Chicago Women's History Center

10/10/2020

Riva Lehrer's On Her New Memoir 'Golem Girl'

Riva Lehrer's On Her New Memoir 'Golem Girl'

Scott Simon speaks to the acclaimed painter, writer and teacher about her new book, which recounts a life growing up with spina bifida.

10/03/2020

Virtual Book Launch: GOLEM GIRL by Riva Lehrer

Congtulatins Riva! “TUESDAY! 🚀 🚀 🚀 🚀 🚀 !
PLEASE SHARE! PLEASE COME! (Please forgive all the exclamation points, you only launch once.)”

Join us for the virtual book launch celebrating Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer! For this Zoom event, Riva will be in conversation with Audrey Niffenegger. This event will include ASL interpretation and closed captioning. REGISTER THROUGH EVENTBRITE What do we sacrifice in the pursuit of normalcy? And wha...

09/29/2020

Why a Prominent American Artist Paints Skin Pitch-Black

The artist Grace Lynne Haynes describes her process for portraying the American abolitionist Sojourner Truth's fight for broader equality in her first New Yorker cover.

https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/why-a-prominent-american-artist-paints-skin-pitch-black?verso=true

The artist Grace Lynne Haynes describes her process for portraying the American abolitionist Sojourner Truth's fight for broader equality in her first New Yorker cover.

09/22/2020

Women in Film and Video: New England

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” Ruth Bader Ginsberg

09/20/2020

When Great Trees Fall
by Maya Angelou...

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

#rbg
#thenotoriousrbg
#ruthbaderginsburg
#gratitude

When Great Trees Fall
by Maya Angelou...

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

#rbg
#thenotoriousrbg
#ruthbaderginsburg
#gratitude

09/20/2020

media1.giphy.com

media1.giphy.com

09/17/2020

The rise of women in U.S. politics—from the 19th Amendment to Kamala Harris

Professor Linda Zerilli (Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and former faculty director of the CSGS) discusses the 19th amendment, misconceptions about the first wave of feminism, and the upcoming election!

The rise of women in U.S. politics—from the 19th Amendment to Kamala Harris

09/17/2020

Overlooked No More: Jovita Idár, Who Promoted Rights of Mexican-Americans and Women

Overlooked No More: Jovita Idár, Who Promoted Rights of Mexican-Americans and Women

As a teacher, writer, editor and activist, Idár preserved Mexican culture in South Texas and encouraged women to pursue an education and push for equal rights.

09/07/2020

A Mighty Girl

Jane Addams -- the pioneering social reformer and women's rights activist who became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize -- was born on this day in 1860. The co-founder of the famous Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago, Addams was instrumental in bringing the needs of mothers and children to greater public awareness and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States.

Born in Illinois in 1860, Addams was a voracious reader as a child and was inspired by Charles Dickens' writing on the lives of the poor to spend her life helping those in need. As an adult, she learned about the settlement house movement -- a social reform movement that began in the late 19th century to provide education and healthcare resources to the urban poor. After visiting the world's first settlement house, Toynbee Hall in London, Addams was inspired to open Hull House in 1889. Hull House offered an adult night school; clubs for older children; a gym and bath house; music, theater, and art lessons; and an employment center, among many other services; at its height, 2,000 people a week walked through its doors.

Addams encouraged women to become “civic housekeepers," working for the betterment of their communities. At one point, in 1894, she served as the first woman appointed as sanitary inspector and, with the help of the Hull House Women's Club, made over 1,000 reports of health department violations. She was also a vocal advocate of women's suffrage as she recognized that human welfare concerns would not be given adequate attention by the government without the voices and votes of women.

A staunch supporter of Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party, Adams was elected president of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1915. In this capacity, she headed a commission which organized the first significant international effort to mediate between the warring nations. As a pacifist, she faced severe criticism once the US entered the war, and was even branded as unpatriotic. Following the war, however, President Calvin Coolidge and the public at large supported Addams and the WILPF efforts in the 1920s to ban poison gas -- which was achieved in 1925 with the signing of the Geneva Protocol.

Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 -- the second woman in history to receive the honor -- for her pioneering social reform work and her leadership of WILPF's peacebuilding efforts. Remembered as an individual who had transformed the lives of so many, especially women, Addams once said that the “[o]ld-fashioned ways which no longer apply to changed conditions are a snare in which the feet of women have always become readily entangled.” Thanks to her tireless efforts for suffrage and women’s rights, there are fewer snares in all of our paths.

There are two wonderful picture books about Jane Addams' inspiring story -- "Dangerous Jane" for ages 6 to 10 (https://www.amightygirl.com/dangerous-jane) and "The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams" for ages 5 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-house-that-jane-built)

Addams is also one of the thirteen groundbreaking American profiled in President Barack Obama’s book “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter To My Daughters,” for ages 5 to 10 at https://www.amightygirl.com/of-thee-i-sing

For teens, she is one of the courageous changemakers profiled in the book "She Takes A Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed The World" for ages 12 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/she-takes-a-stand

Adult readers may enjoy Jane Addams' classic book about the history of the remarkable institution she founded: "20 Years at Hull-House" (http://amzn.to/1wcTHrG) and the biographies "Jane Addams: Spirit in Action" (http://amzn.to/21LWl7K) and "Jane Addams And The Dream Of American Democracy" (https://amzn.to/356uHgh)

And, to inspire children and teens with more stories of real-life girls and women who fought for change and stood up for justice, check out our blog post, "50 Books About Women Who Fought for Change," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14364

08/28/2020

Strength in Suffrage - CWHC on Twitch

If you missed the live broadcast of our Strength in Suffrage program you can watch it here for the next week:

CWHC went live on Twitch. Catch up on their VOD now.

08/26/2020

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

Please join us at Chicago Women's History Center as we present a virtual centennial event with artists Ginny Sykes and Carron Little this eve at 7pm CT! https://www.twitch.tv/cwhc.
AND
join our zoom conversation with the artists after the presentation at 7:30 Topic: Strength in Suffrage
Time: Aug 26, 2020 07:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82501951291?pwd=aGZja0EwZS9Eek5SUzJJWkVueU4yQT09
Meeting ID: 825 0195 1291
Passcode: 707208
A selection of Ginny's banners are on view at Woodson Regional Public Library
#votesforwomen #19thamendmentcentennial #vote2020 #ginnysykes #carronlittle #chicagowomenshistorycenter #Votesforwomen #19thAmendment #vote2020

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

08/20/2020

The Black suffragists you should know on the 19th Amendment's 100th anniversary

The Black suffragists you should know on the 19th Amendment's 100th anniversary

On the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, remembering these Black suffragists.

08/20/2020

Please join us on August 26th for this exciting Women's Equality Day event with artists Ginny Sykes and Carron Little!

Strength in Suffrage:
Tracing 100 Years and 100 Stories of
Women's History
------------------------
Live Broadcast via Twitch
Wednesday, August 26th, 2020
Women's Equality Day
7pm CDT
Online: https://www.twitch.tv/cwhc

CWHC hosts this virtual program on our new "Twitch" channel to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Woman Suffrage Amendment in 1920.

The program features the work of two talented Chicago artists, Ginny Sykes and Carron Little, who will address the individual emancipation of one hundred women through image and one hundred years of lived experience transformed into lyrical poetry.

Ginny Sykes' project, 100 Women: Collaborations Beyond the Veil, creates a public monument to celebrate women's lives using banners in an homage to the suffrage movement. The banners, depicting 100 women of diverse backgrounds, ages, races and personal histories, all posed in the same position, with one hand on the heart and one on the abdomen, are a reference to the original suffragists' powerful use of banners with slogans such as "How Long Must Women Wait for Liberty?"

Sykes interviewed and photographed 100 Chicago women in her studio for her project. For the Aug. 26th program she will present her photography along with a video interview in which she provides background and context for her work.

Carron Little's public engagement project Spare Rib Revisited is based on interviews she did with women from diverse cultures, in different cities and countries, ages twenty to one hundred. Her project investigates how women's lives have been impacted and changed over the last hundred years.

In her Aug. 26th presentation, Little will perform poetry she wrote about these women, tracing their lives as an anthropological map of a place over time. Little sees the centennial as a marker of time to investigate the physical, emotional and social tools for liberation, transformed into poetic performance.

The program will conclude with an audience Q & A session with both artists present. The technical aspects of this program are provided by Carron Little.

To join the event: Go to: https://www.twitch.tv/cwhc on Aug. 26th at 7pm CDT

For more information about the event: [email protected]

Woodson Regional Chicago Public Library Installation: A portion of 100 Women: Collaborations Beyond the Veil, consisting of five panels depicting Chicago Black women, and the photography video will be on display at the Woodson Library, 95th and Halsted St., for three months beginning on August 26, 2020.

This program is free and accessible to the public.

08/18/2020

Chicago NOW

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage with us on Wednesday, 8/19! There's still plenty of time to save your spot:

https://act.myngp.com/Forms/8550713020581678080?midqs=1JgLfA8hzP8jnRbCNr6ewQ==

08/13/2020

Pocket Guide to Hell Virtual Trivia, Chapter 3: August

Paul Durica’s Chicago History Virtual Trivia Night tonight, 7PM – 8:30PM. Any donations received by this event will go to Chicago Women’s History Center thanks to historian Ann Keating!

Here’s more info about the event from their announcement:

In the third installment of Pocket Guide to Hell's virtual trivia, we'll play three rounds focused on the month of August in Chicago history.

This includes questions about Chicago before it was Chicago, crazy corrupt aldermen, and the city's role in the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting suffrage to women.

Between rounds, we'll be joined by historian Ann Keating (author of Rising Up From Indian Country and The World of Juliette Kinzie); Scott M. Priz as First Ward Alderman John "Bathhouse" Coughlin; and Justin Amolsch, performing songs from the early days of Chicago and the Suffrage movement.

Play by yourself or in teams of up to 8. Event is free but please consider making a donation to the Chicago Women's History Center: http://www.chicagowomenshistory.org/

To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pocket-guide-to-hell-virtual-trivia-chapter-3-august-tickets-116119469459

Test your knowledge of Chicago history and experience some talks, performances, and reenactments at this free virtual trivia event

08/07/2020

The Voting Rights Act was signed 55 years ago. Black women led the movement behind it.

The Voting Rights Act was signed 55 years ago. Black women led the movement behind it.

Long before Dr. King came to Selma, Black women like Amelia Boynton Robinson, Diane Nash and Marie Foster registered, and educated Black voters.

07/27/2020

How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Moved the Supreme Court

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in our thoughts and prayers as she once again struggles with health concerns. This article by Jeffrey Toobin from the New Yorker, 2013, details how she brought cases before the Supreme Court that transformed its view of gender issues.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/03/11/heavyweight-ruth-bader-ginsburg?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_SundayArchive_072620&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9f77f24c17c6adf0de688&cndid=52811897&hasha=ae390fc356a8936d0fcca2d6b7d9c3fb&hashb=b4e6d3e2660e4615294fe4489cbe2a1da765473d&hashc=66efc26299f8856ce3309b3b3d3e56e0ded8ebc8be0894092786890e57e02b01&esrc=frm_act_Daily_subs&utm_term=TNY_SundayArchive

As a litigator, Ginsburg brought cases before the Court that transformed its view of gender issues. Yet, one observer says, “she’s very cautious, conservative in a Burkean sense.”

07/18/2020

Rep. John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon, Dies At Age 80

We have lost a true hero today.

Rest in power dear sir

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” - Rep. John Lewis #Vote #GoodTrouble

The Georgia Democrat, who was called the "conscience of Congress," has died.

07/18/2020

A Monument for Ida B. Wells – A documentary about the making of the Ida B. Wells monument

With your generous help, we have raised over $5000 for the making of our documentary about the creation of a monument for Ida B. Wells by Chicago sculptor, Richard Howard Hunt and about Wells’ life, her work and her influences on the current anti-lynching laws and fight for women’s rights and for racial justice! Huge thanks to all our amazing donors during the IdaB Birthday Challenge! ❤️ amonumentforidabfilm.com

Wells was a fierce activist for civil rights and women's rights. Born into slavery and with odds stacked against her, she managed to rise above adversity and become an outspoken voice against lynching, then later a leader for women's rights and black women's suffrage. Wells settled in Chicago after....

07/16/2020

The Light of Truth: A Monument for Ida B. Wells organized by Rana Segal

Happy Birthday #IdaBWells it’s Ida B. Wells’' 158th bday today! Please join us for the Ida B bday Challenge! $158 or above gets you a #MouseBookClub Ida B. Wells booklet! Please help us make the documentary film about the making of the monument by the sculptor Richard Howard Hunt, and help us honor her life and legacy and her influence on the racial justice struggles of today! No amount is too small. And please share with your friends! Thanks!

We are raising funds for our new film called The Light of Truth: A Monument… Rana Segal needs your support for The Light of Truth: A Monument for Ida B. Wells