Post #8 – Women’s Memoirs, Rosie the Riveter – Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett
Women’s History Month and Women’s Memoirs
Kendra and I are celebrating Women’s History Month with a special offer on our Rosie the Riveter Legacy Bandanas. Actually, we want to give you two for free. To learn more, click here.
We have had several posts acknowledging Women’s History Month. Most recently, Kendra wrote about three women important in her life. My challenge was to decide on a few women who have been important to me. Today, I am posting about one woman here, a second on Story Circle Network’s Telling HerStories and a third on SCN’s One Woman’s Day, where I share the story of a special woman who inspired me. I hope you’ll follow the links and read about all three amazing women.
Eleanor Roosevelt has long inspired me. Although younger people may no longer think about her, as recently as 1999 she was listed in the Top 10 in Gallup’s List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century. She may have dropped off the list for some people but she will always be on my list. For me, she represents that balance of a person from wealth and privilege who used her assets to help others not as fortunate. In addition to being the legs and ears for her husband, she was also an advocate for civil rights, a delegate to the UN from 1945 until 1952 and chair of the Kennedy’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
A few years ago, we visited her home, Val-Kill Cottage, in Hyde Park. Standing in the room where she wrote, worked, and lived brought her to life for me — much more so than photos and videos had done. I saw some of her letters and could imagine her sitting at her desk.
Now I often wear one of her quotes: It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. My youngest son had a necklace made for me with that quote and I wrote about it at the end of last year.
In May, 2010, I was in Washington, DC, for my high school 50th reunion. I eagerly took an afternoon to visit the Roosevelt monument. In the photo, you see me shaking hands with Eleanor Roosevelt. Many had touched her hands before me–making the bronze shine with their admiration.
My mother, a lifelong Republican, surprised me when I asked her to name the woman she most admired. This was part of a conversation a few years before she died at the age of 95. Without missing a beat, Mother said, “Eleanor Roosevelt.” I thought she might have said Nancy Reagan or perhaps an Oklahoma-born woman. I was so surprised that I didn’t think to ask why. I suppose Eleanor Roosevelt’s deeds are bigger than life for many of us.
So during Women’s History Month of 2011, I give my thanks to Eleanor Roosevelt and the many other women who have done so much for the rest of us, who have helped lead the way so that we can have better, fuller lives.
By the way, since it matters what each woman thinks about her life, I will note that her memoir is still in print. The Autobiography Of Eleanor Roosevelt
One of the Amazon reviews of her autobiography might give all memoir writers a goal for our writing:
“The best way to describe this book is comparing it to a long chat with a woman you’ve respected for a long time. You knew things about her, you heard the rumors, but now you’re sitting with her, listening to her tell you how she really felt things happened.”
Women’s History Month
Rosie’s Daughters
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter Bandana
memoir writing
memoir
