women's lives

As Women's History Month winds down, it's worth remembering Elsie Robinson again, whom I first met in Allison Gilbert's "Listen, World!", chronicling her largely forgotten life and story.

I can't help wondering how many other remarkable (by any standard) if unheralded women remain largely invisible, unrecorded, and unheard in the past and the present. Educated and un-. Public figures and private. Must women rise to prominence and fame in order to be recognized and celebrated? Those who have certainly deserve the accolades -- sometimes bestowed reluctantly.

Women have also long drawn upon deeply rich inner lives as well as their own and others' experiences of the world. We find records and expressions of these in boxes, discarded in thrift stores, in the everyday. We find them on our walls, in drawers and on our shelves.

Women's lives are reflected in their fine and folk art, rough and refined crafts, needlework and samplers, textiles and both family and art quilts. Recipes passed from one generation to the next. Beloved stories requested nightly or at holiday gatherings. (Tell us about....) Encoded in the folds of a fan. Found scribbled in the margins.

As curious observers, we find women's lives captured in old photos. Who took them? Who's in them? Where were they taken? When? Who is prominent? Who is absent? Are there gaps in the photographic record? What are these silent historical images telling us?

This is one reason I loved facilitating workshops and groups for women -- and men -- to have their say. While they had the chance. Many arrived thinking they had little of interest to share, to put down in writing. I'd set the table...and stand back.

Women make history every day but, for now, the privilege and responsibility may lie solely with us women to recognize and elevate one another's stories, to support and encourage different voices. To listen. To invite them to the table...and stand back.

Allison Gilbert reflects on Robinson and women's places throughout our history here: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/opinions/women-history-smithsonian-archives-elsie-robinson-gilbert/index.html