This book examines the lives and careers of four American women--Sophonisba Breckinridge, Edith Abbott, Katharine Bement Davis, and Frances Kellor--who played decisive roles in early twentieth-century reform crusades. Breckinridge and Abbott used their educations in political science and political economy to expose the tragic conditions endured by the urban poor. Davis became the first superintendent of the New York State Reformatory at Bedford Hills...