Commonwealth Speakers:Women Through History


Rachel Carson, 1944. Vivienne Shaffer's presentation explores the Nature Study movement as exemplified by Rachel Carson. Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Women have made and continue to make unique contributions to history and culture. Their stories reveal crucial perspectives on Pennsylvanian, American and world history. In this category, and others, you will find their often underappreciated accounts and histories.

From Nature Study to Environmental Literacy: Rachel Carson as Teacher
The 19th century Nature Study educational movement attracted scientists, naturalists, teachers and others fascinated by nature's beauty and mysteries. Its proponents advocated learning through the senses by direct observation of the natural world. The Pennsylvania hills provided fertile ground for such ideas and Maria McLean Carson explored them with her star pupil, her daughter Rachel. The skills and ideals of Nature Study are unmistakable in Rachel Carson's books: The Sense of Wonder, Silent Spring and the ocean trilogy. This presentation asks how Nature Study has influenced the 21st century concept of environmental literacy. It also explores the role that Rachel Carson played in the process. A roundtable discussion will examine the precepts and ideas of early 20th century Nature Study as evident in the work of Rachel Carson. Educators and parents especially are invited to share their experiences and ideas. Lesson plans for various age groups will be provided.

Vivienne Shaffer, Pittsburgh
Program Coordinator, Creative Nonfiction Foundation. Former Education and Museum Director, Rachel Carson Homestead Association

Jefferson's Daughters
In his lifetime, Thomas Jefferson produced 18,000 letters, the writing of which, one historian noted, "defined the parameters of Jefferson's world." While his letters have prompted volumes of scholarly studies, the same cannot be said of the writings of his daughters. Using these letters and portraits and images from the home in which they were raised, historian Catherine Kerrison will explore details of family life at Monticello. What was it like to grow up in Jefferson's shadow? How did his daughters view the political developments of the day? What did they make of the increasing regional tensions in the antebellum period? How did they accommodate for the tensions between Jefferson's two families, white and black? An examination of the lives of Jefferson's daughters allows participants to explore the meanings of gender, citizenship, race and slavery in a formative period of American history.

Catherine Kerrison, Berwyn
Associate Professor of History, Villanova University

Alive to the Call: Women and History in Northeastern Pennsylvania
The history of northeastern Pennsylvania often is presented primarily as the saga of anthracite coal and railroads. But, it also is the story of enterprising women who built communities through civic and philanthropic engagements—unconventional women who lived extra-ordinary lives. "Alive to the Call" is the story of some of the region's more redoubtable women: from Belinda Mulrooney (Queen of the Klondike), to Lucy Ann Lobdell (Female Hunter of the Delaware Valley), to the indefatigable Sarah Walker (of the U.S. Sanitary Commission), to the dashing and unconventional Cornelia Pinchot. This 50-minute lecture will be illustrated with slides.

Josephine Dunn, Waverly
Associate Professor of Art History, University of Scranton

All Shoulders to the One Wheel: Northeastern Pennsylvania Women's Clubs, c. 1910
The Women's Club Movement played throughout early 20th century America. In northeastern Pennsylvania, women met under the aegis of the State Federation of Women's Clubs' Northeastern District. As paradigms of activism in small town America, Scranton's Century Club (founded in 1911) and the College Club (1890) spearheaded labor reform, philanthropy, education and health care. Illustrated with slides, this 50-minute lecture will introduce remarkable women who succeeded in reforming their communities during a time when they could not vote or hold office.

Josephine Dunn, Waverly
Associate Professor of Art History, University of Scranton

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