Adeline Peck · African American · First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site · Pioneer · St. Charles · St. Charles County · Uncategorized

Rediscovering the women at Missouri’s First State Capitol

Research has shown that women in history are nonexistent to elementary age boys and represent just a glimmer in the minds of girls. So, it's an awesome thing when historic site interpreters and managers continue to evaluate and question the message they give to visitors about the people who inhabited their site.  Because of their… Continue reading Rediscovering the women at Missouri’s First State Capitol

Uncategorized · Women's History Month

Putting the History back in Women’s History Month

KDHX contacted me in February with an idea:  To feature women in history with short 1 minute biographies, aired during Women's History Month. They wanted to honor women from Missouri and Illinois because, being in St. Louis, their listening area covered both states. I was asked if I was interested in writing a few brief… Continue reading Putting the History back in Women’s History Month

Activist · Adeline Couzins · African American · Author · Carrie Nation · Celia · Civil War · Cole County · Edna Gellhorn · Fannie Hurst · Hall of Famous Missourians · Jefferson City · Kate Chopin · Suffrage · Temperence · Uncategorized · Virginia Minor · Voting Rights

Bustable Women

The Hall of Famous Missourians has been in the news recently, igniting debate over who should be honored in our state capitol. Here at Missouri Women, we like to imagine a fantasy Hall of Famous Missourians. One that would include a few more women. Like these ladies: Virginia Minor Maya Angelou Edna Gellhorn Fannie Hurst… Continue reading Bustable Women

Barton County · Golden City · Sex Researcher · St. Louis · St. Louis Walk of Fame · Valentine's Day · Virginia Johnson · Washington University

Virginia Johnson

Virginia Johnson, of Masters & Johnson, pushed for a better life and ended up revolutionizing the way the world looked at-- and practiced-- sex.  She wasn’t a physician or an academic.  She was simply a woman who wasn’t afraid to give her perspective on sex, in a field full of men who already thought they… Continue reading Virginia Johnson

Actress · Betty Grable · Dancer · Hall of Famous Missourians · Jefferson City · Legs · Movies · St. Louis · St. Louis Walk of Fame

Betty Grable

Conn and Lillian Grable had a pact - no more children. It was 1916 - Marjorie was 6 and their little son John had just died. But when Lillian found herself pregnant again she was not going to give up her baby- no matter what Conn said. Lillian's dream was to be a dancer. She… Continue reading Betty Grable

Activist · Belton · Carrie Nation · Cass County · Holden · Johnson County · Temperence · Warrensburg

Carrie Nation

When Carrie Nation read Jeremiah 1:10 in her Bible, she wrote "SMASHING" next to it. Jeremiah wrote, "I have this day set thee over the nation and over the kingdoms to root out and pull down and to destroy ..." and Carrie read, "pick up an axe and smash up bars." Carrie Moore was born… Continue reading Carrie Nation

Civil War · Greene County · Mary Phelps · Springfield

Woman receives honor for orphanages

Springfield News-Leader, 11:00 PM, Sep. 18, 2011, by Claudette Riley Historical marker will remember care of Civil War orphans. The orphaned children of Civil War soldiers were fed, loved and looked after in a series of Springfield homes operated by Mary Whitney Phelps. This month, the Civil War Orphans' Home historical marker -- honoring Phelps'… Continue reading Woman receives honor for orphanages

Author · Medium · Patience Worth · Pearl Curran · St. Louis

The Mysterious Tale of Patience Worth

by Jean Schiffman San Francisco Arts Monthly September 2011 Vol. 21 No. 3 Seances were held; novels, poems, short stories and plays were published, all of which were supposedly dictated by the garrulous Patience, a 17th-century English immigrant to America. (No proof was ever found that such a person existed.) Pearl and her husband, John… Continue reading The Mysterious Tale of Patience Worth

Author · Cole County · Hall of Famous Missourians · Jefferson City · Laura Ingalls Wilder · Mansfield · Pioneer · Wright County

Laura Ingalls Wilder

If you were in elementary school in the past thirty years, chances are you read about Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her Little House books have impacted thousands of kids - the easy to read stories sweep readers away to Laura's childhood as a pioneer on the frontier. She wrote the books in Mansfield, Missouri. Laura came to Missouri… Continue reading Laura Ingalls Wilder