ON THE CALENDAR FOR MARCH

The arrival of March always seems like a turning point to me. Trees and flowers bloom, I quit planning for snow and cold although surprises can happen. It’s not so much a real change in the weather but more a change in my attitude about the weather. I quit planning ahead for the cold and start thinking spring, being warmer. We go to hear grandchildren in spring concerts, plan with their families for spring break activities, and think about planning a spring trip before long. Of course, St. Patrick’s Day comes into the March mix, moderately important to my part Irish family and friends.

This in-between month, not quite winter or summer, stands out in my mind for another reason. March has been designated Women in History Month. It seems we need to be reminded that women have made and still are making important contributions to our society. I don’t forget about it myself, I know too many women doing really good things. Still the designation does give me an opportunity to think about what exceptional women do.

At first, I planned to write about the contributions Oregon women have made, and I found plenty. The more I thought about the project, the more I realized there are women in physics and mathematics doing wonderful things I don’t even begin to comprehend. The same is true in the fields of medicine, engineering, architecture, computer science and art. I suppose I’d need to include politics although I think I do understand much of that work. I read the newsletters and keep track of what our local representative, Nancy Nathanson, is doing and former governor and activist Barbara Roberts. They are making changes in history at the local and state level and I applaud them. My best attempt to honor women in history needs to be in a field I know better, where I am involved.

If I just choose just one area to look at, I think it would be literature because I’m most familiar with the women who were and are writers and how their writing has affected history in small and large ways.

I’d probably begin with Virginia Woolf, not only for her novels which influenced a style change from storytelling to a deeper understanding of feelings and thoughts but for her biography, A Room of One’s Own (1929) In that book she early promoted women’s rights.

In Little Women, Louisa May Alcott gave the world a more realistic view of life for early American women when the men were away or unable to support their family then had ever been available. Women bonded in that view, reading and re reading her books. A woman of strength and determination, Louisa May, with her writing became the breadwinner for her parents and family.

Willa Cather, (1873 to 1947), is ranked among the American. greatest novelists, honored by many universities and recipient of a gold medal from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and twice won The Pulitzer Prize. Her novel, O Pioneers , brought her to national attention and international acclaim, even being made into a movie. Other of her novels were as good.

Laura Ingalls Wilder did for girls what Willa Cather did for women. She was raised by homesteading and pioneering parents and, as an adult, wrote from her memories of that life. They weren’t the books she wanted to write, wanting to be more contemporary, but they were the doorway into understanding of the past and planning the future for millions of girls in elementary school. She completed the eight volumes about life in the 1870s and 80s in 1943. They are still being read today and were the basis of a successful TV series.

Of Oregon, Ursula K. Le Guin, (1920-) has built a career of prolific writing: twenty novels, six volumes of poetry and thirteen children’s books. Her stories that reflect the human condition through science fiction and fantasy are favorites of many. Her awards include five Hugo Awards, five Nebulas, a National Book Award and most recently a Living Legends award by the Library of Congress.

The more I think of the women writers I know, or read, the more I realize the many ways, large and small, they are altering the future as they write. Barbara Kingsolver makes changes in the way we think, in our understanding of people around us. Poet Maya Angelou opens the door to the life of black women. Not fully recognized yet, Susan Tweit, environmentalist , draws our attention to the nature around us, changing us along the way.

They are and will be some of the women who effect our history.

Copyright Jo-Brew
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