tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27293946528133515762024-03-13T16:09:17.450-07:00California WomenWomen in California's history. Places to go, books to read, commentary, debunking of bad history."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-45484199077153987602010-05-26T15:50:00.000-07:002010-05-26T16:15:05.578-07:00Rita Lakin, mystery writerI discovered Lakin's books at a book fair, and was intrigued by their fictional detective and location. Gladdy Gold is a 79-year-old retiree in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she lives in the Lanai Gardens senior apartments. She is so full of Yiddish sass that Lakin includes a glossary for those unfamiliar with the bits of that language that remain in some spoken vocabularies. Her crew of sleuths include her sister Evvie Markowitz and Ida Franz. These are not soft-spoken elderly ladies, which can be a problem when they encounter nearby residents like Hy Binder, "man of a thousand jokes, all of them tasteless" or his thought-deprived wife. The population also includes care takers, Holocaust survivors, leches, and Cubans in various roles. The humor is often Borscht belt as the ladies deal with finding killers. At the same time there is the underlying reality, the bittersweet reminders of daily troubles the elderly either triumph over or submit to in less satisfactory ways.<br /><br />What is this series doing in this blog? Lakin is a longtime Californian who still resides here. She had a successful television career, both as a writer and eventually as a producer. She wrote many movies of the week, and has won a variety of awards, including the prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Award for mystery writers.<br /><br />So you have a mother retired in Florida? Here's what to send as a mitzvah to give her a dose of the best medicine, lots of laughs. Ok, she may kvetch back, but just roll your eyes and keep quiet. Of course, read the book first for your own pleasure.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ritalakin.com/">Rita Lakin</a> also has a blog, and a new book about to come out, <span style="font-style: italic;">Growing Old is Tres Dangereux. </span>"Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-85381693074889772552010-05-24T15:34:00.000-07:002010-05-24T17:49:11.652-07:00Barbara RosenblumA much-beloved woman in my music world is dying. We sang under her direction recently and she had difficulty completing the concert due to pain. Watching her these past weeks has brought in mind Barbara Rosenblum. She was the kind of friend I expected to grow old with. I imagined us, gray-haired, bad knees, laughing about the night she gave me some really bad-trip weed. Or how she would put on a Fats Waller record and we would dance around her Bush Street living room, the propeller on her beanie a-spin.<br /><br />We met as novice sociologists at a woman's group. She had managed an unfortunately short-lived job at Stanford and lived in SF. Coming from the east, as I did, we were sympatico from the start. I was a single mom, and she lived with a sweet Japanese photographer, David, who taught me to surf fish. We both shared a fascination with photographs in sociology, and Barbara's first book was on professional photographers. Her home was a welcoming respite during some hard times for me, both for her intense intellectualism and her wild sense of fun.<br /><br />We were less in touch when our personal lives shifted. She shifted into a gay life style, and I was unhappy with one of her choices for a partner. We had some fights, good ones, that we eventually got over. Then I remarried and she found Sandy, the kind of opposite that works so well in building a solid relationship. In her forties, Barbara was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer. She remarked that she guessed she would have to teach the rest of us about dying, which she did with abandon. She travelled, she continued her intellectual and teaching life. The last time I saw her, I took a portable microscope and tiny flowers for her to study. She was honest to the end, and kept all of her friends informed of her condition. I still miss her, over 25 years later, and regret we can't wonder over the latest political morass.<br /><br />She and Sandy co-wrote one of the best books ever on intimates dealing with a fatal disease, <span style="font-style: italic;">Cancer in Two Voices</span>. It won some awards, but I don't think it remains in print. Find a copy if you can."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-43396636954033985462010-04-01T14:30:00.000-07:002010-04-01T15:11:21.123-07:00Elinor Remick Warren, 1900-1991Similar to the fine arts, music has been a field where women have not received the lasting notice deserved. On an impulse, I searched for a California woman composer and came up with this name. During infancy Warren's musical inclinations were evident, and she was composing by age five. Her musical parents nurtured her education in piano, voice, and composition. While still a high school student, Warren published her first work, "A Song of June," with noted publisher G. Schirmer. There followed one year at Mills College to study singing, but her teachers recognized her gifts in composition and convinced her parents to send her to New York. There she continued private studies in composing and accompaniment.<br /><br />During the early 1920s she toured as an accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera, performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras, and published in her favorite format, the choral work. Moving to Los Angeles, she studied orchestration and wrote her first symphonic work, "The Harp Weaver," set to the poem of Edna Vincent Millay. Critics described the work as "melodious, picturesque, and imbued with appropriate feeling...effective tone-painting" and praised the composer's "genuine creative talent." The premiere of<b> </b>was conducted by Antonia Brico at Carnegie Hall in 1936. Warren found herself set among other neo-romanticists, such as Samuel Barber and Giancarlo Menotti.<br /><br />Intensely private and comitted to her craft, she continued with numerous songs, choral pieces, and symphonic works, often referring to English poets for inspiration. This accompanied a full family life with a supportive husband, a professional singer, who kept the children away when she was working. Despite the rise of atonal music, she refused to shift her preferred style, and had the satisfaction of seeing her works performed throughout the country. Further evidence of her achievement was the commissioning of works, such as her "Symphony in One Movement."<br /><br />To understand obstacles what she faced, consider this exchange, and note the recent date:<br /><p> "I don't think compositions, whether they're large or small, have a gender, as far as the music goes, and I think it makes no difference to state `this is a woman composer,' `this is a man composer,'" Warren commented in a 1987 interview. </p><p> "I've had many people say to me `You play like a man,' or `Your music sounds as if it were written by a man.' I think they associate any kind of music that is rather strong or powerful with manliness." </p><p> When the interviewer observed, "Because the work is so big and we just don't expect that of a woman," Warren shot back, "I don't know why. Women have thoughts too!"<br /></p><p>More than 200 of Warren's works remain available in publication form, and several major works in CD by leading artists. One of these was created when she was 86, when Cambria Records asked her to accompany singers on an album of her works. An organization<br /></p><p>On a personal note, I wonder about my own stifled musical career. What if the orchestras I visited in my youth included women? What if my education had included the long line of noted women composers? And why did it require a web search to learn about Warren when I have been in choral groups all my life? After all, the repertoire of my current group includes Samuel Barber. I think I have some education to do with some local conductors....and send them to the<a href="http://www.elinorremickwarren.com/"> Elinor Remick Warren Society.</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>"Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-24508549306738623392010-03-22T15:13:00.000-07:002010-03-22T15:25:09.177-07:00Do Your Own History<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:14px;" ><div style="margin: 0px;font-family:tahoma,times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;font-family:tahoma,times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;font-family:times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The following comment is a reminder of how important it is for you to preserve information about women's groups in which you are active, whether political, civil rights, artistic, craft, domestic skills, and so forth. Don't toss. Donate to your local library if you can't write a history. What you do is worth saving.<br /><br />I was particularly pleased to receive this information because I know the online collection mentioned in the previous blog does not cover fully the significance of lesbian women in Sonoma County's movement for rights.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />Dear Eclectic Reader:</span><div style="margin: 0px; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I read your notes with great interest. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> I spent last Saturday at an event that was, indeed, as much a celebration of National Women's History Project as well as of the life of the late Mary Ruthsdotter. I had the pleasure of working with Mary on Jolly's project, one of the outgrowths of this is LASC - Lesbian Archives of Sonoma County. We are a small but active group who are recording, via video=taped interviews of groups which lesbians initiated or coordinated. We are working on a twenty five year period from 1965 to 1995 and have inventoried more than sixty organizations, founded or worked on in the lesbian community ranging from restaurants and music venues, to political action groups to a collective counseling center (still in operation). To date we have interviewed the following groups: Penngrove Women's Center ; LVAC (Lesbian Voters Action Caucus; Brown Bag Readers Theatre; Moonrise Cafe;</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Chrysallis Counseling Center and Minerva Productions. In addition to social events, LSAC sponsored an afernoon's conversation with Sally Gearhart and Phyllis Lyon.</span><br /></span></div></div></div></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><br />For further information or to be placed on LSAC's email events list, write to LASC(at)gemail.com.<br /></span>"Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-35343030278333223512010-03-09T15:31:00.000-08:002010-03-09T15:46:51.781-08:00Sonoma County Women's HistorySeveral years ago the late Mary Ruthsdotter, one of the founders of the National Women's History Project, conceived of a history of the feminist movement in Sonoma County, where it was very active from the first stirrings. Having been part of that history, I was interviewed by Professor Michelle Jolly of Sonoma State University. Ruthsdotter spurred Jolly to do oral histories as part of a class she was teaching. With the help of the California Humanities, Jolly was also able to post some of the findings on a website, <a href="http://www.sonomawomenshistory.org/"> Sonoma Womens HIstory</a><br /><br />One unexpected source concerns an index of newspaper articles from the Press Democrat between 1969 and 1978. Clicking a box in the graphical display offers the headline and particular source information. The first two articles in 1969 exquisitely reflect the cusp of change. One concerns a Candlelight Ball, while the other announces a luncheon for war mothers, this being the era of Vietnam. Skimming over later titles, one is reminded of the enormous commitment of women then to establish support groups in various fields, to rally against discrimination, to pressure for new laws, and more. Those of us who lived through that time wonder why that history has been relatively forgotten. How often do my cohort members comment upon the set belief of so many young California women that equality is here, when that is not the case? We feel cranky, but when I survey what we attempted, perhaps we deserve to feel such annoyance."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-87242048288516613152010-02-15T16:49:00.000-08:002010-02-15T17:07:18.225-08:00Ella Lefland, writer(The writing muse seems to have struck again, following a long break. So entries will be arriving at shorter intervals.)<br /><br />I read Leffland's 1970 novel <span style="font-style: italic;">Rumors of Peace</span> several years ago, yet many of its scenes still resonate. The story takes place at the start of World War II in fictional Mendoza that resembles Martinez or Carquinez. Told through the viewpoint of young Susie Hansen, the war's approach takes on the particularity of its location. A tomboy when the bombers attack Pearl Harbor, she has learned to appreciate her burgeoning womanliness by the time of Hiroshima. Guiding her on this journey is the radical and brilliant older sister of her best friend. Susie's mentor helps her to navigate a self-acceptance that acknowledges her new sexuality without compromising and swallowing the standard female role of the time. So it is a path many, including myself, have followed.<br /><br />This book works on so many levels, as coming-of-age, as the war's effect upon California, as a commentary on the difficulties of friendship, and more. I was dismayed to discover it is no longer in my library, though that absence means someone else is enjoying my copy, perhaps a purchase at a library sale. Highly recommended for all readers, and would serve a special gift to young adult readers and fans of California history.<br /><br />Leffland's latest book, which I have yet to read, concerns a biography of Hermann Goering. One of these days..."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-44103888487973150192009-10-29T17:17:00.000-07:002009-10-29T17:29:53.679-07:00Still missing....depending on where you lookToday the California Historical Society sent me a message concerning their store. I checked out their book list and was dismayed to find not one concerned women or women's activities in California. The society's journal, <span style="font-style: italic;">California History</span>, has not been so exclusive, and in fact has published articles that have been on the forefront of the latest historical thinking. For example, the latest issue concerns three generation of women who contributed to the Spanish Revival movement in architecture. Several issues past explored the significant role of conservative women during the 1950s, an important reminder that women's history should include all varieties of political and feminist thought. <br /><br />I look forward every time this excellent publication appears in my mail box, and read it through. Unfortunately, it is not something that will come before the purview of the average Californian, let alone one who wanders into the Society in San Francisco. I would love to be an editor at a publishing house right now and sign up people to fill the gap in the book shelves. <br /><br />Meanwhile, another source that once available in local bookstores is <span style="font-style: italic;">The Californians.</span> This magazine was well-designed for the general public, well-illustrated with historic photographs and artwork, well-referenced articles, and complete primary documents. Its demise years ago is still missed by those of us fascinated with state history, and notably that of its women's role."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-80874787592198229492009-07-31T17:30:00.000-07:002009-07-31T18:09:58.325-07:00Anna Strunsky WallingAnna Strusky is well-known to those who are familiar with Jack London's life. They crossed paths at various socialist events during the turn of the 20th century. Born in Russia in 1877, Walling was 9 when her family emigrated to America, and 16 when it settled in San Francisco. She attended Stanford as one of its first female students, and assisted William James in some of his research. As a result of her socialist enthusiasm, one shared with older sister Rose, she did not remain at the university. <br /><br />Intrigued by Strunsky's commitment and intellectuality, London invited her to collaborate on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Kempton-Wace Letters</span>, published anonymously. The imaginary epistolary exchange concerns the existence of love, whether it is real and the basis for a strong marriage (Strunsky) or whether science should determine the selection of partners (London). London did marry on the basis of his wife Bess Maddern's solid potential as a progenitor of strong children. Two years into the marriage London and Strunsky fell in love, though she spurned him once she learned his wife was expecting a second child. He remained the great love of her life nonetheless.<br /><br />Anna Strunsky's place in California history is thus not very significant, except as she represents one of many women of her time participating in the socialist movement of the Bay area. Had she remained in the state, instead of marrying William Walling and moving east, she would doubtless have played a larger role in California political movements. She also came from a Jewish family that grew in influence in San Francisco as a center for intellectual and political discussion. <br /><br />James Boylan's <span style="font-style: italic;">Revolutionary Lives </span>(University of Massachusetts Press) is the only book to date to explore Strunsky's socialism, which continued with her marriage to Walling. The couple spent two years in Russia, along with sister Rose, during a time of revolutionary outbreak, and were eventually jailed before being expelled from the country. They returned to New York to become key founders of the NAACP. Strunsky's promise as a writer and activist were squelched by the demands of her husband, who belittled her capabilities. They eventually parted ways when she remained a pacifist during WWI. As her children reached adulthood, she was once more active in political causes and writing. She died in 1964, survived by four children.<br /><br />Sister Rose also moved to New York, settling in Greenwich Village. She became a noted translator of Russian works, notably those of Leon Trotsky. Rose married Louis Lorwin in 1920, and died in 1963."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-3602078934214853112008-09-03T11:44:00.000-07:002008-09-03T12:23:15.641-07:00Juana Briones de MirandaHere is a topic for your child or grandchild taking California history to write about. Briones was born in 1802 in Santa Cruz. Her maternal grandparents and mother were part of the deAnza expedition in 1776, choosing to escape the rigid, complex racial caste system of Mexico for better opportunities in an unknown land. Her mother married one of the many soldiers who came to protect missions from Indians and incursions from other countries' explorers.<br /><br />Juana and her siblings grew up in the <a href="http://http://www.nps.gov/prsf/historyculture/index.htm">San Francisco presidio</a>, where in 1820 she married one of its soldiers, Apollinario de Miranda. There she bore eight children and adopted a Native American child as well. When her husband retired, they moved to what is now North Beach in <span style="font-style: italic;">Yerba Buena</span>, where she kept a vegetable and herbal garden, as well as raised cattle for the hide-and-tallow trade. From her extended family she had learned the complex skills of natural medicine and was a renowned midwife and <span style="font-style: italic;">curandera </span> who treated visiting sailors as well as local residents. She also learned from Native Americans, whose instructions helped her manage a small pox epidemic in Marin in 1834, and the setting of broken bones.<br /><br />Briones <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/group/presidio/juana.html">challenged even the church authority </a>by appealing to the bishop for a sancioned separation from her alcoholic and physically abusive husband in 1844.<span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" > <span style="font-size:100%;">"</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Your Lordship, my husband is the greatest obstacle placed before my children, because from him they learn nothing but swearing, blasphemy, and ugly, lewd, and dissolute behavior. How will I excuse myself before God, if I do not seek, as much as I can, all possible means of ridding my family of such as bad example?"</span> </span> </span>Nevertheless, the curate repeatedly ordered her to return her family home, which she refused. This was a most rebellious act for a woman of her belief and culture. Eventually she dropped her husband's name and referred to herself as a widow.<br /><br />Juana had always been close to her sisters, using them at times for refuge, and purchasing with them lands beyond <span style="font-style: italic;">Yerba Buena</span>. In 1844 she acquired the 4,400 acre <em><a href="http://www.brioneshouse.org/juanas_life.htm">Rancho La Purisima Concepcion</a> </em>covering parts of what is now Palo Alto and Los Altos. The adobe home she built remains and is part of a historic preservation effort. There continued her very successful ranching business and contributions to her community, with help from no men, including any of her sons, nor other male relations. <br /><br />Briones is one of many Spanish-speaking women from this early period who broke beyond the restricted Mexican culture. Of mixed-race, she was able to achieve what would have been impossible in her mestizo grandparents' homeland, where emphasis on whiteness was obsessive and essential to advancement. She was able to take advantage of the Spanish culture's more liberal view towards women owning or inheriting property. Finally, in her standing up to the church, she would represent one of many whose challenge would spark a move toward secular government and society."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-65794474500079871032008-07-30T16:35:00.000-07:002008-07-30T17:05:45.090-07:00Kay Ryan, Poet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnU_GnJ71V8-S3VmI9E1AvMQIWrThWMS1AfyjfdR1P7vNuOpTyRH3a-uRTqIi0WRs445dXu7NCTgVLRAcC94a1MKQMaKUcVXqYk5hDJQ8TPvjWy3or1jcVfhJ7QUA5RH7ANsvM76MQM_I/s1600-h/kay+ryan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnU_GnJ71V8-S3VmI9E1AvMQIWrThWMS1AfyjfdR1P7vNuOpTyRH3a-uRTqIi0WRs445dXu7NCTgVLRAcC94a1MKQMaKUcVXqYk5hDJQ8TPvjWy3or1jcVfhJ7QUA5RH7ANsvM76MQM_I/s320/kay+ryan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228959551723784610" border="0" /></a><br />Ryan, a lifelong Californian and graduate of UCLA, was recently named our 16th Poet Laureate. [Ryan, on right, with Emily Warn at a poetry conference. Photo: Star Black,Flickr]<br /><br />It was only after this announcement that I became familiar with her writing. What I discovered was someone who is unafraid of the most commonplace as the basis for wonder. A friend e-mailed me "Home to Roost," which begins:<br /><br />The chickens<br />are circling and<br />blotting out the<br />day. The sun is<br />bright, but the<br />chickens are in<br />the way....<br /><br />These charming first lines, with the almost childlike rhyme of day/way soon unfurls to offer a metaphorical commentary open to various interpretations. See the entirety of "Home to Roost" and several other of her poems at this <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/poetry/profiles/poet_ryan.html">PBS poetry page</a>.<br /><br />Ryan lives in Marin County, where she is also a mountain biker, so you could perhaps have a sudden encounter with her on Mount Tam. She admits to preferring a hermetic life, and is now forced to deal with publicity and perhaps more appearances than she would prefer.<br /><br />Ryan has been published in many literary journals and magazines. Her collections of poetry are:<cite class="book" style="font-style: normal;" id="Reference-Ryan-1983"> <i>Dragon Acts to Dragon Ends</i>. Fairfax, CA: Taylor Street Press, 1983. </cite><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Dragon+Acts+to+Dragon+Ends&rft.aulast=Ryan&rft.aufirst=Kay&rft.date=1983&rft.pub=Taylor+Street+Press&rft.place=Fairfax%2C+CA&rft.pages=64+p&rft.isbn=0911407006"><span style="display: none;"></span></span><cite class="book" style="font-style: normal;" id="Reference-Ryan-1985"><i><br />Strangely Marked Metal</i>. Providence, RI: Copper Beech Press, 1985.</cite><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Strangely+Marked+Metal&rft.aulast=Ryan&rft.aufirst=Kay&rft.date=1985&rft.pub=Copper+Beech+Press&rft.place=Providence%2C+RI&rft.pages=50+p&rft.isbn=0914278460"><span style="display: none;"></span></span><cite class="book" style="font-style: normal;" id="Reference-Ryan-1994"><i><br />Flamingo Watching</i>. Providence, RI: Copper Beech Press, 1994.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">E</span></cite><cite class="book" style="font-style: normal;" id="Reference-Ryan-1997"><span style="font-style: italic;">lephant Rocks, </span> New York: Grove Press, 1997.</cite><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Elephant+Rocks&rft.aulast=Ryan&rft.aufirst=Kay&rft.date=1997&rft.pub=Grove+Press&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=84+p&rft.isbn=0802115861&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DDDo1yct_UlQC"><span style="display: none;"></span></span><cite class="book" style="font-style: normal;" id="Reference-Ryan-2000"><i><br />Say Uncle</i>. New York: Grove Press, 2000.</cite><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Say+Uncle&rft.aulast=Ryan&rft.aufirst=Kay&rft.date=2000&rft.pub=Grove+Press&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=80+p&rft.isbn=0802137172"><span style="display: none;"> </span></span><cite class="book" style="font-style: normal;" id="Reference-Ryan-2005"><i><br />Niagara River</i>. New York: Grove Press, </cite><cite class="book" style="font-style: normal;" id="Reference-Ryan-1997">2005.<br /></cite>"Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-6346143016897807792008-07-16T18:44:00.000-07:002008-07-17T16:43:21.867-07:00Caroline Seymour Severance, 1820-1914<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7ENnKgyAxHqO-5zjlwyy5JUrIXEjAxpaPBn-ZDLfopKUvsZAXy0mr2R_QrWXtHX2Bt-TnJvMMu4gPB9x_DC_bJJ-N4JtABrMlLuD1ZwBKNNJxC6JcaiCqcqUcmV7KjU8eoysRinh-Ic/s1600-h/fridayclub.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7ENnKgyAxHqO-5zjlwyy5JUrIXEjAxpaPBn-ZDLfopKUvsZAXy0mr2R_QrWXtHX2Bt-TnJvMMu4gPB9x_DC_bJJ-N4JtABrMlLuD1ZwBKNNJxC6JcaiCqcqUcmV7KjU8eoysRinh-Ic/s320/fridayclub.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224121065260666978" border="0" /></a><br />At age 91, <a href="http://www25-temp.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/carolineseverance.html">Caroline Seymour Severance</a> deserved the honor of becoming the first woman in California to register to vote in Los Angeles following the passage of state suffrage in 1911. She was instrumental on several fronts in facilitating the suffrage movement both nationally and in her adopted state. Similar to many women of wealth during her time, she focused her philanthropy on the needs of women and children. <br /><br />Raised in New York, Severance was a school teacher until her marriage to banker Theordore Severance in 1840. They lived in Ohio and Boston, where she became instrumental in founding a variety of organizations. Some consider her the "Mother of the Woman's Clubs" because of her role in creating and fostering such organizations. She was very active in Woman's Rights conventions. She headed the committee that founded the first regional suffrage association, the New England Woman's Suffrage Association, which formed in response to the failure of the abolitionist cause to achieve equal rights for women. In 1866 she helped Susan B. Anthony found the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Equal_Rights_Association">Equal Rights Association.</a> Several years later she joined Lucy Stone and others in creating the <a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawshome.html">National American Woman Suffrage Association. </a><br /><br />When the family moved to Los Angeles in 1875, Severance could have slowed down, but she continued her many activities. Among her contributions were the establishment of several kindergartens, the first Unitarian congregation in LA, and various women's groups. Most important was her developing the Friday Morning Club (pictured as built 938-940 South Figueroa Street) which became the center of social reform activities. Such groups developed boarding hotels for single working women, training programs for better job opportunities, orphanages, hospitals, and schools. <span style="font-size:85%;">[Photo courtesy of Library of Congress]</span><br /><br /><br />Although women's clubs initially formed for self-education and social reform, eventually they committed more directly to suffrage. Through these clubs women learned to speak in public, to coordinate activities, to create and manage organizations, and to publicize their works. As a result, they became an important base, already in existence, for securing the vote. Regrettably, no comprehensive biography of this significant leader exists, and she is omitted from textbooks on California history."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-17125975748480231572008-07-04T16:52:00.000-07:002008-07-17T16:04:46.398-07:00Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2WxlmES_5Mv4j9wYdv-93Sp9d9VHAUAcZLzwHuzcBK9R3HEzh9KNvN6AlC2O2SBAW3clx5o6CMJQpvL5JsQ2VyqGkeMPAuO1bbtK-0EXls5iJCkAW3koURrmnMgBMkfhdIniLijPZsg/s1600-h/del+martin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2WxlmES_5Mv4j9wYdv-93Sp9d9VHAUAcZLzwHuzcBK9R3HEzh9KNvN6AlC2O2SBAW3clx5o6CMJQpvL5JsQ2VyqGkeMPAuO1bbtK-0EXls5iJCkAW3koURrmnMgBMkfhdIniLijPZsg/s320/del+martin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219317571035813298" border="0" /></a><br />A belated entry for this couple that was most deservedly allowed the first marriage at San Francisco City Hall in June, 2008. When I was growing up back east, I never heard the word lesbian or any reference to it. My mother knew gay men and described her first trip to a gay bar, yet it never occurred to me that women could be gay. (Photo by Mi-ly on Flickr. Thanks!)<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Clarice/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />Then I went to a woman's college where one year two women were ordered to leave their dorm rooms open 24/7. How was that for making a point? The result was to arouse great sympathy for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">beleaguered</span> dorm mates. (It's always interested me that many of the women administrators there were unmarried, and not visibly dating men. How many of them were in the closet?) Of course, this was before the civil rights movement, and women professors got paid and promoted less than their male colleagues, so homosexuality was definitely taboo as a public event.<br /><br />Martin and Lyon moved to San Francisco in 1953, where they started the Daughters of Bilitis, the first major national organization for lesbians. In 1967, they joined the National Organization of Women and fought to eliminate homophobia from the nascent women's rights movement.<br /><br />Moving eventually to Northern California in 1970, I had forthright lesbian students and befriended a number of them. They taught me pool, how to dance better, and urged me speak up more as a woman. <a style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Martin_and_Phyllis_Lyon">Martin and Lyon</a>'s 1972 book on lesbian women was groundbreaking for these young women, who were so significant as activists in the women's right movement locally. It is difficult to imagine what courage it took on the authors' part to write on this topic. Many of my students had been disowned by their families, but created an extended fictive family in the area that remains to this day. I like to think of these early students also marrying. They taught me much more about life and injustice than I offered them in the classroom."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-6299568363570275952008-06-14T12:35:00.000-07:002008-06-14T12:51:32.772-07:00Paula Gunn Allen, Ph.D., 1939-2008Raised in New Mexico of Laguna Pueblo-Métis-Scot and Lebanese heritages,this award-winning poet and scholar spent much of her professional life teaching at California universities. Allen's many books introduced readers to Native American literature, and she was key in having that literature taken seriously by critics. Gender also wove through her writings, as is evidenced by her last nonfiction book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Pocohantas</span>, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She was equally renowned for her poetry, which has been anthologized widely. For more on this important writer and scholar, an <a style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);" href="http://www.paulagunnallen.net/">online memorial</a> offers more biography, book lists, and photographs."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-33941566585967806292008-06-07T14:06:00.000-07:002008-06-07T14:40:41.627-07:00California Women: A HistoryJoan M. Jensen and Gloria Ricci Lothrop wrote this for the blue paperback Golden State Series (Boyd and Fraser Publishing), surveys written for a general audience and students, yet with the research base of solid scholarship. Published in 1987, it remains the <span style="font-style: italic;">only</span> history of women in California. As such, it reflects historical perspective of a time when women's history was in formation. The material is necessarily spotty because so much material had yet to be available. Nonetheless, this is an essential reference for anyone who writes about or studies California.<br /><br />A notable gap concerns Native American women. Characteristic of the simplistic model developed under anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, the writers describe Indian life as though it never had a history of its own, that there was a classic life style that did not change. Nor is there concern with the great variability in Native California cultures. (A book specific to this topic remains to be written.)<br /><br />The few pages on Californias also paints broad strokes, with emphasis upon ranchero dwellers. The writers do refer to specific individuals, such as Eulalia de Perez, who had been interviewed late in life. Scholarship since the 1980s has filled in much more about these women and more particularly how historical events forced changes in their lives, even before the change in governing to statehood.<br /><br />Chapters on the establishment of San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Progressive era movements, the development of women's labor through time, and women gaining a role in governing make up for the pre-1848 weakness. The writers are careful to note the rise of parallel institutions (clubs, social service societies, etc.), such as those of Catholic and African American women, alongside the more visible WASP-based ones. They weave throughout the different opportunities for working and middle-class women. They spotlight notable organizers in many fields. The final chapter on the feminist wave of 1960s-80s discusses divisiveness among women's groups as well as their achievements.<br /><br />Since this book was completed, a generation of young historians, men as well as women, have published scholarly studies on very specific subtopics of this history. Kevin Starr's series on California history pays homage at times in particular to elite women so significant in the development of cultural institutions or in support of women's causes. His book on World War II also appreciates the complex role of women at home and in the labor force. Yet the major college and high school texts neglect to write a comprehensive history where women are equal participants. Instead, there remains too much "add in" and "afterthought" asides, a "we won't forget the women" compensation of little value. Someone has to write an updated survey that incorporates this new material, because until then it is unlikely the textbook writers will improve their presentation."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-33490143630520306092008-05-21T11:25:00.000-07:002008-07-17T16:12:56.475-07:00Elizabeth Gunn, 1811-1906<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Xwhxz-x7ALZ2zvxZ9ZFEPwekuMd8121B_MXZBOPWUhjaYvYTk0lsL_Q7111HheYuZoISZP_Y2xR2mOIjIsT5xm94XQ-rH1zEIPm2eh2YUyWmKSVK5EET4qijukRCRom-X6-OT0yDYDY/s1600-h/gunn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Xwhxz-x7ALZ2zvxZ9ZFEPwekuMd8121B_MXZBOPWUhjaYvYTk0lsL_Q7111HheYuZoISZP_Y2xR2mOIjIsT5xm94XQ-rH1zEIPm2eh2YUyWmKSVK5EET4qijukRCRom-X6-OT0yDYDY/s320/gunn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224124946357720082" border="0" /></a><br />I stayed at the Gunn house in Sonora several times before learning that its original owner had written about her travel to and life in California. She went around the Horn with four children in 1851 to join her husband Lewis, who had been mining for two years. He owned the local newspaper, and upset locals with his liberal views. In 1861 the family moved to San Francisco. In 1928, daughter Anna Lee Marston edited her father's journal and mother's letters into <span style="font-style: italic;">Letters of a California Family.</span> This is one of the few documents to include three members of a family, for Marston adds her own remarks, with regard to settling the state.<br /><br />Thanks to the Library of Congress, you can <a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/calbk:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28calbk020div0%29%29">read the full book online.</a>. It is part of a collection called <span style="font-style: italic;">California As I Saw It: First Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900.</span> Gunn's writing is crisp and filled with anecdotes telling of the time's attitudes and daily life. Whenever you can, read original documents from a period of interest. This LOC site could keep you entertained for days!<br /><br />I also recommend the <a href="http://gunnhousehotel.com/">Gunn House</a> when you are visiting Route 49 and the Gold Country. It retains much of its adobe structure and its cozy rooms are furnished accordingly. The lounge/breakfast room is particularly inviting, and the breakfast buffet among the best you'll find at a B&B."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-69681633076891614512008-05-14T16:36:00.000-07:002008-07-17T16:31:32.458-07:00Maxine Crissman, "Lefty Lou"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQhQQM5sZrHyTVJ3Y8UiwDgqSI7rwdWEGupKizOlpdt1As66EmcXe-bBUVRIdFiaV4QBrBRgH8XYRSyin1EUiEh11y5KL_QX6m184OQIOYCDACTPQqv-8PIA8dm5j_lVaD5_L0laJhZc/s1600-h/leftylou.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQhQQM5sZrHyTVJ3Y8UiwDgqSI7rwdWEGupKizOlpdt1As66EmcXe-bBUVRIdFiaV4QBrBRgH8XYRSyin1EUiEh11y5KL_QX6m184OQIOYCDACTPQqv-8PIA8dm5j_lVaD5_L0laJhZc/s320/leftylou.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224126584388368194" border="0" /></a><br />Depression Californians brought a new music to the state, old timey hill tunes and style. Woody Guthrie is usually honored for playing the key role in introducing this format, but he was not alone. Guthrie settled in LA (not the farmlands) in 1937, where he met California-raised Crissman, an experienced singer, guitarist, and sax player. (His brother Jack had worked for her father and dated her for a while. During their lifetime, Jack actually gained much greater popularity than Woody as a performer.)<br /><br />The duo were hired by a progressive radio owner, J. Frank Burke, to do daily programs on <a href="http://www.radioheritage.net/Story28.asp">KFVD radio.</a> Titled <span style="font-style: italic;">Woody and Lefty Lou,</span> the pair introduced a wide variety of music, including old blackface minstrelsy, hillbilly, and public-domain folk ballads. Guthrie's lyrics to established tunes, including some by the Carter family, reached out to the working-class listening audience. Crissman's alto voice provided the lead, while Guthrie's higher voice offered harmony. The result was known as a "crossnote trademark."<br /><br />Crissman and Guthrie used their own experiences to encourage listeners to realize they were part of a community. Populism ran through their songs, which grew increasingly political through attacks on political leaders and police who abused the migrants. They urged listeners to vote, to join political groups, to walk on picket lines. Outside the radio station they appeared at rallies in support of the <a href="http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_townsend_plan">Ham and Eggs Plan of Francis Townsend.</a><br /><br />Crissman was on the show only two years. I have not been able to discover what she did afterwards. Anyone who knows, please tell me! Did she drop out of performing completely? This seems strange, given her popularity equal with Woody's at the time. Together they helped make country music an urban phenomenon, as well as contributed to populist pride among migrant Californians."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-54383121603830875362008-05-06T16:19:00.000-07:002008-05-06T16:54:42.452-07:00Grace McCann MorleyWhile researching California women artists, I came across Grace Morley. She is one of several women during the 1930s (e.g., Gertrude Whitney, Juliana Force, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller in New York) who recognized the value of American modern art. Morley was the first director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which she managed for 23 years beginning in 1935.<br /><br />Although women started MOMA and the Whitney in New York, and hired male management, it was men in SF who founded SFMOMA and selected Morley. She was originally from California and had already established her credentials as expert in modern art. Typical of the day, her salary was $2,400 a year, compared with $9,000 for Alfred Barr, the head of MOMA. Morley worked well with Barr toward getting traveling shows from his museum on exhibit in San Francisco. Morley was quick to create and curate shows that left SF for other museums.<br /><br />Morley was gay, though "coming out" was not in practice then. The fact of her having female companions was well known, yet not an issue in her management. Thus anyone interested in GLBT history would benefit from exploring her life and relations.<br /><br />Morley's renown is significant beyond establishing SFMOMA as a major museum in its own right. She was vocal in explaining modern art and encouraging the support of contemporary artists. Her skills in museum management led to her becoming Chair of the Museum Division of UNESCO, which led to the International Council of Museums. She also served as founding editor of that body's professional journal, <span style="font-style: italic;">Museum</span>. These are only a few of her accomplishments in the 20th century art world.<br /><br />Several years after quitting SFMOMA, Morley left San Francisco for India, where she spent her final years running the National Museum. She was unhappy, she later claimed, that the locals would look at art but not spend money on art nor help living artists. She died there at age 84.<br /><br />There is yet no published biography on Morley. Suzanne Reiss conducted <a href="http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/morley_grace_l_mccann.pdf">an oral history for the Bancroft Library</a> in 1960. Kara Kirk wrote her Master's Thesis on Morley for Stanford University. It's about time someone went into the archives and gave Morley her due."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-16117150645409881102008-05-03T16:50:00.000-07:002008-07-17T16:41:10.475-07:00Frances Fuller Victor, 1826-1902<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjRibKNp2_x__OntZNhr7SEGrkKH9aBNJ-hllDDt51nvCiwC2PNyYFNjIHJxWkLrKaxHIZ7fdL-p31V0SJ-ta4DXimI_8W-y6OwCs3SblOy9rlGnlL9DeWVnb-RKbx92gNxmWMjJ3TBA/s1600-h/victor.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjRibKNp2_x__OntZNhr7SEGrkKH9aBNJ-hllDDt51nvCiwC2PNyYFNjIHJxWkLrKaxHIZ7fdL-p31V0SJ-ta4DXimI_8W-y6OwCs3SblOy9rlGnlL9DeWVnb-RKbx92gNxmWMjJ3TBA/s320/victor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224131751929288098" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Victor's best known work is her story <a href="http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/9/3/5/19357/19357.htm">"The New Penelope."</a> There she challenges traditional gender views of the mid-nineteenth century by describing women who take advantage of the opportunities of the new West, yet refuse to submit to customary femininity. Throughout her short stories, Victor presents independent female characters and advises women to follow their model. She repeatedly attacked the "women's sphere" (home, children, piety) as narrow and ambiguous.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span class="medium"> [<span style="font-size:85%;">Photo courtesy of Oregon State University.] </span></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span class="medium"><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Victor and her husband arrived in San Francisco in 1862, and published in both the prestigious </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Overland Monthly</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> and San Francisco newspapers during her time in California. She also wrote an advice column and other woman-centered articles as "Frances Fane." The couple moved to Oregon in 1864, but she divorced her husband several years later.</span></span></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >What is less known about her is her contribution to Hubert Bancroft's massive history of the West. After moving to California again in 1878, she spent thirteen years working as a researcher and writer on his project. She is now acknowledged as author of </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span class="medium"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><i><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31);">The History of Oregon</span></i></span><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31);"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >, <i>The History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, The History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming,</i></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and substantial portions of others. To her understandable dismay, Bancroft claimed full authorship of these books, and mentioned her contribution only in an acknowledgment. At the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, she displayed these four volumes with her name added to the spines alongside Bancroft's.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Victor continued to write well-received books and stories until her death. She became known as the "Historian of Oregon," even though she dared to challenge the favored mythology concerning early settler Marcus Whitman. Though not a lifelong Californian, Victor's influence was nationwide, and her presence in the California publishing scene significant. She deserves new attention and a comprehensive biography.</span><br /><br /></span><br /></span></span>"Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-67211348069746490612008-04-19T11:18:00.000-07:002008-04-20T11:35:10.750-07:00California women artists quiz<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBFRPPme5xrZa64xgkFJNPaUDpfEoDH9JxeldtqkxD6Xi3S3oiV9T80Her8iTkQNJfyFoEe-e2SvQEvGmBjJBV5MTB1OsyD5c2zVW-oLqE1VYBxazauGymHxrsXJUU7LK2IDMCl4CLixI/s1600-h/boatsat+dock.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBFRPPme5xrZa64xgkFJNPaUDpfEoDH9JxeldtqkxD6Xi3S3oiV9T80Her8iTkQNJfyFoEe-e2SvQEvGmBjJBV5MTB1OsyD5c2zVW-oLqE1VYBxazauGymHxrsXJUU7LK2IDMCl4CLixI/s320/boatsat+dock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191025183497807186" border="0" /></a><br />Have you heard of these women? Helen Hyde, Matilda Lotz, Clara Taggart McChesny? They were among California women artists whose paintings were on exhibit at the Columbian International Exposition of 1893. Others were Lucy Conant, Ellen Frances Burpee Carr, Ann Lyle Harmon, Bertha Lee, Evelyn McCormick, and Mary Paxton Herrick Ross. They were all successful and well-known professional artists of their day. Lotz, for example, exhibited throughout Europe and became known as the "American Rosa Bonheur" for her focus on animal portraiture. Do you think you can find them in major museums or galleries today?<br /><br />Only one may be familiar: Grace Carpenter Hudson. The insert is "Boats at Dock" by impressionist Evelyn McCormick, perhaps my favorite artist of the group. Print maker Helen Hyde is in the collections of the Smithsonian and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, which is not to say her works are on the walls."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2729394652813351576.post-68659040351531222272008-04-17T16:31:00.000-07:002008-04-20T11:34:04.479-07:00Native American Artists and Poets<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtVzP6zR3zlmy2kbgkfFxTJFYLvMteHyDHalWGjOvgvS03YNoSnH2b6rQNBcLhDvhx-LDoJI8zX7zyRQILfDspGClyFa5pDm7xlH8jdffAuGZcTpEzZUrrdy_4wg7NbdF4iLhfxi7d8Q/s1600-h/tarweed.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtVzP6zR3zlmy2kbgkfFxTJFYLvMteHyDHalWGjOvgvS03YNoSnH2b6rQNBcLhDvhx-LDoJI8zX7zyRQILfDspGClyFa5pDm7xlH8jdffAuGZcTpEzZUrrdy_4wg7NbdF4iLhfxi7d8Q/s320/tarweed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191397346708972898" border="0" /></a><br />Today I visited the <a href="http://www.gracehudsonmuseum.org/museum.html">Grace Carpenter Hudson museum</a> in Ukiah, which is about to close its special exhibit on Art and Poetry from Native American California. Featuring 32 contemporary artists, the exhibit includes a number of women with whom I'm familiar, including painters Jean LaMarr, L. Frank Manriquez, Judith Lowry, <a href="http://lynrisling.com/">Lyn Risling</a>, and basket maker Julia Parker. The formal exhibit title is <a href="http://www.ceraexhibits.org/exhibits/art/singmeyourstory/index.htm">"Sing Me Your Story, Dance Me Your Home." </a>Themes of sacred rituals, homelands, changing traditions, and more predominate. This was a rare opportunity to view these artists, who with California women artists in general are difficult to find in major museum permanent collections or at the elite art galleries. One of my criteria for art is an element of surprise, of the new, which resonates in most of this exhibit.<br /><br />The poets were new for me, and equally effective. I regret not purchasing the small catalog that included the poems. The exhibit travels to the San Francisco Public Library on May 4, 2008 and to the Tulare Historical Museum on July 13, 2008.<br /><br />For the first time too I could see the permanent gallery with Grace Hudson's art from throughout her career. I was reminded again of how the most exacting reproduction can never match the original. Certain paintings viewed that had struck me as sentimental now delivered a different emotional impact. Her appreciation for the Pomo peoples and culture, her primary subjects, is evident, but to reduce her to a painter of Native Americans is to underestimate some of her work. (Portrait is "Tarweed Gatherer," on exhibit at the GHM.)<br /><br />When will fine artists be judged, as symphony musicians are today, without regard to their identities? Why is art that invokes Native symbols and beliefs somehow set apart in a different box? This is one of the unintended consequences of Ethnic studies and woman's studies, the isolation of the subjects of interest from the mainstream. I welcomed a comment by one painter that Indian artists don't exclusively address their identity in all their work, just as women artists do not invoke solely feminist themes. Following the Civil Rights movements, identity themes did become prominent, e.g. Judy Chicago, and one consequence has been a sense from some quarters that women and ethnic artists <span style="font-style: italic;">must</span> invoke identity. It's like saying male novelists can have only men in their stories. Enough said."Eclectic Reader"http://www.blogger.com/profile/05275583647293263686noreply@blogger.com0