02-17 TABLE of CONTENTS:
Inventor of the Cotton Gin?
DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and
EVENTS
QUOTES from
History of Woman Suffrage and Los Angeles Times.
Catherine Littlefield Greene
Born 02-17-1755, Catherine
Littlefield Greene, perhaps the actual inventor of the cotton gin but
every book on the subject differs as to the extent of her contribution.
At the very least had the detailed idea of how it worked but gave it to
hangabout Eli Whitney because at the time women didn't concern themselves
with such things - and were not allowed to apply for patents.
Eli Whitney lived on the Greene's plantation. Some
books give credit for ideas to Greene's husbands. Another says she showed
Whitney how to clear the device of seeds and thus made it practical. Another
said it was her idea and she had Whitney, a mechanic, make the device and
he patented it because a woman couldn't hold a patent at the time... who
knows, but where there's smoke...
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02-17 DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and
EVENTS
B. 02-17-1879, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, writer,
published extensively under both her birth name (Canfield) under her married
name (Fisher). First woman appointed to the Vermont State Board of Education,
popularized the Montessori method in the U.S., member of the first board
of the Book-of-the- Month Club and served 1926-1951.
B. 02-17-1881, Bess Genevra Streeter Aldrich,
award winning Nebraska novelist and short
story writer who wrote of life on the plains and small towns. A Lantern
in Her Hand (1925), and Miss Bishop (1933).
B. 02-17-1888, Dorothy Kenyon, attorney and
longtime director of the ACLU, member of the UN Commission on the Status
of Women, opposed any women's equal rights amendment, opining women needed
special legislation.
B. 02-17-1902, Mary Josephine Shelly, U.S.
Air Force colonel who commanded the women in the Air Force during the
Korean conflict.
B. 02-17-1902, Marian Anderson, described as
the greatest voice of the 20th century. First woman of color to sing
with the Metropolitan Opera. She sang with the major orchestras and opera
companies of the world and performed before major heads of state. She was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963.
In 1939 when the Daughters
of American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow her to sing in their hall
because of her race, Eleanor Roosevelt, among others, quit the organization
and organized an outdoor concert at the Lincoln Memorial instead. Since
the event the DAR has announced that the "refusal" was not a
refusal, claiming the hall had been rented for an unspecified, other event.
The historical revisionism of the 1939 concert also extends to who sponsored
the Lincoln Memorial event.
Event 02-17-1905, a statue by Helen F. Mears
of the great educator and temperance leader
Frances Willard is unveiled at the National Statuary Hall in Washington,
DC. Willard is the first woman so honored.
B. 02-17-1914(?), Julia de Burgos, Puerto Rican
poet and journalist.
B. 02-17-1924, (Mary) Margaret Truman, as a
coloratura soprano her voice was so-so
and subject to harsh criticism by the press. Her loyal father publicly
told off one critic in rather harsh terms. This daughter of Harry Truman,
president of the United States later turned to writing and has been the
author of a number of "good read" mysteries.
B. 02-17-1939, Kathy Keeton, editor, writer,
publisher, co-founder of OMNI magazine.
Married to president of the General Media Publishing Corp (1991). Edited
Viva and Penthouse and authored Woman of Tomorrow
(1985) which encourages women to get into technological fields.
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QUOTES DU JOUR
"While the general principles
of the Bible are in favor of the most enlarged freedom and equality of
the race, isolated texts have been used to block the wheels of progress
in all periods; thus bigots have defended capital punishment, intemperance,
slavery, polygamy, and the subjection of women. The creeds of all nations
make obedience to man the cornerstone of (women's) religious character.
Fortunately, however, more liberal minds are now giving us higher and purer
expositions of the scriptures."
--
Volume 1, History of Woman Suffrage, edited and written by Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Josyln Gage. 1881.
"Anita Hill's televised
testimony... before the Senate committee riveted the nation. Millions of
women immediately recognized some part of her experience as their own.
And the deep, visceral anger that she ignited has far from burned itself
out. Now, one short year after her testimony, Anita Hill's legacy appears
certain to be enduring."
--
Los Angeles Times editorial, 1992
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