Introduction: "a woman's work" and "the work of the world"
Becoming a Breckinridge: a Kentucky childhood
Preparation for citizenship: an "all-around girl" at Wellesley College
Striving for the ideal: female achievement and the family claim
Academic activism: social science and social reform in progressive-era Chicago
The other "Chicago school": the School of Social Service Administration
Defining equality: fairness and feminism
Women against war: an international movement for peace and justice
The potential and pitfalls of Pan-American feminism
Toward a national minimum: women building the welfare state
"A & B": a productive partnership
Epilogue: passionate patience.