Amma Syncletica was part of a monastic tradition that was established primarily in the desert areas around Jerusalem and Alexandria. Desert Mothers were women, known as ammas or “spiritual mothers,” who lived as Christian ascetics in the fourth and fifth centuries CE. Ammas were women who had achieved a spiritual maturity and wisdom, actively developed during their withdrawal from mainstream society. These women gathered together in monastic communities, but there were also some who lived as hermits. For these early Christian women, one appeal of living in the desert was the freedom they could experience that was not available to...
Since March is Women’s History Month, I thought I would write this blog post about some courageous women pilots who have been largely forgotten by time and are not widely recognized today. I am referring to the history of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, more commonly known as the Mercury 13. This group of women were secretly evaluated to see if they might be suitable astronaut candidates for America’s first human spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The thirteen women pilots, eager to participate in the space race against the Soviet Union, were subjected to the same rigorous tests that...
I intended to post this way back in March, in observance of Women’s History Month this year, but obviously that did not happen – in the midst of moving and other entanglements, I definitely did not reach that goal. However, here is what I wanted to share with you. In this blog post, I highlight the dedication of women who supported the World War II (WW2) war efforts of the Allied Forces. Manufacturing jobs in many countries became available to women, as industries transitioned to war production. In September 2021, Andy and I were finally able to use the credit...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part four of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. In November 1917, there was a referendum held to...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part 3 of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. The beginnings of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) can...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part two of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. Going into the turn of the twentieth century, American...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part one of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. It is widely agreed that the milestone that best...
In 1971, Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day to commemorate the anniversary of the signature of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920. This is a photo of Pennsylvania Governor William Sproul ratifying the constitutional amendment to guarantee suffrage for all women who are citizens of the United States. The Women’s Suffrage Movement stretched from the first Women’s Convention that was held at Seneca Falls NY in 1848 to the final ratification of the amendment in 1920. This effort took a whole 72 years of protests and marches and letter writing and picketing and cajoling and rallies...
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) is regarded as one of the most prominent authors of Spanish literature and the foremost Baroque poet in seventeenth-century colonial Mexico (New Spain.) She was born in San Miguel Nepantla, the illegitimate daughter of Spanish Captain Pedro Manuel de Asbaje and a criolla (mixed race) woman, Isabel Ramírez. She learned to read at a young age, devouring her maternal grandfather’s books and showing signs of being an exceptionally intelligent child. At the age of 12, Sor Juana was sent to Mexico City, where she became a lady-in-waiting at the court of the Viceroy...
Harriet Powers (1837-1911) was a creative African-American quilting genius! She used her quilts to re-tell familiar Bible stories in a unique and fascinating way. At least two of these story quilts have survived and are on display in American museums. Harriet Powers was born into slavery in rural Clarke County, Georgia, where she lived on a plantation owned by John and Nancy Lester. Details regarding her childhood and life as a young adult are lacking. However, we know that in 1855, she married Armstead Powers, who described himself as a “farmhand” in the census of 1870 and that she raised at...
The first National Women’s Day observance was organized by the Socialist Party of America, and was held on February 28, 1909 in New York. The original purpose was to serve as a remembrance of the strike of the International Ladies Garment Worker’s Union that occurred in 1908. As assemblies of women worldwide picked up on the idea, the earliest gatherings on International Women’s Day were mostly organized and supported by the socialist and communist movements. In August 1910, an International Women’s Conference was established as an event that preceded the general meeting of the Second Socialist International Conference in Copenhagen,...
Last updated: January 15, 2024 Sojourner Truth (circa 1797-1883) was born into slavery in rural, Ulster County New York and named Isabella Baumfree, speaking only Dutch for her first 9 years. She was beaten and abused by her owners and was sold to John Dumont in 1810 for about $175. She married an older slave named Thomas around 1815 and bore five children. According to New York law, all slaves were to be emancipated in 1827, but Dumont had promised to free her a year earlier than that. When he reneged, Isabella finished what she regarded as her seasonal duties...
