The photographs of women and children leaving their homes in Ukraine to seek safety are heart-wrenching. At dinner last evening, a friend commented that these women look just like us – dressed in quilted coats and Uggs but the difference is that they are pulling along one suitcase, leaving their homes and love ones, walking to somewhere but not knowing where and for how long.
The image of child with her hand pressed against the train window saying goodbye to her father brings us to tears. Lucy writes “My heart belongs to these young children who are suffering immeasurable loss.” She thinks about these children who are the same age as her grandchildren and cannot imagine how they must feel or even understand what it means that they must leave their home with only a few special toys in a small backpack. She is planning to help support these children through the following site:
HASBRO CHILDREN IN EMERGENCY FUND – Save the Children
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the men, women and children of Ukraine.
This is Women’s History Month and it is being celebrated with exceptional exhibits and new publications that will help us rethink how we teach the role of women in history.
Outstanding exhibits honoring women are now at the Library of Congress, the National Archive, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Historian Susan Ware is the editor of Notable American Women at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. She notes that “The challenge of women’s history is not a simple question of “add women and stir”.” She adds “It means rethinking and rewriting the story.”
She recommends the resources at the Library of Congress which has just published a guide to commemorate Women’s History Month:
American Women: A Library of Congress Guide for the Study of Women’s History and Culture in the United States. The softcover book with 298 illustrations is available at major bookstores, through the University Press of New England or from the Library of Congress Sales Shop.
Below is a juxtapose of three views of women from the Guide:
Three different views of women and their roles in society: Harriet Tubman ca. 1910-1911, likely photographed at her home in Auburn, NY.; “Miss America Gets a Permanent Wave,” featuring Norma Smallwood, Miss America 1926 ; a different kind of wave–”It’s a Women’s War Too!” (1942)–encouraged women to sign up for the U.S. Navy auxiliary during World War II. – Quarker Photo Service, John Philip Falter
We can agree that we have come far but it does beg the question of Why? Why were women never on equal footing? Why were women subservient? Why were women not allowed to vote? Why were women not allowed to be doctors or lawyers or own businesses? We could go on and on. Our daughters and granddaughters cannot imagine what it was like for those of us of a certain age. We came of age at a time when the word Breast was never spoken unless it was referring to a piece of chicken. Hats off to Gloria Steinem and the other women who said enough is enough. And hats off to us.
Here is to the women of Ukraine. We are proud of you and admire your grace under extraordinary circumstances.
Stay safe.
Lucy and Claudia