88 Years Ago

88 years ago today--August 26, 1920--the 19th Amendment, "The Federal Suffrage Amendment" was officially added to the U.S. Constitution; 133 years after the Constitution itself was adopted. Here is what the 19th Amendment guarantees: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State, on account of sex.
Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. That doesn't seem so scary, does it?
But think about that date--1920--that's the year my mother was born & although she is dead, millions of American who were born before 1920 are still alive. Why did it take so long for more than half of the population--women--to win the right to vote? Why in 1917 were suffragists arrested and thrown in jail and brutally force fed? Intriguing questions that I'm investigating and wrestling with in two projects--my joint biography, Stirring Up The World, of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony and another book project, Shout the Revolution: Women's Fierce Fight for the Vote: 1910-1920. (Shout the Revolution is the title of a song suffragists wrote during their imprisonment.) In an earlier post, I wrote about our road trip to Seneca Falls, NY, for the 160th anniversary of the Women's Rights Convention. There we discovered this statute (see picture) portraying the historic moment when Amelia Bloomer introduced Susan B. Anthony (on the left) to Elizabeth Cady Stanton. (Note that both AB & ECS were wearing the controversial fashion--bloomers.)
Here 8 things I'm going to do to celebrate this day:
1. Wish everyone I meet "Happy Women's Equality Day."
2. Note it in any emails I send today.
3. Read the "Declaration of Sentiments and the Resolutions" (it's online).
4. Spend time at www.roadstosenecafalls.com and www.nwhp.com.
5. Tell my 4-year-old granddaughter about the event.
6. Post a blog entry.
7. Make a bibliography of relevant books to recommend for classroom use.
8. Organize all the pictures I've taken over the years of women suffrage sites such as the grave stones of several men in Colorado that noted their suffrage work, and the markers in Laramie, WY, and Salem, OH, etc.

Please add more ideas!

Reader Response Thanksgiving: The True Story

Here is a reader response to Thanksgiving: The True Story from Patricia Bandre', a professor of Reading Education, University of Arkansas at Little Rock:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Thanksgiving: The True Story. As usual, your writing flows so smoothly through all of the facts. It feels as though you and I are sitting side-by-side, and you are telling me a story. Wonderful--and fascinating.

NOTE: Patricia Bandre' is getting ready to start "Bandre's Book Notes," a web page on the Arkansas Literacy Model website. I'll let you know when it is up and running. As a professor of Reading Education, Trish Bandre' brings an essential perspective to the world of children's publications.

What a Great Surprise!!! Thanksgiving: The True Story

Totally unexpectedly--five finished copies of Thanksgiving: The True Story arrived today!!! What a thrill!!!! In her note, Christy Ottaviano, my editor, wrote that she thinks they look "spectacular!" and I agree. Everyone at Henry Holt did a terrific job--thanks to all!!!!! The book will be in bookstores on Sept. 16.

Science/Math Book Recommendation

Sue Kirch, Ph.D., a science educator K-12 in the Department of Teaching and Learning, New York University, emailed two recommendations of "fabulous" books for teachers who want to integrate math & science--Measuring Penny and It's Probably Penny (Penny is a dog) by Loreen Leedy. Sue, who is a dear friend and former colleague at Queens College, particularly likes the way Leedy "unfolds the math concept . . . . simple, elegant, clear, easy to understand." The narration, she said, is "cute."

Revamped Web Site

My fabulous webcontroller, Renee Harris, just went "live" with my revamped web site at www.pennycolman.com Huge amount of intense work, but so engaging and fun! Let me know what you think!

On Getting Ideas Thanksgiving: The True Story

I am frequently asked where I get ideas for my books. Here is the genesis of my forthcoming book Thanksgiving: The True Story.
It began with a conversation during one of the classes I teach for teachers who are getting their masters degree at Queens College, the City University of New York. It was two days before Thanksgiving and my students were talking about the holiday.
"We have turkey for Thanksgiving, but on the side and no one eats it," said one student.
"What do you eat for Thanksgiving?" I asked in total astonishment, having only ever eaten the traditional menu of turkey with all the fixings.
She replied with a long list of Italian dishes--homemade lasagna, ravioli, meatballs, etc.
That discussion sparked my curiosity about every aspect of Thanksgiving, from what people eat and do and believe to the origins of the holiday itself.

Books & Sophie

I'm about to leave to pick up Sophie & return to the Jersey Shore. Since June, she's been in Europe with her mother & their Swiss family. During our road trip to Minnesota in June, Linda and I bought a bunch of kids' books at Lark, a terrific store in Kellogg, MN, including a classic Linda loved when she was a kid--The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (she thinks someone in her family knew VLB). Published in 1942, it's particular relevant to our Shore bungalow 'cause our neighbor just built a monster motel of a house, with an unprecedented raised driveway that places the wheels of their behemoth vehicles in our side windows! I'm taking the stack of books to read with Sophie. I'm also taking one I bought after our trip--The Field Guide to Ocean Animals by Phyllis Perry that "includes 64 pieces to assemble 8 ocean animals and a removable diorama." Yipee!
Next week, I'll list all the books we read and Sophie's reaction.

Whoa! Not that tiresome, glib overgeneralization again!

Whoa!!! It's 2008 and I just read this tiresome, glib overgeneralization and unsubstantiated assertion in "Newsweek" (July 28, 2008, p 29)*: "although girls will read books about boys, boys won't go near a girl's book, no matter how cool she is."

If a graduate student in my classes at Queens College wrote that in a paper, I'd write (in red ink, although I don't typically use it!): WHAT'S YOUR EVIDENCE? CITE YOUR SOURCE!

And to anyone who says that that is "true" for his/her sons, grandsons, nephews, male students, I say--shame on you for accepting that attitude!

* "It's Still Not Easy Being Green ("'Anne of Green Gables' turns 100 this year, but she's the most modern girl in the bookstore.) by Ramin Setoodeh

On writing and Women's Equality Day, 8/26

Once again I've been reminded why I'm hooked on writing--what a thrill when it flows!!!!! What it took was isolating myself for several days; even today, an absolutely gorgeous day, I'm continuing to writing 'cause it's so much fun!!!!!!

Reminder: Women's Equality Day is Aug 26--the day designated by Congress to celebrate the women and men who fought the hard fight for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote. Isn't it astonishing that that didn't happen until 1920--just 88 years ago!! Think about it: there are many Americans today who were born at a time when women were denied the right to vote in America!! Plan your celebration now!

Women's history Road Trip continue

Later today, I'm returning to the Shore & back to work on Stirring Up The World. So here's another post re our recent women's history road trip: Trip summary: Three days, 880 miles, mostly through central New York. Three drive-in movie theaters. (No, we didn't go). Farm stands with delicious cherries, blueberries, peaches, melons, raspberries. (Yes, we indulged.) Farm stand with piles of gorgeous purple and green heads of cabbage and corn and a pay-on-an-honor system lockbox. Nursery with table after table loaded with lush annuals and perennials. (We bought violet-purple phlox, parsley and snapdragons in a array of colors) and an honor-system-payment- lockbox. Visited 19 towns with women's history sites featuring both women and men.
The picture is of Elizabeth Smith Miller's house in Peterboro; recently bought by a couple who are determined to restore it. Since the early 1980s, her birthday has been celebrated in Peterboro. The program this year on 9/28, is highlighting her suffrage activities.
I'm counting on Dot to add a comment about Elizabeth Smith Miller!

Local fruit on the way to women's history sites

I've been at the Shore with limited internet access. Now I'm in Englewood for the day and can finally post a pic of this gorgeous local-fruit pie we made on Wednesday and devoured by Thursday lunch. I bought the fruit from farm stands along route 70 on my way to Philadelphia (to have lunch with a dear friend and to visit Lucretia Mott historic sites, more about that later). Yummmmmmmmm!

Road Trip Map

I've marked women's history sites on every map in the U.S. Before we take a road trip, I update the relevant map(s) and plot our route. Note: The road trip can be for any purpose, i.e. visiting friends/family or driving to a speaking engagement. Regardless of the purpose, I always check to see if I can plot a not-too-far-out-of-the-way detour. For an example of how I incorporated a road trip into my writings, see my essay about Biddy Mason, a former slave, midwife, landowner, philanthropist, in Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made A Difference. Here's the NYS map we took on our trip 7/18-20/2008. We covered 880 miles (given gas prices--the highest we paid for regular was $4.17--we drove slower and took a cooler with food).

Women's History Road Trip

We just returned home from an amazingly productive, stimulating, fascinating, and fun women's history road trip. I'll post a more detailed entry, but for starters: our destination was Seneca Falls, NY for the 160th anniversary celebration of the Women's Rights Convention, the beginning of the organized women's rights movement in the U.S.. From my previous entries, you know I'm in the middle of writing Stirring Up The World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, A Biography of a Powerful Friendship. We left Friday and drove to Seneca Falls via all the places I've been writing about--SBA's childhood home in Battenville and Canjoharie where she taught school (and where we met a new friend Sheryl, who told us how to easily find the "pot that washes itself" --a gorgeous, serene spot.) ECS's childhood home in Johnstown, NY etc. etc. etc. It was quite the route: we need 3 NY maps to find every place & one place required winging it! We had many adventures. And, yes, Dot, we drove along Seneca Lake, found Miller Hall, AND found a marker to Elizabeth Smith Miller (she introduced the Bloomer outfit among other claims to fame) in Peterboro! More later.

p.s.

Late last night, I printed the first page of chpt 7 (part of my book writing process is: after completing a page of text, I print it out and put it in a three-ring notebook (with a carefully chosen cover color). Suddenly another sentence popped into my brain--one with voice in it! I entered it, reread it, and loved it; so did Linda when she heard both versions. Let me repeat: I love revising--the mystery and thrill of it is exhilarating!

On Writing

Part I of Stirring up the World is finished! Today I started on Part II and spent the entire day--hours!!--bringing Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony together (Part I is alternating chapters from 1815-1850.) ECS, of course, has described it best, but I needed to neatly set up her quote! That's what's on my computer screen. From there, back and forth, and around I went trying to figure out where to go. I thought about a segue re bloomers (ECS was wearing bloomers). Then why SBA wasn't invited for dinner. Etc. But--1. I write what seems to me to be a finished draft (probably be easier if I could write rough drafts, but I don't); 2. what I write has to allow me to keep moving forward (if I can't, how can the reader?)--and nothing worked. All day nothing worked! When that happens, the reasons are typically because: I don't know enough, i.e. I need to do more research; and/or I haven't thoroughly answered my key question: "What's your point, Penny?" All day, I resisted distracting myself and stuck with my misery. I thought I had it when Linda arrived home. But it wasn't clear enough to her--a fatal flaw. Happily we were able to talk it through--more like word-wrestled each sentence into shape!

On Writing

I find it so interesting that I can write something I really like one day, but end up deleting it the next. Why? What makes me decide to delete material that delights me? Because I can't write beyond that material. That's an irrefutable sign that I have to delete it, no matter how much I love it. That's what I did today. Happily the new material I wrote worked--onward!! Hurrah!!!!

Catching up and Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts

Between my last entry and now, here are some highlights: I finished chpt 6 for Stirring Up The World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, A Biography of a Friendship; agreed to return to Queens College as a distinguished lecturer for another year; spent a couple days at the Jersey Shore; and talked to Sophie who is spending the summer with her Swiss relatives.

Also I've been wanting to post the great news from my editor Christy Ottaviano that Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: A History of Burial (Henry Holt, 1997) is "back for a reprint . . . this makes number 12!" Christy is also my editor for Thanksgiving: The True Story (preorders available at www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com) and Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made a Difference.

Women's History

Yesterday we attended a terrific program at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art. It opened with a screening of the documentary by Kay Sloan, "Suffragettes in the Silent Cinema," with extremely rare footage of anti- and pro- suffrage silent films. Then Coline Jenkins, the great, great granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, spoke. She's standing in the first picture holding a replica of a street sign that is near City Hall in New York City. Melissa Messina, curator of the excellent exhibit "Votes for Women" at the museum is seated in the corner of the picture. Coline set up the other picture for me to take. It features Rachel Milano, a fashion designer for Donna Karan, communing with a bust of Susan B. Anthony. Rachel styled her hair for the program in the fashion of some young suffragists. Our conversations with young, middle-age, and beyond middle-age feminists before, during, and after the program were lively, stimulating and fun. Coline, Linda and I extended the fun by "hanging out" together, including a just-before-closing-time trip to the Rose Garden in the next door Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

It was early evening when Linda and I headed back to retrieve the car that we had parked on the upper West Side (We thought it would be easier to take the subway to Brooklyn, but it wasn't because of the weekend construction on the subway. Oh, well.) Along the way, we stopped to eat and check out the craft fair at Lincoln Center where we ended up buying early birthday presents for each other--a handcrafted handbag for her & a handcrafted backpack with a super convenient side zipper into the main pouch for me.

Our Road Trip: Thanksgiving and Women's History

We're back from our 10-day research road trip that included several days in Minneapolis, MN where we attended the 14th Berkshire Conference on the History of Women.

Before a road trip, I highlight all the women's history sites on our maps. (I use a variety of sources to identify the sites.) What we visit depends on many things--our timing, relevance (since I'm currently writing about suffrage those sites were #1), distance, etc. The first day we zigzagged off Route 80 to Salem, Ohio, site of the first Women's Rights Convention in Ohio, held on April 19 and 20, 1850. On the way, we serendipitously discovered another Thanksgiving claim on a sign in front of a shop in Berlin Center, Ohio. The shop was closed, but I found Joseph Donnelly, the proprietor, artist, and claim-maker working in his garden. The illustration on the sign are a Missaugua Native and Garrett Packard, the first white settler in what was Connecticut's "Western Reserve," now northeast Ohio, cooking a turkey. According to Joseph, "Garrett Packard was said to have shot a turkey at the central creek, now called "Turkey Broth" Creek. Because "peaceful relations" had been established between the Packard family and local natives Joseph felt he could imagine the scene and make the claim. Tragically, the "peaceful relations" did not last, and Joseph is an eloquent storyteller of that history. After lingering for an hour or more, we resumed our drive, but only for a short time because there on a large road sign beside a cemetery I spied--after almost twenty years of photographing women's history sites--the first explicitely grandmother women's history site!

Reader Response Thanksgiving: The True Story

Today I checked my email from a motel in Michigan City, IN--we're on a ten-day research road trip--and found a response from Jan Kristo, professor, Reading and Language Arts, the University of Maine, who just received the extraordinary honor of being named the Distinguished Maine Professor! She is the author of important books about using nonfiction in classrooms. Jan and I and Sandip Wilson co-authored a chapter,"Bold New Perspectives in Selecting and Using Nonfiction" in Shattering the Looking Class:Challenge, Risk & Controversy in Children's Literature edited by Susan Lehr (Christopher-Gordon, 2008). On page 111, of Thanksgiving, I quoted Jan's descriptions of the foods tied to her cultural identity--"Lithuanian (Full Blood)"-- that were included in her family's Thanksgiving menu: "headcheese . . . horseradish and herring and 'potato fudge' and ausakes."

Here is Jan Kristo's response after reading Thanksgiving: The True Story:
Thanks for the galley of Thanksgiving. I've started it and can't put it down. I love the writing and feel your voice come through the pages. . . .Your book is going to be required reading for my students and has all the makings of being a landmark text!!!