Developed from Anne Grant's book, Our North American Foremothers, this film recreates historical moments and women who fought for equality and freedom over the span of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
Acting
Joan Hackett's Belva Lockwood steals every frame she's in.
Production
1976 reenactment aesthetic: committed, unapologetic, slightly unhinged.
Director
Robert Deubel
Patricia Neal
Narrator
Walter Abel
Judge
Jonelle Allen
Rosa Parks
Helen Gallagher
Mary Harris Jones
Joan Hackett
Belva Lockwood
Celeste Holm
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Frank Langella
John Adams
Claudia McNeil
Sojourner Truth
Joanna Miles
Abigail Adams
Melba Moore
Harriet Tubman
Kate Mulgrew
Deborah Sampson
Lois Nettleton
Susan B. Anthony
George Rose
Anthony Comstock
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Patricia Neal recorded her narration while recovering from a 1967 stroke that left her partially paralyzed—her voice became the film's accidental metaphor for resilient women's voices.
Released during the 1976 Bicentennial, this was ABC's attempt to reclaim 'American history' for women—a direct counterprogramming to all-male Revolutionary War nostalgia dominating that year.
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