highly recommend this well written, interesting, factual, and inspiring book to everyone, not just women. Thank you NetGalley for the advance read copy.

This book is so important to seeing the contributions of women that textbooks leave out. It is important that I supplement my teaching with books likes this.