Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day
From left to right: Mrs. Pethick-Lawrence, British suffrage leader, and Miss Alice Paul of the National Woman’s Party, full-length portrait, standing, Washington, D.C. [Between 1910 and 1920?] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress. Public domain. Katherine Johnson, Mathematician (c. 1966) from the Global Public Affairs photo archive, U. S. Dept. of State, CC BY-NC 2.0. Amanda Gorman, 2021, by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
When we think of the “Roaring 1920’s” we may think about decadence, Prohibition and The Great Gatsby. But American women were roaring in 1920, and it wasn’t because of the latest flapper fashion, bootleg booze or a fictional rich guy’s notorious parties. Women were roaring because, finally, after years of struggling, they won the right to vote in our nation. With the 1920 ratification of the 19th amendment to the U. S. Constitution, the women’s suffrage movement had reached its goal. And though the 2020’s have started out dismally (the pandemic, climate change, political discord and a depressed economy,) women still have reason to roar. 2020 saw the election of a woman to the vice-presidency of our country, and in 2021 we sadly marked the death, but greatly celebrated the life, of Katherine Johnson, that mathematical genius and “Hidden Figure” of the NASA space program. We are also recognizing the voices of remarkable young women just coming into their own, such as 2017 National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. The growing ranks of women accomplishing amazing things is reason to celebrate, and March is just the month to do it.
March is Women’s History Month during which, “The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.” With fascinating resources on the history of the female code-breakers of World War ll, the lives of Civil War nurses, the women’s suffrage movement and more, there is a lot to discover about, or dive deeper into, the history of women in our country.
International Women’s Day – #ChooseToChallenge
But let’s not stop there! Monday, March 8th, is International Women’s Day, which is celebrating the Choose To Challenge theme. Highlighting equal justice in all forms, International Women’s Day calls on us to act. “A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.” Last week we shined a spotlight on Ugandan climate activist, Vanessa Nakate, with a shoutout to Sweden’s Greta Thunberg. International young women are making their voices heard too. Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace prize, continues to make her voice heard around the world as she advocates for equal education for girls of all nations, not just in her native country of Pakistan. Here at home and around the world, women are accomplishing things that one hundred years ago were merely hopes and dreams.
International Women’s Day, March 8, 2021
“Strike the #ChooseToChallenge pose with your hand high to show your commitment to choose to challenge inequality, call out bias, question stereotypes, and help forge an inclusive world.” – http://www.internationalwomensday.com
Submit your #ChooseToChallenge photo HERE.
50 Year Anniversary: A Woman’s Story
Ernest J. Gaines by Slowking4 – Own work, GFDL 1.2 
Aunt Augusteen Jefferson
Strong women have often been at the center of novels and stories passed orally through generations. When author Ernest J. Gaines wrote The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman fifty years ago in 1971, he took inspiration for the story from the life of his great aunt, Augusteen Jefferson, who raised him. The Ernest J. Gains Blog states, “Of this woman, Gaines continually mentions that even though she could not walk she performed all of the tasks necessary to raise Gaines and the rest of the children under her care. She would slide down the steps of the house and work in the garden. She would cook, clean, and do all of the housework needed.” Gaines also credits his life with her as an inspiration to become a storyteller and is quoted as remarking on that time, “I would go to these people and read their letters for them and write their letters for them. In most cases they didn’t know how to form the letter. They’d give me a little piece of paper, you know those small, yellow tablets and pencil and say, ‘Tell Viney’ or ‘Tell Clara I’m all right. we’re doing ok., and the garden’s all right.’ Something like that. Then I would have to form the letter. I’d just write it, and re-write it, and re-write it until I got it right. Then I’d read it back to them.” Made into a film for television in 1974, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman was awarded nine Emmy awards, with the Best Lead Actress award going to its star, Cicely Tyson.
The first Black woman to win that award, Tyson was more than just an actress. In addition to her groundbreaking roles both on Broadway and in film, she was a singer, activist and the recipient of many accolades, including The Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to her by President Barack Obama in 2016. Sophia Chang of Gothamist.com writes in Tyson’s obituary, “Her career often defied the stereotypical roles that Black women were relegated to during her seven decades of acting, at times going without work because of her principles. ‘She was critical of films and television programs that cast Black characters as criminal, servile or immoral, and insisted that African-Americans, even if poor or downtrodden, should be portrayed with dignity,’ the New York Times noted.” This accomplished American woman carved out a path and then led the way for so many women who followed. She died just weeks ago, at the age of 96, and what a remarkable life she had!
A little book list
In honor of Women’s History month, Zoph Library offers a list of YA books for your perusal. These include biographies, novels and histories of smart, strong women who reach for the stars, as women have been doing for centuries.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.
Audacity by Melanie Crowder. The inspiring story of Clara Lemlich, whose fight for equal rights led to the largest strike by women in American history. Bucking the norms of both her traditional Jewish family and societal conventions, Clara refuses to accept substandard working conditions in the factories on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In time, Clara convinces the women in the factories to strike, organize, and unionize, culminating in the famous uprising of the 20,000. Powerful, breathtaking, and inspiring, Audacity is the story of a remarkable young woman, whose passion and selfless devotion to her cause changed the world.
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne. For African American women, the fight for the right to vote was only one battle. An eye-opening book that tells the important, overlooked story of black women as a force in the suffrage movement–when fellow suffragists did not accept them as equal partners in the struggle.
Far From the Tree by Robin Benway. Placing her daughter for adoption left a hole in Grace’s heart; her adoptive parents can’t fill it, and her birth mother’s unreachable–then Grace learns she has siblings.
Fannie Lou Hamer: America’s Freedom Fighting Woman by Maegan Parker Brooks. Chronicles the life and career of African American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.
The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters. In Portland, Oregon, in 1900, seventeen-year-old Olivia Mead, a suffragist, is hypnotized by the intriguing young Henri Reverie, who’s paid by her father to make her more docile and womanly but who, instead, gives her the ability to see people’s true natures, while she secretly continues fighting for women’s rights.
For every husband, father, brother and son, there is also a wife, mother, sister and daughter (and this is definitely not to say that women have standing only in relation to men.) Standing together with love and advocacy for each other, our communities become more equal, inclusive and strong. Working together, each of us has an opportunity to succeed in reaching our aspirations. In a perfect world, that challenge would be globally accepted. For now, we can only accept that challenge ourselves to make it so, as International Women’s Day asks us to. By calling out gender bias and inequality in our small corner of the world, each of us helps that ripple of action to spread universally. We cannot end our post this week without a shout out to the women of Serra who make our corner of the world go round. From our teachers and staff, to our administrators, volunteers and Madres, we appreciate your brilliance, kindness, compassion and the leadership roles that you play in our community. We salute you!
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