A lecture in history now from Iowa State University professor carmen bain, who taught a class on womens work on family farms during the 20th century and the difference between societal expectations and the realities of shared farm labor. Well, good morning, everyone. Todays lecture is on invisible farmers. And what were going to do today is take a historical overview to look at women and womens role in u. S. Agriculture. And the title for the lecture today on invisible women actually comes from a 1983 book, so ancient in your mind, but a book thats over 30 years old, by carolyn sex. And her book was really groundbreaking in that she was one of the first to examine the contributions of women to u. S. Agriculture, and it was this book that actually helped launch work by sociologists and other social scientists, rural historians and so forth, to look at the contribution of women that had largely been invisible up to this time. So this is a nod to that groundbreaking book. So, one of the q
To be the first woman to make the solo trip. Smithsonian national air and Space Museum Curator Dorothy Cochrane discusses some of the theories around her disappearance. Good evening. Im lauren with Smithsonian Associates and im so glad youve joined us for tonights program. To members im glad youre here. Its your ongoing support that make events like this possible. Any of you joining us for the first time a warm welcome and the opportunity to explore the wide range of programs we offer. Now is a perfect time to turn off your cell phones. Thank you for doing that. 85 years ago this month Amelia Earhart became the first aviator to fly solo from honolulu, hawaii to oakland, california. On may 21st, 1932, exactly five years after american aviator Charles Lindbergh floyd solo across the atlantic ocean, earhart became the first woman to repeat that feat. We are thrilled to welcome Dorothy Cochrane. She curates the collections of general aviation aircraft, flight material, aerial cameras and h
It was a dramatic first. The first time in American Naval history that women were assigned to the crew of a ship. On a soggy november 18, 1972, at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in california the uss sanctuary was recommissioned. The first woman admiral elaine dirk gave the commissioning address. The sanctuary is being recommissioned as a new and unusual type of ship with a new mission to assist the navy effort to improve moral and flexibility by home porting combatant ships overseas to provide medical and Resale Services to deploy dependents wherever the fleet may be assigned. In addition to this forward step the sanctuary has been selected as the ship to participate in the Pilot Program which will evaluate the utilization of women for sharp board duty. It will be home for about 80 women, half in the crew and half at the hospital. With these innovations you could see that the sanctuary is truly unique in many respects. The sanctuary is an experiment to see how well women and men can tog
Moment to please silence your cell phones so that we do not disrupt this fascinating talk. And while youre doing that, i would love to share with you an installation that i recently curated on our north wall entitled antisuffrage. Using materials from the special collections, we take a look at how the Suffrage Movement contributed to redesigning womens roles and responsibilities in society from varied perspectives as they vied for equality. It also presents the struggle to secure Voting Rights for women and people of color in the past and today. Please take a look after the talk. I would love to hear your talks and feedback. And if you have any questions, ill definitely be here to answer them. I should also mention that we have a large expedition in our calderwood gallery across the way. Required reading, reimagining a colonial library. That particular exhibition showcases rarely seen historic books that are treasures of 17th century boston. Community partners and each of us, including
So, want to start with a little story. In 1963, this woman, sherry finkbein, which is a pseudonym, was featured in a life magazine article. The story was about a choice that her family was facing. She was pregnant. Her husband had recently traveled to europe where he acquired a drug called thalidamide. Thalidomide had not been approved for use in the United States of america but it was approved in european countries. It was used to treat a number of Different Things, anxiety, insomnia, nausea. Nausea is key. Women began taking it to relieve morning sickness. Sherrys husband had been in europe, he acquired these pills and brought them back home for her. Shes pregnant, she takes about 40 of them during early on in her pregnancy. She and her husband did not know that thalidomide causes birth defects. Then she read an article about the drug, found out more, and she called her doctor. She started to learn more about what thalidomide can do. For developing babies, children, thalidomide cause