In some ways, publishing a paper wall calendar and a blank book journal feels anachronistic in our digital world. At the same time, these new print documents connect me to a long lesbian history and herstory.
Tag: Women’s History
Seeing the Whole History of the Suffrage Movement
Today, we celebrate some of the truly dangerous women who fought for our right to vote—including many who were left out of the history books. Thanks to several new museum exhibitions, these unsung heroes are finally getting their due.
Telling the Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
One of the reasons I made the documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché, about the first female filmmaker, was because I wanted to change the narrative about the origins of cinema—and show young girls and boys that a woman moved the medium forward, and paved the way for others. Alice Guy-Blaché was not only the first female […]
Walking On: Sister Helen Prejean’s Powerful Persistence
35 years ago, Sister Helen Prejean walked down the hall at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola with her unsteady hand on the quivering shoulder of Patrick Sonnier. His death by electrocution that night would have slid barely noticed, then and now—except Prejean was so outraged by what she saw that she wrote it down.
Calling on Congress to Honor Women’s History
Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Susie Lee (D-NV) and Susan Brooks (R-IN) are renewing their calls for the creation of a national museum dedicated to honoring the contributions of women throughout American history. Maloney and Fitzpatrick are lead sponsors of H.R. 1980, the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act. The other members joined […]
Putting Women on the Map: Welcome to Dolores Huerta Square
City officials and local movement leaders in Los Angeles came together Saturday for the dedication of what is now Dolores Huerta Square.
The Radical History of Mother’s Day
Abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe’s 1870 “Mother’s Day Proclamation” called for advancing peace and equality. Centuries later, her words still ring true.
The Working-Class Herstory of the Kimono
Cloth making—reeling, spinning, weaving, knitting—is historically “night work,” most often done by women, most often poor women, then and now, all over the earth.
Women, Sisters and Statues
The women of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society harnessed public space in revolutionary ways—and brought radical inclusivity to their movement.
Where Are the Girls?
During Women’s History Month, many regional competitions of the History Bee take place around the country—and I’m beginning to think they missed the memo about March.