An Update on Our Event in Response to COVID-19:
Due to COVID-19 and the subsequent school closure, the HerStory Conference and film screenings have been cancelled.
Help us re-write history by ensuring the voices and contributions of women are included in our historical discourse.
We invite you to explore this curated collection of resources featuring powerful women in history, science & literature!
Due to COVID-19 and the subsequent school closure, the HerStory Conference and film screenings have been cancelled.
Help us re-write history by ensuring the voices and contributions of women are included in our historical discourse.
We invite you to explore this curated collection of resources featuring powerful women in history, science & literature!
stories of Powerful Women in History
Explore clips from the documentary film "Dolores"
(PBS Learning Media - The Dolores Huerta Collection) |
"History tells us that César Chavez transformed the U.S. labor movement by leading the first farm workers’ union. But missing from this story is the equally influential co-founder, Dolores Huerta, who tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez becoming one of the most influential feminists of the Twentieth Century. Like so many powerful female advocates, Dolores Huerta, her sweeping reforms and important contributions, were, and still are, largely overlooked and even dismissed in current day American History courses."
(PBS LearningMedia - The Dolores Huerta Collection) |
Read the article summarizing Malala's story
(PBS Learning Media - Malala Article / PBS News Hour) |
At only seventeen years old, Malala Yousavzai made headlines on October 10, 2014 as the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. At a young age, Malala became an advocate for girls’ education. She gave speeches and blogged about her own experiences living under constant threats to her education from the Taliban. In 2012, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman as she was traveling home from school. After surviving the attack, she continued to advocate for education and women’s rights. She continues to work toward improving access to education for girls worldwide.
|
stories of Powerful Women in Science
Watch the video clip outlining Mae's story (PBS Learning Media - Nova "The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers")
|
"As a child growing up in Chicago, Mae dreamed of traveling to outer space. Years later, while in medical school, she decided to follow that dream and applied to become a NASA astronaut. Mae eventually became the first African American woman to go into space. On her voyage, she brought a number of artifacts onboard that symbolized underrepresented figures in African American history." (PBS LearningMedia)
|
Watch videos about Rosalind's progress despite prejudice
(PBS LearningMedia-Decoding Watson/American Masters) |
Rosalind Franklin’s was a pioneering woman in STEM who experienced isolation and prejudice in a field dominated my men. In this media gallery, "Biologists and historians of science examine the prejudices Franklin faced, how the climate in biological research has shifted, and how some prejudices persist." She made important advances toward the discovery of the DNA molecule as well as assisted in the founding of the structural virology field. Throughout her career, she also studied x-ray technology which may have contributed to her untimely death due to cancer. Her contributions to science were only recognized after her death, yet she hasn't received full credit for her work.
|
stories of Powerful WOmen in Literature
Watch the video clip describing Alice Walker's childhood
(PBS Learning Media - American Masters Collection) |
Alice Walker is an African American poet and novelist, best known for her novel "The Color Purple", which won her a Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and was adapted as a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985. Here, she "shares stories from her childhood that highlight the strong female figures in her family, particularly her mother who stood her ground against the white landowner and insisted on an education for her children. These experiences inform her views on what it means to be a Southern black writer." (PBS LearningMedia)
|
Watch the video clip describing Maya Angelou's memories
(PBS Learning Media - American Masters Collection) |
Dr. Maya Angelou was a poet, novelist, philanthropist, and civil rights activist who grew up in the South during the Jim Crow Era. Her experiences, the power of her memory and the importance of setting influenced and informed her writing. Maya Angelou chose to write about her own life in her famous autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Here, she shares her memories while visiting her hometown.
(PBS LearningMedia) |
Credits: links, texts, articles and video clips: PBS Learning Media; Photo credit: Getty Images