Silberman - Wild Women of Maryland: Grit & Gumption in the Free State

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2015 by Lauren R. Silberman

All rights reserved

First published 2015

e-book edition 2015

ISBN 978.1.62585.342.4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015943176

print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.811.1

Notice : The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and

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CONTENTS

Foreword

HERSTORY IN MARYLAND

Women in Maryland have been making history for centuries, but until the last few decades, those contributions have often been overlooked. Thousands of unsung heroines never made it to the textbooks or into exhibits at historic sites. Students, especially young women, rarely saw or read about role models who may have related to them personally or as someone doing interesting work in their careers and lives.

When I was a young student, I did hear about a few famous women. My mother loved American history. I remember her comments about Abigail Adams and Eleanor Roosevelt and the many roles they performed for their husbands. Eventually each gained her own voice as she worked to improve the lives of American women and their families.

As a young girl, I heard about Amelia Earhart, a woman who, I thought, did cool thingsas an aviator who had adventures but died tragically. I did not learn about Bessie Colman, Jackie Cochran and other female pilots until I was much older. It always appeared that there was just one woman, not many women, doing remarkable things.

My school and the local library resources had very limited information about women, especially those who may have been of any sort of minorityJewish, African American, Native Americanimmigrants or with a disability. As women, their roles and contributions were essentially invisible. Many made huge sacrifices for their families, communities or states, but they were often unsung heroines, even within their families. It was only later that I learned that there were female pioneers and leaders in careers such as medicine, astronomy, education and law. Many times their work or inventions were credited to male counterparts or family members.

A housewife in Greenbelt, Maryland. Library of Congress.

My parents did not have the opportunity to complete college, but it was one of their priorities for their children. Although my brothers, sister and I were expected to go to college, the messages about careers were very different for my sister and me than for my brothers. It seemed to me that my choices were to become a nurse, educator, secretary or some type of support person. My career guidance was only to get into college and graduate. As a woman, I did not feel I had the same choices as my brothers.

Fortunately, today, the options for women are significantly greater, but there continue to be significant barriers and challenges for young women. Given the broad economic and cultural diversity in Maryland, we still must be vigilant in sharing the stories of women who came before us and paved the way for future generations. Our challenge is to ensure that each young woman and man has the opportunity and support to achieve his or her potential and follow his or her dreams.

I am unfortunately not alone in my limited past understanding of womens history and the roles that so many women, famous and unsung, have played in Maryland, our nation and across the globe. In response to this need, the Maryland Commission for Women, in partnership with the Women Legislators and the Maryland State Department of Education, established the Maryland Womens Hall of Fame in 1985, recognizing historic and contemporary women for their extraordinary work in social activism, science, social justice, arts and education. Since then, five or six women are selected annually in a difficult, competitive process.

As a member of the Maryland Commission for Women, I served as co-chair of that selection process and event for several years. As I learned more about these extraordinary pioneers, others in Maryland were finding additional ways for womens stories to be heard and made available to the public. Many of these women became my role models and mentors as I grew professionally and into leadership roles.

During the resurgence of the womens movement in the 70s, the exploration of womens contributions became a strategy to elevate the perception of the value of our gender. Female participation in education, career choices and workplace roles began expanding. Though women were underrepresented in education programs and employment, nonwhite women had additional challenges to deal with and overcome. Sadly, even today, women still have achieved pay equity of only 78 percent that of their male counterparts. Minority women generally have even lesser salary outcomes.

In Maryland, we were fortunate to have some early women who made significant contributions to our state. Many adults and youth know something about Harriett Tubman and Senator Barbara Mikulski. However, few know about other women from the state.

Things are starting to change. For example, the contributions of those serving in World War II have been rediscovered. Finally, the roles of women in the military or those serving at home, or as Rosie the Riveters, have become more visible in families and educational resources. In many families, there was little or no conversation about those varied and important roles. When their service was over, these brave women were usually displaced by men and returned to previous lesser roles whether they wanted to or not.

In early 2000, Maryland Womens Heritage Centers founder and now Executive Director Emerita Jill Moss Greenberg and Linda Shevitz, former gender equity specialist of the State Department of Education, formed the vision for the Maryland Womens Heritage Center (MWHC). Greenberg, Shevitz and others were the initial board of directors and longtime program chairpeople. An active president, former First Lady of Maryland Frances Hughes Glendening, chaired the board of directors. Past and current First Ladies have served on the board and as honorary chairs of MWHC events or programs.

Today, the MWHCa 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organizationworks to preserve the past, understand the present and shape the future by recognizing, respecting and transmitting the experiences and contributions of Maryland women of diverse backgrounds and from all regions of the state. The MWHC is an outgrowth of the Maryland Womens History Project that began as a collaborative venture between the Maryland Commission for Women and the Maryland State Department of Education. For many years, it produced the Maryland Womens History in bulletin board kits and instructional materials that were disseminated across the state to schools and local libraries. There was an emphasis on the materials, as on other school activities, but activities seemed to be heavily focused only during Womens History Month in March with little emphasis during the rest of the year.