Nov 222014
 

Well, here we are: November 2014.

Coming off the mid-term elections, we women did not fare very well AT ALL! But, let’s find the good. Alma Adams, a Democrat from North Carolina, becomes the 100th woman to serve in the Congress. Yay. But that’s all I got….

I am heartbroken to report that we had the lowest voter turnout in 72 years.This is tragic. As your resident Cultural Herstorian, I cannot help but think about another tragic November event. Back on November 15, 1917, Super Suffragist and all around Fabulous Female Alice Paul was arrested with a bunch of her sister suffragists for peacefully picketing in front of the White House for the right to vote. They were charged with obstructing sidewalk traffic and physically – literally – thrown into jail. It was called the Night Of Terror. And it was.

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May 272014
 

After four years of performing solo – well, there are about forty women in the show  whose stories I tell, talk about, show pictures of (and I portray about eight of ‘em), SHE’S HISTORY! is now A PLAY WITH A FULL CAST!! This has always been my plan and I have been newly inspired by The Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative (http://lafpi.com). I am SO excited about it for SO many reasons. I think having a full cast will make it easier to get these stories out there. And we DEFINITELY need more plays with great parts for women! I have cast a load of fabulous females to play the fabulous females. It WILL BE fabulous! The first reading is Saturday June 21st at The famed Samuel French Bookshop in Los Angeles.

stagedreadingeflier

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MAY 2014

elizabeth

YES – this is ELIZABETH WARREN and ME!!!!!! She was in Los Angeles on her “A Fighting Chance” book tour. I am madly, deeply, politically and philosophically in love with this fantastic Senator! Her book is a page-turning MUST READ! Really!!! Here is one of her inspiring stores that she shared with us. When Elizabeth Warren was on the campaign trail in Massachusetts, there were many little girls at her rallies. They had prepared questions and one little asked her, “What events in your life led you to run for the Senate?” So Elizabeth would get down on one knee, and look the little girl in the eye and say: “My name is Elizabeth Warren and I am running for the Senate because that is what little girls do.”

Can you stand it?!

And this is Marianne Williamson who is running for Congress. We DESPERATELY need more women in Congress. But I am not voting for Marianne just because she is a woman. I am voting for her because she’s a fighter, knows her stuff, and she wants to make our lives better. http://www.marianneforcongress.com/endorsements

marianne williamson (1)

Bye Bye Barbara…!
Barbara Walters “resigned” after a million years on broadcast television. Quite the fanfare. A true trail-blazer for women, she goes “out” on top but here’s how she started. As the first FEMALE co-anchor, of the evening news, she was NOT welcomed by Harry (NO)Reasoner. Here’s what it was like for the trail-blazer. “I’d walk into the studio and they’d all crack jokes and ignore me. It was so lonely… “

Another trail-blazing fabulous female bids farewell to the airwaves. Randi Rhodes, the bitchinist, most informed, fact checking, knows her stuff inside out and backwards, passionate, pissed off, kind and classy progressive talk show host, ended the Randi Rhodes radio show on Friday May 17th, leaving the gapingest hole on the air. I have had the honor of being on her show with her permanent guest host my pal Nicole
Sandler many times. A true inspiration and political powerhouse, who has interviewed Presidents and politicians her millions of fans and will miss her…..

randy and nicola

RANDI AND NICOLE

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A LITTLE RECAP….

It has been a very busy, exciting, enlightening and heartbreaking few months for your favorite Cultural Herstorian. I ran around in March – Women’s History Month – and performed for: SENIORS, who loved the show and LOVED the story of how Alice Paul stole President Wilson’s Parade, (many could relate to World War ONE) but did NOT know who Kim Kardashian was. (Lucky for them) However, the 8th Grade students at Horace Mann Middle School in Beverly Hills……

Horace Mann Middle School, Beverly Hills

horacemann2

knew ALL about Kim Kardashian and did know a little about Malala Yousafzai but learned more and were blown away by her story. Read all about her in my BLOG – WOMEN OF 2013 here: http://sheshistory.com/site/year-end-wrap-up-women-of-2013/ 

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Malala is all over this horrific heartbreaking mind blowing story of Boko Haram, the Islamic barbaric men who kidnapped 270 (or more) Nigerian Schoolgirls on April 14th.

malala

Hear my segment on radioornot.com about this and the Feminist Majority Protest of the Beverly Hills Hotel whose owner – the Sultan of Brunei just enacted some new laws -including amputations, and stoning of gays and lesbians and women who have abortions or commit adultery.

Listen to the segment here:

Read about the protest and boycott here:
http://variety.com/2014/?lm/news/beverly-hills-hotel-sultan-brunei-gays-women-1201171923/

beverly hills hotel

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On the flip side, I had the joy of performing two shows for The Women’s Museum of California in San Diego.

Here is a little movie of the Museum – and please keep in mind I am much better in FRONT of the camera…but you can see a little of the inside of the Museum.

women’s museum3-23-14

sheshistory

I performed the shows and got my typical response: “Why isn’t this show in the schools?”

The answer is: other than budgets, time constraints, teaching to tests, curriculum pressures, and Women’s History being low on the priority list – I really don’t know. The SHE’S HISTORY EDUCATION PROJECT (a tax deductible 501C) is a collaboration with the Women’s Museum of California to bring performances, to low income schools at no cost. This is a donation based project. Problem is, there is no money on the fund. YOU CAN SPONSOR A SCHOOL. Stay tuned for my fundraising effort.

I was on-stage performing on March 25th – the 80th birthday of Gloria Steinem.

gloria

How fabulous that she was born in Women’s History Month! Check it out

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/opinion/sunday/collins-this-is-what-80-looks-like.html?_r=1

and here…

http://www.makers.com/blog/what-80-looks-gloria-steinem-through-years

Also in March… I have spoken and written so often about the crisis of sexual assault in the Military which I learned about from the Oscar nominated documentary “The Invisible War” produced by Amy Ziering. Well, she won a PEABODY Award for her work. How wonderful is that?! Congratulations and WELL DESERVED AMY ZIERING! Read about it and her here:

http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/independent-lens-the-invisible-war-pbs

*********************************
Amy Simon
Cultural Herstorian
Playwright/Performer
AmySimon@ShesHistory.com
(310) 308-0947
SHE’S HISTORY!
The Most Dangerous Women In America…
Then And Now
is a play and school program about women
who
MAKE and MADE history

 

 

Mar 102014
 

What is the woman’s movement?

A BOY asked this of his high school teacher in Los Angeles in 1972.  He was taking a U.S. History class and had seen the brand new Ms. Magazine.

ms magazine

THIS question led to what we now know, celebrate and honor as Women’s History Month!

Molly MacGregor, twenty-six year old history lover was this boy’s social studies teacher. Molly gave me, Cultural Herstorian Amy Simon, a good hour of her valuable time for an interview and I got the story.  And it is a GREAT story of passion, politics, persistence and triumph, proving once again what Cultural Anthropologist Margaret Mead said that was oh so right:  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead

Molly said it was on a Friday when the boy asked the question, “what is the Women’s Movement,”  and she was glad, because, she said, “I needed the weekend to come up with the answer.”  So she says to the boy, “that’s a good question.”  She goes home and searches in her own personal extensive library of history books – looking for information and finds ONE BOOK called Freedom Ferment with ONE chapter on Seneca Falls (home of the first Women’s Convention) and that was it!

So a seed was planted.

freedom ferment

HERMONIOUS CONVERGENCE

In 1972, Congress FINALLY said yes to the Equal Rights Amendment (first brought to the House and the Senate by its author – the great Alice Paul –  way back in 1923).  It was on its way to ratification (thirty-five out of the necessary thirty-eight states passed) when Republican, lawyer, and anti-feminist mother Phyllis Schlafly, used her impressive organizational skills, personal passion, and powers of persuasion and got it stopped.

Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly

ERAalice paulera its about time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was smack in the middle of the birth of the whole women’s studies program (in Molly MacGregor’s home state of California), “which started as an informal program in 1970 at San Diego State University,” said Molly. It was made an official department in 1975 – the first of its kind – only after a a small group of thoughtful committed citizens – students, faculty and community women – got together and LOBBIED for it.

By this time, Molly MacGregor had created a weekend summer school course at Sonoma State College called SEXISM IN EDUCATION, inspired by a project she had assigned to her high school students.  “Go into the library and do an analysis on resources for women’s history.”  Molly says, “they found between three and seven books that had NOT BEEN checked out for five to fifteen years!  Why hadn’t they been checked out?  Because they had not been assigned.”  Molly’s SEXISM IN EDUCATION class, had thirty-six students.  “Eighteen girls and eighteen boys”, she said. The boys did a slideshow on Freedom Ferment’s one chapter on Women’s History – Seneca Falls – and the Declaration of Sentiments, an amazing, herstorical document which was drafted there.  A bunch of fabulous FIRST WAVE feminists – men and women – led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton – did the drafting of The Declaration of Sentiments WAY BACK in 1848 at The First Women’s Convention which was held in Seneca Falls, New York. It is based on the Declaration of Independence – our founding fathers list of eighteen grievances against King George.  They just substituted MEN for KING GEORGE.

womens rights conventiondeclaration of sentimentswe hold these truths quote

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Seneca Falls?  It was where Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived. She had three little boys and did not want to schlep them, so she made everyone come to her!

So back to Molly MacGregor.  “Now it’s 1976 – 1977, and I’m in graduate school in Sonoma, California. I approach the all female committee of the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women and tell them they need to institute a Woman’s History Week – for obvious reasons – but I lay it all out and with me spearheading – we go to the Administrative Council for the whole COUNTY.  All the school districts – thirty-eight people.  ALL MEN with ONE WOMAN, who happened to be a Dean.  I present my proposal explaining why there should be a Woman’s History Week.”

Molly chooses March 8th to coincide with International Woman’s Day (an early 1900s movement inspired by ‘women’s oppression and inequality’).  She puts all of this into her proposal.  “I made it a multi-cultural perspective aimed at girls, emphasizing the need for math and science to improve their income,” says Molly.  A statistical report had been released in California that nine out of ten girls would be working outside of the home.  “It was an easy, easy sell,” Molly tells me and she joins the commission.  They invite community women to come in to the schools and present themselves as role models for a week and it really takes off big.  The next year (1979) it’s an even bigger event and they have this big parade.

sonoma county celebrates

And they take photos and get publicity and Molly MacGregor gets invited to this nineteen day big Summer Institute – at Sarah Lawrence College in New York organized by Gerda Lerner and the Women’s Action Alliance.  Gerda Lerner (who died January 2013) was a women’s studies pioneer.  She taught the very first women’s studies courses – a major major force behind Women’s Studies and Women’s History becoming a respected discipline.  “She cannot be given enough credit,” says Molly.

Gerda Lerner

Gerda Lerner

So Molly MacGregor shows Gerda Lerner this curriculum she developed – her Women’s History Week – and Gerda Lerner gets behind it.  “There were other major scholars there – Amy Swerdlow, Alice Kessler Harri,” (both historians and scholars), “and other very prominent scholars,” says Molly – all who were totally impressed with Molly’s efforts and success in Sonoma.  Some of these very prominent scholars were friends with – guess who?  President Carter!   They organize and start promoting Molly’s idea for Women’s History Week. Molly goes back home to Sonoma, drops out of Grad School and creates the National Women’s History Project in 1980.

national womens history proj

“I’ll never forget this,” Molly tells me, “it’s February, 1980 and I’m sitting at my desk and I get a call – FROM THE WHITE HOUSE!  It was the Special Assistant To President Carter – Sarah Weddington.”

Yes, THAT Sarah Weddington, of Roe v Wade fame. (Weddington was the twenty-six year old Texas lawyer who successfully represented Jane Roe).

PHOTO BY THE WEDDINGTON CENTER, COPYRIGHT 2008 SARAH WEDDINGTON A White House meeting on women's issues attended by Weddington (right) and President Jimmy Carter.

PHOTO BY THE WEDDINGTON CENTER, COPYRIGHT 2008 SARAH WEDDINGTON

A White House meeting on women’s issues attended by Weddington (right) and President Jimmy Carter.

 

“She told me President Carter is declaring the week of March 8th, 1980 as National Women’s History Week!”

“It took six years after that,” said Molly, “to make it Women’s History Month.”

Read about the rest of the Congressional journey here http://www.nwhp.org/whm/history.php  that ended in 1987 when Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women.

A student asks a question.  A teacher searches for an answer.  A Government steps up, women are celebrated and honored and there is actual Women’s Movement!

Putting life in perspective: National Women's History Project cofounders Molly Murphy MacGregor, left, Paula Hammet, Mary Ruthsdotter, and Maria Cuevas

Putting life in perspective: National Women’s History Project cofounders Molly Murphy MacGregor, left, Paula Hammet, Mary Ruthsdotter, and Maria Cuevas

Visit Molly’s website at The National Women’s History Project.  http://www.nwhp.org

molly murphy mcgregor

Today, the NWHP is known nationally as the only clearinghouse providing information and training in multicultural women’s history for educators, community organizations, and parents-for anyone wanting to expand their understanding of women contributions to U. S. history.

The enduring goal of the NWHP is to “make history” accurate by continuing to recognize and celebrate women’s authentic contributions through its current and future projects.

jimmy carter's letter

Amy Simon

SHE’S HISTORY!

amysimon@sheshistory.com

sheshistory.com

March 2014