"I was asleep while you were dying . . . " from "Myth", in Native Guard, Pulitzer Prize 2007 ... about her mother, Gwendolyn Ann Turnbough "...you will find the scaffolding of form to bear that weight– for yourself and for your mother." Inscription to me, on Thrall, August 2012, at Bread Loaf Most daughters want to make our mother's proud, and I imagine Natasha Trethewey is no different. Except, her mother died before Natasha finished … [Read more...]
Terry Tempest Williams and the Legacy of Mother, Earth, Spirit
It's late on the 25th day of Women's History Month, and from amongst the crowd of worthy women and organizations on lists I wrote as I contemplated a month of daily tributes, I'm choosing Terry Tempest Williams. Reading her memoir, Refuge, in 1993, inspired me on so many levels. In luminous prose, she wrote of her mother's slow death from breast cancer, the loss of habitat of the birds of the Great Salt Lake, and the dark legacy of patriarchy and nuclear testing. Almost twenty years later, as … [Read more...]
Finding Our Great-Grandmother’s Stories . . .
For the twenty-fourth tribute of Women's History month, let's honor our great-grandmothers. Not one great-grandmother, but as many as we can divine, collectively, through letters, stories, personal experience, notes taped to odd and wonderful items handed down from generation to generation, and other methods our great-grandmothers found to leave something of themselves. If you are reading this, you have four great-grandmothers to puzzle over. In my case, I met one, Agnes … [Read more...]
Cape May’s Avenging Angel: Carolyn Pitts
Well before Hurricane Sandy, there was the Great March Storm of 1962, a nor'easter that decimated the Mid-Atlantic seaboard. For the 23rd tribute of Women's History month, I'm smiling in gratitude as I think of Carolyn Pitts, an architectural historian who saved Cape May, New Jersey from the folly of urban renewal. Raised in Mount Airy, she graduated from Germantown High School, earned a bachelor's degree from Moore College of Art, and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1962, as … [Read more...]
Virginia Woolf and My First Wave
I can't say for certain when I discovered Virginia Stephen Woolf (1882-1941). Sometime during my teens I read her essay, The Waves, and felt relief as the stream of my own consciousness was echoed on the pages I was reading. I am not a Virginia Woolf scholar, and I don't own any fancy versions or first editions, but the well-worn paperbacks on my bookshelf never fail to bring me pleasure and renew that original sense of relief, validation, excitement, and energy that comes from … [Read more...]
Artist, Mentor, Treasure
Today's Women's History Month tribute goes to Janice Edgerton Griffin, an active artist and mentor whom I call "Aunt Jan." She was born and raised within the circle of my mother's family and the Winona, Ohio Quaker meeting. When I was exploring ways to shape the book about my mother's art, we reviewed her extensive collection of art books. I interviewed her in 2007, and we discussed how she and my mother became such passionate artists. I wanted to know how their background … [Read more...]
Linda Waller Shockley, Protector of Stories and Places that Matter
Today, on the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Selma, I'd like to bring to light a woman whose quiet, steady work on behalf of social justice and memory has impressed and inspired me from the time I met her more than twenty years ago. Although her project has not gained the attention of Hollywood, yet, it should. We like to think of our democracy as just and equitable, but these painful stories of oppression, abuse, and prejudice continue to show up in our communities. Linda Waller … [Read more...]
The Amazing Madeleine
For the nineteenth profile of Women's History Month, I'm responding to a nomination from the field, gladly -- Cathy Smith shot me this Facebook message: "I'd like to throw out a name for your women's history month- Madeline Albright. Terry and I saw a wonderful exhibit concerning her famous pin collection and diplomacy. She is a strong woman who went toe to toe with world leaders." I shot back, "I LOVE her!" Well, where does the enthusiasm cool for this woman? I was totally hers from … [Read more...]
Esther Hepler Inglesby, WPA Artist and Community Inspiration
For the eighteenth day of Women's History Month, I'm thinking fondly of Esther Hepler Inglesby (1909-2000), a well-loved member of the Merchantville community and an accomplished artist. For my wedding shower, she gave me a handwritten poem about marriage, and when it turns up, I'll post it. Her joy in life and art was contagious, and she was an active member of the Merchantville Historical Society for decades. Fortunately, she has a granddaughter who curated her work, and kept her … [Read more...]
The First Woman to Win the Nobel Peace Prize
Jane Addams gets my cheer today for the seventeenth post about a woman who inspires me during this month of writing women back into history. When I was young, I read a story of grace and generosity in a biography of Jane Addams that I never forgot. As I recall, she had just begun to operate Hull House, her Chicago mission, and one night a thief broke into her room to steal from her. Although she had been startled awake, she maintained her composure. Rather than calling the police, she offered … [Read more...]
