An extraordinary exploration of Latinas in the United States from the 1800s to the present, this collection of narrative biographies documents the lives of fifteen remarkable individuals who witnessed, defined, defied, and wrote about the forces that shaped their lives. Since the earliestperiods of Spanish American colonization, women have claimed public space and built communities, both as physical places and as cultural realms. As entrepreneurs, community activists, mystics, educators, feminists, labor organizers, artists and entertainers, many Latinas used the power of the pento traverse and transgress the social boundaries and cultural conventions of their time. Their diverse histories span two centuries and encompass a past of multiple conquests and migrations, taking into account race, region, gender, culture, and social location...