‘A Woman’s Voice: Stories of Strong Women in History’

By Ramona Shelton

Motlow Buzz Managing Editor

        Beginning in 1987, March was officially recognized in the United States as Women’s History Month, but the story does not start there. In 1978, a group of teachers in California proclaimed the first Women’s History Week because they felt that International Women’s Day, a celebration begun in 1911, was not enough. This group focused on the struggle for women to receive the right to vote, a fight spearheaded in the late 19^th and early 20^th century by equality activists such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul. The success of these women opened the door to the passage of the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which finally gave suffrage to the women of this great nation.

        Thanks to the success of the Sonoma teachers, the Women’s Action Alliance and the Smithsonian Institution began calling in 1980 for not just a week but a full month of celebrations of the contributions women have made in American and World History. It took them seven full years of fighting but beginning with President Ronald Reagan, every U.S. President has set off Women’s History Month with an official proclamation.

        In 2011, the Obama Administration issued “Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being,” an official study showing not only the current status of women in the United States but also how it had changed throughout the decades. The last time such an official study was done was during the Kennedy Administration’s 1963 Commission on the Status of Women, a domestic offshoot of the United Nations committee of the same name. The question begs to be asked… over the course of the 48 years between these two studies, how much had actually changed for women in this country? The simple answer is nowhere near as much as it should have! It is all too easy to think that women had little impact on history until 2011 or 1987 or even 1911, but the real truth is that women have always been the backbone of history and the stories of these women going all the way back to ancient times deserve to be told.

Telling stories about remarkable women are (from left) Jamiyah Richardson, Joan Holland, James Wilkinson, Debbie Stockdale, Amy Campbell, Ramona Shelton, Jena Clew, Jessica Barber, Kamron Holliman, Ashley Holt, and Stacy Dowd. (Photos by Charles Whiting)

        With this in mind, the Motlow Smyrna History Club sponsored “A Woman’s Voice: Stories of Strong Women in History,” a spoken word event, on March 27. Students, faculty and staff were invited to tell the stories of women, ancient and modern, American or international, famous or not, who had an impact on history. Speakers were encouraged to wear purple or green, the official colors of Women’s History Month. Purple was chosen because historically it was the color of royalty, and green was chosen by the early leaders of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

        Over a dozen speakers presented details on women whose stories they believed deserved to be told. Stacy Dowd, biology professor, spoke on Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in American History. Dr. Blackwell managed to get into medical school at a time when women were seen as too weak for such a thing. Her acceptance was seen as a joke, but she refused to back down. In addition to not only getting her degree, she was a pioneer in this country in simple things like handwashing to lessen the spread of infection.

Stacy Dowd

Jena Clew

Jasper Emerton

        World History students Jasper Emerton and Jena Clew spoke on two powerful women from Egyptian History, Cleopatra and Hatshepsut. Both of these women became Pharaohs of Egypt, a position traditionally held only by men. As successful rulers, both of these women managed to increase Egypt’s wealth and power though both had sad endings. Hatshepsut died from bone cancer likely caused by the chemicals in ancient cosmetics, while Cleopatra committed suicide rather than being captured by the Roman military, to whom she had just lost a war.

Amy Campbell

        Some of our subjects still have an impact to this very day. Amy Campbell presented the story of Elizabeth Jennings Freeman, a woman who refused to give up her seat on a trolley car. In history classes, we often discuss how Rosa Parks did something similar in the 1950s, but Mrs. Jennings’ actions happened decades earlier. Like Parks, Jennings refused to back down and took her discrimination case to the courts. 

Jamiyah Richardson

        Jamiyah Richardson spoke on Madam C.J. Walker, the first African-American female self-made millionaire. Madam Walker started a home business selling hair products for African-American women and became so successful that she was able to continuously expand her business.

Joan Holland

James Wilkinson

        The subjects of James Wilkinson’s and Joan Holland’s tales were women who began a fight for recognition and equality that is still ongoing. James thought about telling his grandmother’s story, a woman who was a part of the Women’s Corps in World War I, but since he thought she might not have impacted enough people in history, he switched to Helen Keller. Helen Keller was born with sight and hearing but lost those senses at 18 months when she suffered from a bout of Scarlet Fever. Not knowing what to do with a child with disabilities, Keller’s family essentially allowed her to turn into a holy terror. As she got older, they brought in Anne Sullivan, a teacher connected to Alexander Graham Bell, and she got Keller on a path to lifelong education. Keller graduated from Radcliffe College and published multiple articles and books. Nelly Bly, the subject of Joan Holland’s speech, was the pen name of journalist Elizabeth Cochran. Bly is best known for her newspaper expose’ of the treatment of women in asylums. It was common for women to be committed to insane asylums for the slimmest of diagnoses and once inside their doors, they were not likely to be heard from again. Bly managed to get herself committed so she could report firsthand on the deplorable conditions. Getting in was easy but getting out was not. She had to get her editors to fight for her release because, as an inmate, she was unable to “prove” she was sane.

        Ashley Holt and Jessica Barber told the stories of two women who set out to encourage others in very different ways. Ashley’s subject was Jane Addams, a woman who came from a well-to-do family in Chicago near the turn

Ashley Holt

of the 20^th century yet realized that her city was filled with people who did not have the same advantages as she did. Jane Addams took money that she inherited from her father and used it to start Hull House, a place for women and children to not only find shelter and food but also support and education. Without Jane Addams, so many would have died on the streets, and the world recognized her work with a Nobel Peace Prize. As Jessica Barber pointed out, helping women break the mold they were forced into by

Jessica Barber

male-dominated fashion gave women a sense of control in their lives. This was the life’s work of Coco Chanel. In the time after the World Wars, Chanel realized that women’s fashion was dictated by men and was quite often used to force women to create personas that “kept them in their places.” Taking her cue from men’s fashion, Chanel first morphed menswear into female forward clothing and then she created something that women to this very day still embrace- the “Little Black Dress.” Thanks to Coco Chanel, women had the opportunity to dress for themselves rather than to impress the men of the world.

        The idea of the strong woman who has an impact on history does not mean that she had to be a famous woman. Two of our speakers told the stories of local women who have inspired others. Nursing student Kamron Holliman

Kamron Holliman

spoke about Nashville area Dr. Melan Smith-Francis. Dr. Smith-Francis does not sit in an office and wait for patients to come to her. Rather she goes out into the community and brings care to those in need. Her hands-on and caring approach ensures that those most at risk do not fall through the cracks. Dr. Smith-Francis has inspired Kamron to become a nurse himself so he can follow in her footsteps and help others. Tierney Finnie took a different tactic with her subject, a teacher who is no longer

Tierney Finnie

with us. Rather than tell the story of Lisa, a middle school teacher who inspired Tierney herself and countless other students, Tierney honored Lisa’s memory with a personally written poem directed at Lisa herself. It is easy to imagine this amazing woman smiling down from above, knowing that in her lifetime, she inspired so many students like Tierney to follow in her footsteps and help others.

        The event was bookended by its organizers, Professors Ramona Shelton and Debra Stockdale who both spoke on impactful First

Ramona Shelton

Ladies of the United States. Professor Shelton told the story of Martha Washington, a woman most often dismissed as her far more famous husband’s frumpy, dumpy little wife. In reality, Martha Washington was as much of a fighter as her husband. She helped him with many of his successes during the American Revolution and in the establishment of the United States. Martha Washington definitely deserves to be remembered as one of our greatest Founding Mothers. Professor Stockdale closed the show with the story of Barbara Bush, wife to one President of the United States and mother to another. Despite satirists making fun of her for her looks- saying she looked more like Bush 41’s mother than his

Debra Stockdale

wife- and her white hair -- which was caused by the shock of losing her three year old daughter to leukemia -- Mrs. Bush never backed down. Her platform as First Lady was literacy education.

        The History Club would like to thank everyone who attended or helped with the event. This was one of the first such Women’s History Month events held in Smyrna and thanks to campus-wide support, it was a huge success.