Women’s History Month 2015: Women on 20s

What a great movement to initiate during National Women’s History Month — getting women’s faces on our currency. How sad that while women make up more than half the population, we only see white men’s faces on our currency.

How might we look at this more equitably? How can we work together to put a woman’s face on the twenty dollar bill? Who should it be? I know Alice Paul is getting a lot of traction, as is the amazing Shirley Chisholm. I must confess, I am rather partial to seeing Rosa Parks on the twenty dollar bill, although I do love Eleanor Roosevelt.

 

A Call To Action: Click here to cast your vote! A Women’s Place is on the money!

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Celebrating Black History Month: February 27

Pioneer for African-Americans and Women

Today I would like to honor and pay tribute to Shirley Chisholm. In 1972, Chisholm became the first black woman to run for President of the United States. Given the permanent blemish on American History that was Nixon and Watergate, how sad that our Chisholm did not win. Chisholm represented New York’s 12 Congressional District for seven terms. Chisholm was a first generation American, with her father being from Guiana and her mother being from Barbados.  One can only imagine how the current Tea Party would be treating our Shirley Chisholm.  During her big for the Presidency in 1972, she survived 12 assassination attempts. Enjoy this video of Chisholm during her run for President. Chisholm also worked on a bill to give workers the right to a minimum wage–not sure our Scott Walker would have liked that! For more information on Shirley Chisholm, click here.

Women’s History, January 25

Virginia Woolf

Happy Birthday, Virginia Woolf.  Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group–a well known group of literati, including people like Lytton Strachey, Clive Bell,and Rupert Brooke. While her contributions to the literary world were many, some of my favorites are: A Room of One’s Own, To the Lighthouse, and Mrs. Dalloway. Recently, studies of Virginia Woolf have focused on feminist and lesbian themes in her work.

January 25, 1533, Anne Boleyn marries that madcap Henry VIII–Oy! She lost her head over that one.  Boleyn was wife number two for our Hank after he divorces Catherine of Aragon and starts the Anglican Church.  You have to love a religion being started just to allow a divorce.  Our Anne Boleyn is also the mother of Elizabeth I.

Happy Birthday, Clarina Nichols, the often overlooked social reformer and suffragist. She was also part of the Abolitionist Movement and the Temperance Movement.

Happy Birthday, Maude Wood Park.  Park was a suffragist whose lobbying skills and grasp of legislative politics were successfully deployed on behalf of the suffrage movement and welfare issues involving women and children.

January 25, 1972, Shirley Chisholm announces her candidacy for the US Presidency.

Quote of the day:

The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.        Virginia Woolf