Here, and after, shell answer all of your questions after this presentation and well have a little table set up for her here to answer more questions or even sign one of the books if you purchase one here today. All right. Well, were going to go ahead and get started here. Again, thank you for coming and thank you, charlotte wasteman f for being here today. [ applause ] its great to be with all of you and thanks for many of you who nn coming. Its great to have that smiling audience right in front of you. I was asked to talk about women of the west and i was told, you know, to talk 45 minutes and take 15 minutes of questions. So i have a timer for myself, and i will start it. And i will stick to a script so that i can stick to time, because those of you who know me know that i also could just talk forever and i dont want to do that. Now, since you probably have other things to do as well today, we are having this filmed, so its very exciting. It will be on cspan3, i think. Yes, yes . Cspan2, im sorry. So look for it and have that opportunity as well. Im going to do what i describe as a brief dash through history here. Because its going to focus on there we go i can see, i better be lighter fingered with this. Its going to focus on women of the western part of the United States, womens roles, how their roles have changed, and the issues that women face, both historically and today. I want to note the varied contributions that women have made to our standard of living and our quality of life, despite the staobstacles that face them then and frankly even still today. The women i will be using as examples are from the more than 850 women who are profiled in my book, which mike showed you, her story a timeline of the women who changed america i had a wonderful coauthor, jill teigen, and the two of us worked together to create this very beautiful book. Im also going to share some profiles of other women who for want of a better phrase, didnt make the cut. Ose i reviewed over 4,000 women in order to choose the 850 that are in the book, so you can understand why sometimes when people say, well, how about soandso . Is she in the book . And im, you know, my eyes kind of go, maybe we should look in the index or something, because i forget whos in and whos out. So first of all, i want to thank well, i will. There we go cranky today. I want to thank mike for, the education director, for inviting me to speak to you today. Andivfq of course, the director she still jillian . Shes standing in the back there, who in march of this year has helped usher in this house to now be known formally as the center for colorado womens history at the byers evans house museum. Big mouthful. Maybe you need an acronym for that. But its so important for all of us to continue telling womens stories. And it is most exciting to me that the byers evans house is a very special part of colorado history in this way. History of colorado. So i would like to start with a brief overview to explain my concept. So its very lavishly illustrated. There are color photos, there are brief summaries of the women, to highlight their achievements. I begin with virginia dare, who was born on Roanoke Island in 1587, cover the struggles and milestones of women such as susan b. Anthony and continues to the present about 2011, when the paperback came out. It was a hardbound earlier. Modern role models, such as oprah winfrey, madeleine albright, who im very pleased to tell you provides the forehead. The foreword along the way, there are names you know, you would expect. Everybody knows betsy ross, amelia earhart, condoleezza rice, but there are also unexpected names. So just for fun, lets see who you know. How about raising your hand. Eleisa lucas pinkney. Anybody . Oh, good well, she as a teenager developed the process to cultivate indigo, which was the basis of the colorado, of the carolina economy for more than 30 years florence seibert, the woman who developed the tuberculosis test in 1941, still used by the World Health Organization even today. Stephan stephanie qualick. She invented kevlar. Chemist, kevlar vests protect our police and men and women who are in the armed services. This one is kind of a little trick. Lina bryant. Well, she was really lane bryant and her name got misspelled on a loan application. But the important thing is that she started in 1904 to create maternity grararments for women women could go out of their house when they were pregnant. Dale messick. Well, she was a female cartoonist who created the strip, brenda star reporter. This one you might know, candy lightner. Organized mothers against drunk driving, when tragically her daughter was killed by a drunk driver. And this last one i didnt know, my coauthor told me about and it just killed me i didnt know about it. Gertrude illian. A nobel laureate. Yeah, who created a drug to fight childhood leukemia. Well, my purpose here is not to embarrass you for the women that you dont know, but to help you understand that we just dont learn about these women in history. To provide additional context and to very briefly acquaint you with the book, i thought i would answer a few of the most frequently asked questions that i get. The selected women are women who changed our country with their accomplishments. Most of whom, who ive already indicated, we havent learned about in school. And frankly, when i was in school, it never occurred to me that they werent teaching me about the women. You know, men did the alamo, right . Men forged across the mountains to discover the northwest passage, lets say. Men found gold. I didnt think about the more i didnt think about the more than 600,000 womend moved west. Now, the idea for the book grew out of my teaching a yearlong Leadership Development class. When i mentioned some historical women who i thought everybody should know, i was flabbergasted, because these women did not know the women who before us. Who contributed so much to our lives. So i went looking for a book. I had been a University Professor and thats what you do, right . You find the book, you assign the book, and people know. Well, it didnt turn out that way. I reviewed and purchased more than 200 books. But nobody had done a timeline format, such as i thought we should do. And then i met jill and we together started thinking, well, we need actual criteria for whos going to be in the book and whos not going to be in the book. And thats how we reviewed over 4,000 women. Remember, there was no google when we started. Even if we had typed into the computer a wellknown name, like clara barton, nothing would have come up. There was no wikipedia. There was no way to find people, especially women, of course, online. So we did it the hard way, with help from reference librarians, scholars, articles, books. Oh, many, many books. There was a book, one book at that time, women of the west, that was done in 1984. And it had about 12 women in it. And we just kept looking, kept looking. Of course, there are more books now on women and theyre sliced and diced different ways. Just yesterday, i got a pushed notice from amazon, five new books on american women. There are lots of ones you can look. But again, still, nobody has done that timeline format that i thought of. I chose also not to compare the accomplishments of one woman with another. After all, susan b. Anthony worked for all of her life to get the right to vote for women. I mean, can you image getting together. You know, yeah, we really should do this and it takes 72 years . Not one woman from that original group was alive to vote by 1920. So speed skater bonnie blair, you know, she won medals, gold medals in three olympics. She was the First American woman to win five gold medals in that time in the history of olympics. And its true, she worked many years to hone her craft, but she did not have to convince people of her cause, right . She didnt have to raise money for her cause. She certainly didnt have to be arrested for her cause. I fully believe that its impossible to weigh one womans accomplishment against any other. Ultimately, i came to understand that its the very diversity of achievement that is critically important to identifying the breadth and depth of womens contributions to u. S. History. Now, the book i wrote does not describe the Indigenous Peoples of what was later to become the u. S. Sadly, there are very few written records of what life was like for women in their times. So my journey from my book starts with the women and men who mostly colonized our our coy around 1600. They left wherever they came from seeking better lives here, religious freedom, freedom of opportunity that wasnt bounded by your class, your ethnicity. And for some they came, of course, for gold. Some examples of women in the colonies, they varied from mistresses of enlarged plantations, wives of wealthy merchants, women on the western frontier, 600,000 of them, or women in slavery. Nevertheless, there was one thing that all women had in common at that time. All women were legally and the word is chattled property. Thus, they were subordinate to men and without any civil even before we were a country came from england. And thats how we got those laws based on common english law. So, women, particularly married women, were trapped in a condition that later was called civil death. They had no control over their own property or their wages, and they had no legal rights separate from their husbands. Now, i was asked to speak on women of the west, so i was trying to figure out what are the Western States. I was first stymied by this because i have to tell you that not even the scholars are in agreement as to what the Western States are. So, i chose this 1840 depiction to show you some of the issues that were present at that time. Because when i talk about western women, its rather challenging to show their roots. Even today scholars talk about five Western States or seven Western States or even 11 Western States or all states that have Rocky Mountains in them. I mean, people slice it and dice it in many different ways. And i havent set up a definitive way for myself. I just thought i would have fun and share some women with you who come from what was either really a Western State or maybe a Western State or whatever. I would alert you to some of our western sisters. Today, its not very difficult to Research Women of the west. Their stories are very welldocumented. In the colorado womens hall of fame, the wyoming house for historic women which is pictured here. It honors louisa swain i had not heard of her along with 12 other wyoming women whose lives r with impacted. Theres also the Montana Historical society to name just a few places one can google or research. Other western statutes such as arizona, new mexico might we call new mexico a southWestern State . You see what i have some problems with here. But you can find out about the women if had those states. So louisa swain whose picture is there, i didnt know her before i began my research on western women. Think about this. In september of 1870, became the first woman to cast a ballot because wyoming gave women the right to vote well before 1920 happened for the rest of the country. Now, again, scholars tease about that. They say, well, wyoming wanted to become a state and there werent enough people, so they included women. I dont know, but i think its kind of wonderful that she was able to have the vote at that time. There were just hundred of women who stand out in the west due to their strong character, their contributions to society or just their plain old interesting personalities. Think about the many women who were the hearty pioneers. They crossed the vast prairie, the mountains heading westward. Sherry and i were talking about it. We said we didnt think if we were on those wagon trains we could have survived their lives. Their lot wasnt raising children. Running a household, that included oh, my gosh. Think about it. They made all the food processing. They made all the soap, all the candles. They made all the clothing by hand. If they had chickens and pigs and ducks and milk cows i mean, it just goes on and on. All they ne q1n they cooked, th sewed, they nurtured, they nursed. They nursed illnesses in their own families. They nursed illnesses in their neighbors. Oh, yes, they acted as mid wives. And in the meantime if they also started schools, started churches. Occasionally they warded off indian attacks. Now, there were of course other western women who took some roles outside of the home, and they formally began being recognized too. There were nurses. There were stagecoach drivers and even a few physicians. There were a few women who dressed as men to participate as soldiers in some of our countrys wars. For those less fortunate women, many forced by circumstance, need, or sometimes just for the adventure of it, in the early west youll find female outlaws, female gamblers, powerful brothel madams sometimes called home wreckers black jack dealers and quite a number of women who were very yuf mystically called soiled doves. Some wild west legendary women are noted in books such as ten notorious female outlaws from the wild west. In the days when the west was ruled by the gun, especially if a woman was on her own, it took a woman of great character and great resolve, strong resolve, toqxj survive. Really, ive not chosen the best stories to tell or the most poignant stories to tell, the most heartwarming, whatever. I just want you to enjoy the women i bring to your attention as i briefly tell their stories. It is that guntoting wild west concept of legend that, perhaps if you pardon the pun shoots down the view that life as a female pioneer was about cooking, sewing, cleaning, caring for children, et cetera. Of course, i would be remiss if i didnt mention briefly anne evans since were presenting in the byersevans house, the daughter of our second territorial governor, john evans. I was reminded before the speech, i went to North Western university which was founded by john evans and four of his friends in evan stston, illinoi. Anne was an early art supporter. I live in evergreen, and a long time dear friend of mine was barbara sternberger, and she wrote a fabulous bookzcoh Calle Anne Evans a pioneer in colorado cultural history, the things that last when gold is gone. And i believe that evelyn waldron, her coauthor spoke here about the book and anne evans. So, she was described as an american arts patron. She devoted her life to the founding and support of some of colorados largest cultural institutions including the denver art museum, the central denver art museum, the central city opera, and the denver]p public library. A western woman of some refinement, id say. Well, i mean, after all she was born in england after all. Lets compare her to annie oakley. Women, have to include 2q. In6 h right . Her birth name was phoebe moses. She was born in ohio in 1860. By the time she was 9 years old, she was helpv in her family to survive. She had eight siblings. She helped them by shooting, hunting, and selling game and wild animals. Though she learned to use a rifle for practical reasons, she eventually became a skilled sharpshooter. She joined the buffalo bill wild west show in 1885, and she toured with the show for 16 years. The show, or celebration of the old west, included skits of stage robberies, gun fights, military exhibitions. The most of the heroes of that show were men, Buffalo Bills wild west show really celebrated her skills. And she became one of the most famous women of the west. Some people say that annie oakley is our first female super star. And she was given a nickname by chief sitting bull who was amazed at her skills. He called her little sure shot. I want to stop for a moment and review another serious issue for women of those earlier times. Now, remember, they had no legal rights. So, limited in their legal rights, accepting the customs of society, women mostly honored their husbands demands. Andhnny western women like wome across the u. S. Spent their time you can say it with me, right, the mantra cooking, cleaning, tending to their children, watering the horses, milking the cows, feeding the chickens, taking care of the endless, endless household chores. What else were women doing across the u. S. In 1,800 . And i use that date because of the data point i found. At this time, women were very busy having babies. In 1800, the per capita birthrate in the u. S. Per woman was 7. 04 per woman. At this time i know. People are like the audience, youre waving your heads here. I get wy]it. At that time, this was the highest birthrate in the world. Not china, not india, not any undeveloped country, africa, no, here in the u. S. , 7. 04. So, there wasnt a lot of time for women to have other endeavors, right . Furthermore, their Life Expectancy was a great deal shorter than ours. Remember, i just noted annie oakley, one of nine children. And ill bring those kinds of things to yourxzj tention as i o on. So, think about it. I mean, did women really have the time to be poets and painters . Artists, activists, writers, wanderers . And women of the west, where did they find the time, the energy, the money . I mean, its true that some women did work outside the home. We know that. But oh, my goodness, 7. 04. Did you ever hear of wash tub pneumonia . I hadnt until i started this research. On the early life of Martha Canary who is now called Calamity Jane. When Calamity Jane was 13, her mother died of what ishn called wash tub pneumonia. The phrase was used to describe respiratory ailments contracted by people who were laundresses in the coal camps and the gold camps, you know, the Western Mining camps. Because the cause, they think, was probably that the coal dust mixed with the detergents and with lye that was used at the time. So, thats why her mother died of wash tub pneumonia. Calamity jane. Well, there are many tales about how she got her name. No one really knows for sure. She was a tough cookie. She liked to dress like a man, dressed in buckskins. When she was 16 years old, her father died. Remember, she lost her mother at 13. Four died at 16 and she was the eldest of six children. So, she took on the role of being the head of the household. She moved her family to fort bridger, wyoming, and then on to piedmont. By the time she was 18, jane ha been a nurse, a dishwasher, a waitress, a cook, an ax team driver. I mean, she did everything she could to support her brothers and sisters. She was the model of a western woman, a western frontierswoman, and she even became a professional scout. Shes probably most well known for being a close friend of wild bill hickoks, but also she gained fame for fighting american indians. She had a reputation for being able to handle a man, handle a gun, shoot like a cowboy, skills that took her into Buffalo Bills wild west show too. She performed sharpshooting astride her horse. The love of her life was wild bill kick hickok. Aleldly they were secretly married. Three years later, she had a daughter and he took off. She did live a colorful and eventful life, but historians reveal she was very prone to exaggerations about her life, lies, if you would, about her exploits. So acti so, in addition to whatever work women did to contribute, to make money, to be part of their familys support, there are six main social de issues that won this country spearheaded. And we would not bec today were it not for womens work in each of these areas. And women of the west heard about these issues from women of the east and also took part in them. Although i wont say that they were as deeply engaged as other women in other parts of the country because its very important to recognize and im going to talk very generally here. Youll have to forgive me for a generalization that the women who put their energy into these different areas were, generally speaking, married white women, well off who had household help and supportive husbands. And also, most of them were quaker because the quakers do not have a preacher and they put men and women together in a circle to talk their religious ideals. So, women were allowed to talk in public. Because in the 1800s, most women did not talk in public. And as a matter of fact, in 1848 when they held that first womens rights convention, several of the women said to their husbands, well you have to talk, i cant say you know, the women organized this event, but they were afraid and they did not talk until the second day. Often in my presentations, i use these six points of view, these threads, as the highlights feature telling stories, many stories, of women in each of these different areas. With my focus today on the west, im not going to do that because most of them, as i said, dont have a western woman as a focus. But do be aware of the importance of each of these issues. Without women taking prominent roles in each of these cultural areas, our United States today would be a very different country. I do want to spend one moment on education because i dont think we recognize the importance of women helping women as educators. Early in our countrys history, women were not encouraged to go to school. The Literacy Rate at the end of the colonial period for white women was 40 as compared to 80 for white men. Public education for all had yet to be established, and as men began putting together institutions of higher learning, they didqn r not include women their plans. And and they taught in those schools because teaching was considered a very acceptable way for a woman, particularly if you were not married. And many women had to give up their teaching careers when they got married. Of western women early. I mean, schools in the west were fewr ort and far between. And all these children that everybody was having were out there doing chores, right . They were contributing to the family. So, any education that a woman had, even the slightest bit of education, she taught her own children and that of the neighbors. It was kind of Small Schools like that. Human rights, very, very brief little connection here to the west, modest connection. So, this is a picture of jane adams and hull house. It was in chicago in 1889 and she and a bunch of her colleagues helped new immigrants to chicago. And heres the western connection. A lot of these immigrants did not like living in the city of chicago. They had not lived in a city before, and suddenly 1854 comes and theres the homestead act, right . Lots of people left the cities, came out west, lured by this more rural way of life and that chance to own property. So, westward they went. Abolition. The fight for slavery was most fiery. I think you probably know it. Black and white women action black and white men all contributed. Its very important to know that many women who were abolitionists were also deeply involved in the fight to secure suffrage. And some people, again, you know, historians are unclear. But some people, again, argue that behind the scenes under the table, women were told lets get slavery abolished first and then we will youll love the language give you the right to vote. I cant tell you. But the issue in the newer western parts of the country was very confusing. Think back to that map i showed you. A lot of the west was territory. So, they werent states yet and yet every time a state came in there was always like well should it be a free state or a slave state . A lot of problems. More women than men were against slavery, and western women agreed with their eastern sisters. The two most famous black women who wereynw part of this was soujourner truth and harriet tubman. Underneath truth nor tubman visited our Western States but the movements they were involved engaged the attention of western women well before the civil war 1865. Carry nation, temperance now a westerner or is she . Carry nation is most famous for spearheading the Temperance Movement. S th that is the battle against alcohol abuse in preprohibition american. She was in kansas, but kansas at that time. Would we now call it a midWestern State . I mean, i would, i think. So, shes particularly noteworthy because she would go into saloons with that hatchet and smash bottles. Dont you love it . In 1880 she was backed by the womens christians Temperance Movement and also the governor of kansas john st. John and they passed legislation making kansas the first state in the nation to be dry. I cant imagine you think about towns like dodge city. Its always in the westerns, right . Theres a saloon on every corner. But first state to go dry. I love this visual. I thought you should see it. Liquor yes. Lips that touch liquor shall not touch ours. The fifth of the six issues, suffrage has a very interesting western connection because if women were going to get an education, have rights and be able to vote, it seemed that it was up to women to try to make that happen. And the rebellion began in ernst in about 1848. But go back a little bit because mott Elizabeth Cady stanton were a world. Stanton was on her husband and mott was a delegate. They bonded with mott was denied a seat at the convention because she was a woman. So, together they decided that they would hold their own convention when they returned home and form a society to advocate for the rights of women. So, these leaders, at a time in history when women did not speak in public, use their extraordinary skills, their networks, their friends, articulate likeminded women, and their passion to organize this seneca womens rights convention. It took them a few good years, eight years, to make good on that promise. And mott had six children during that time and Elizabeth Cady stanton had seven. Now, most of us know that in 1869 the first u. S. Suffrage law in the nation was passed. Yes, i will talk about jeanette rankine a little later. But she is the western connection in wyoming. So, suffrage often thought about as east moving west, did not really happen that way. And i think we have to be really clear and proud of that as western women. Now, the National Womens hall of fame records that there are about 200 men and women who did the most to advance suffrage and they contributed in ways big and small. A western woman, Abigail Scott duniway was among them, a crusader for womens suffrage. She was born in illinois and then she travelled to what was called the Western State of oregon. Would we call it a Western State now . Im not so sure. I would call it northwest myself. She moved there with her whole family in 1852 and she describes the very arduous journey west in her book, her first book called captain grays company or crossing the plains, Something Like that. She was nearly completely selftaught. She read newspapers avidly to learn more. And when she got west, she started her own newspaper so that she would still continue to be educated. In 1886, she was recognized as the leading womans advocate in the west. So, at that time oregon was a Western State. At 78 years old, she became the first registered woman voter in her county. I love that she was able to live that long too. Another important longtime suffragist was lucy stone. She has no western connection whatsoever, but i just had to put her in. You know, its one of those things. Im the speaker, right . I can do that. Because theres so many wonderful resonances in her story. Lucy stones mother actually had 9 children. 2 died young, but lucy was the 9th. Lucys mother recognized early on what it meant to work as hard as any man and yet be regarded as his inferior. On a small farm in western massachusetts and no, im not counting western massachusetts as western, only a geographical mother could only exclaim when lucy was born, i am so sorry it is a girl. A womans life is so hard. Its just very sad. And her attitude grew out of this horrible circumstance. As she was in labor, she had to milk eight cows because just before she gave birth because a huge sudden thunderstorm called all the hands to the field to pick the crop because there was this thunderstorm. Saving the hay crop was considered more important than safeguarding a mother on the verge of labor. Many women like lucys mother not only had the household task that we talked about before, but that heavy responsibility of dairy work which, as you know, never ends. Lucy stone, as an adult, said there was only one will in our house, and that was my fathers. Lucy stone became an ardent suffragist, a college graduate, the first woman to graduate from college in massachusetts and a public speaker for womens rights. Shes also very well known as a woman of that time to keep her maiden name after she got married. So, she got married in 1855. And very interesting, it wasnt until 1950 that the u. S. Census bureau recognized a womans right to keep her maiden name after marriage. 1950. So, 1889, the Western State of wyoming, still a u. S. Territory at this time. They approved the constitution. That is the first in the world to grant full Voting Rights to women. Wyoming is also known as the equality state because of the rights women have traditionally enjoyed there. Wyoming women were the first in the nation to vote, to serve on juries and hold public office. As recently as 1991 in the wyoming legislature, 1 3 of the house are women. And ill tell you later about our legislature because it hasnt happened, you know. And then there was this wonderful first town, jackson, wyoming. Historical distinction of being the first town in the United States completely governed by women. So, who do i know from montana . Thats a question i often get. Sometimes i struggle to answer that because montana, like colorado, people move and then they move on. But we like to claim them, and is so did montana. You can think about other people that you know, but perhaps the most wellknown western woman of all of us is jeanette rankine. She was the first woman ever elected to the United States congress. In 1916. Now, remember, the vote really didnt happen nationally until 1920. But as i mentioned, wyoming was ahead of the curve. She voted against our entering world war i. She was one of 50 people to do that. And then she was in Congress Long enough that she was the only person to vote against world war ii. And when she was in her late 70s, there are pictures of her marching to end the vietnam conflict. So, its just amazing that this woman was true to her ideals all this time. One of her quotes, very enduring, is were half the people, we should be half the congress. And ill tell you that as of 2017, we comprise 19. 6 of the house and 19. 3 of the senate. Now, africanamerican women in montana were part of this larger experience as well. Its not a very good picture of them but only one thatrd p i co find. They really worked hard to identify who they were and fight against the negative stereotypes. Another western woman i want to bring to your attention is helen hunt jackson, a coloradan. And she wrote a book that looked at how terrible it was what we did to american indians. She, at her own expense, sent a copy of that book to every Single Member of congress. And she had the printer write in red on the front of it look upon your hands, they are stained with the blood of your relations. But to her disappointment, the book had little impact. Goes on, right . Western women were very important to our health. Two early outstanding western women i notice theres a book about doc susie in the bookstore there, dr. Susan anderson. Shes a colorado woman and one of the first women to practice in colorado. And even more surprising to me is the woman here, dr. Susan la flesh pakote, a native American Woman in nebraska, nebraska considered a Western State at that time. And other colorado women dont you just love this one . They didnt make the cut in the book and they dont really make the cut for me to talk about them extensively because theyre part of this whole notion of outlaws and gamblers and madams. While its fun, and there are many people who have written books about them one book was published in 2015, wicked women notorious, mischievous and wayward ladies from the old west. And some of the womens stories are fun. Many of them are sad, sad tales, i would say, because they remind us of the few legitimate ways that western women could earn a living the in earlier times. While i could go on with lots of those women, i want to draw s k saccajiawea to your attention. She was the shoshone woman who helped the lewis and clark expedition. She travelled with them and you probably know the story that she also had a child on the way and brought the child with her. Theres an interesting factoid about her. There are more statues, likenesses, signs, places and rivers with her name across the west than any other woman in our American History. Yeah. And you can certainly find out more about western women by reviewing the Colorado Hall of fame inductees. And as you know, anne evans was inducted. 152 women, i believe, modern day and hiss toral ka. Im really pleased to tell you that madilyn albright, who wrote the forward to my book, is in it. And even a bigger wonderful thing for me is that my coauthor is also honored by the hall. So, im really kind of winding down. I said i would talk 45 minutes and i see by my clock here its at 45 and ive got two more pages to go. You can see that ive talked about western women, women who did indeed change america, who will continue to change our country. As i did research for the book, i heard about the Glass Ceiling youxc probably know that the marble ceiling for judge judges, clerics. The stained Glass Ceiling for women in religious. I just read about the concrete ceiling. The glass cage of self doubt seems to hit women hard. Heres what i learned as i reviewed the lives of 850 remarkable women, womens talents wont be fully recognized and valued unless we make all of the changes, one with the other, to move our country forward. Im talking about all of us using our skills, our expertise, our time, our potential, valuing each other. We, all of us, need to value each other. And as we each strive to make a difference, we need to acknowledge the efforts of the thousands of women who came before us who gave us the opportunities we have today. If we want to make a difference in the world, we have to work one with the other to do that. We truly have come a long way but surely all of us will admit theres a long way still to go. Where would we be without these amazing women on whose shoulders we all stand . As western women, we can indeed be proud to honor all the incredible women who came before us. And now im happy to take your questions. Yes . This isnt so much of a question but something on one of your statistics. In 1800, the average woman had 7. 04 children. Yes. And you know, in 1800, that was not far from 1776 when we became a nation. And i think the emphasis was to populate our country. There are lots of reasons that people give as to why the birthrate was high. Another was it was farming. They needed laborers, yes. There are lots of Different Reasons yes. Why the birth yrate was s high. And no birth control. No birth control. And i think those women in some ways are to be commended also for the hard work which they did in building our nation. Oh, clearly were to be commended. I dont think that happens enough. Thanks for that. Sure, sure. Yes . My name is margaret im sorry. Thats fine. Dont be sorry. Im a retired medicaid administrator. One time a gentleman came to work with us. His name was gary nation. I finally said so are you related i knew he was from illinois originally. I said are you related to carry nation. He kind of looked at me and he goes, you know about carry nation . I said yes. He said yes, i am a descendant of carry nation. What fun. And interestingly he had three sons, no daughters. But he told me every one of his boys when they were in school and told to write about someone famous in their family, they chose about carry nation. Thats great. But then it led to other discussions and he said a lot of people wouldnt want to say carry nation was an ancestor of theirs. But we talked about it. I told him the reason so many women were in the Temperance Union was because at that time wom men frequented the saloons and women werent allowed in the saloons. Men drank too much which involved them spending the Family Finances as well as child home. Yes, yes. So, that was really something that led to a lot of the antialcohol movement was the abuse that result from the men drinking and coming home and violence within the home as well as them spending all the money that was needed to survive. Yes. Just thought i would mention that. Thanks very much for sharing that. Yes . First of all, thank you so . nkjt this book. Im in the millennial generation. Wonderful. I just have a question and that is what did you learn that makes you optimistic in researching all these women . What do i have to look forward to . Thats a great question. I would say as you looked back at these women, the women who did something, whatever that wonderful achievement was, were women of passion, persistence, determination. They really pushed, and despite whatever obstacles were placed there, they did it. And i believe that the millennial generation, more than some of us are wellbeyond that. That millennial generation will stand up and be counted. I fully believe that. I hope so. Yeah, most exciting. Good to see you here. Someone back yes . Hi. Thank you for coming. Oh, youre totally welcome. I wanted to know if you could elaborate a little more on the divisions that the Antislavery Movement caused within the suffrage movement. My understanding is that it actually split there was a split. Oh, there was a split in the vote, yeah, the suffrage movement, yes. So, some women felt that we want it, we want it now. And they were what we would call violent agitators. You see lots of that footage about them marching. They marched on wilson and the white house. And other women, they wore white and purple. They had special banners. I mean they were just amazing, amazing women. Passion, persistence, determination. And other women were quieter about it. And they felt like itll come. Itll come in time. And when the time is ready,y ÷y will happen. So, they split. So, there were two huge parts of the suffrage movement. And it took some of the more famous suffragists to sit behind closed doors and put that group together. But that was separate from the historians, again, behind the scenes, behind closed doors doing this whole notion of what was happening because of wanting to free the slaves first. Bcb thank you. Sure. Yes . a talk a little bit about criteria you used for selecting the women in the book. Okay, the question was the criteria we used. So, we created this elaborate scale. She had to be maybe the first to do something or the most famous to do something or she invented something and she did it without her fathers money or her husbands money or her brothers money. We had all these criteria, six, eight, ten of them and then we broke it because there were women we wanted to include who for one reason or another didnt meet the criteria. One of the women wasn g cathe graham. She was the editor of the washington post. Now, it was her fathers newspaper. He had died. And no surprise, he gave the paper to her husband. Nobody thought it was odd, least of all her. And then her husband died and the board of directors is all like, oh, my gosh, what do we do . What do we do . And she came to that meeting, you know, and theyre thinking shes going to say who on the board is going to be the editor and she said, im going to be the editor. And they were stunned. They were thinking this paper is going to die pretty quickly. She said, look, i grew up at my fathers knee. I saw what it is to run a newspaper. I then went to college and i was a journalism major. I then married phil, who ran the paper. I can run this paper. So, we had her on a lot of good points, but, you know, it wasnt her money. But she was the one who was willing to publish the watergate papers. And that was such a huge thing for our country. Jill and i said we cant possibly leave her out. So, like i told you about lucy stone, were idiosyncratic. Its our book. We can do what we want. Thanks for the question. Thank you so much. [ applause ] all right. So, we have charlotte sitting right over here if anyone would like to talk to her or have a book signed, please do come talk to her. But otherwise, thank you very much for coming here today. Please come see us again. Our next lecture will be on Victory Gardens and the womens Land Movement here for veterans day weekend. Thank you for the lecture and thank you again for coming today. [ applause ] first ladies, influence and image on American History tv examines the private lives and the public roles of the nations first ladies through interviews with top historians. Tonight, we look at Mary Todd Lincoln and eliza johnson. Watch first ladies influence and image tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv American History tv on cspan3, exploring the people and events that tell the coming up sunday, beginning at 9 00 a. M. Eastern, were marking the 70th anniversary of the korean war live on washington journal and American History tv with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist charles hin lee, author of ghost flames. And sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern, real america features a series of u. S. Government korean war films starting with to help peace survive a 1974 Defense Department orientation film for soldiers assigned to south korea. And at 7 00 p. M. On oral histories, u. S. Marine veteran allen clark on serving two tours in korea between 1950 and 1953. Exploring the american story. Watch American History tv this weekend on cspan3. Every saturday night, American History tv takes you to College Classrooms around the country for lectures in history. Why do you all know who Lizzie Borden is and raise your hand if you had ever heard of the gene harris murder trial before this class . The deepest cause where well find the meaning of the revolution was in the transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. Were going to talk about both of these sides9 story here, right, the tools and ec the anemics of slave owner power and the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. Watch historybj professorsd discussions with their students on topics ranging from the American Revolution to september 11th. Lectures in history on cspan3, every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv. And lectures in history is available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. Next on the presidency, while the country confronts the coronavirus, we look back at president s who faced crises while in the white house. In the 2003 program, John Seigenthaler talked about james k. Poke who conducted the 1848 war against mexico. This interview was included in cspans 2019 book the president s, a compilation of interviews with noted