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Women’s History comes alive with the help of talented performers or authors. Costumed performers portray both famous and infamous women from our history with relish and panache while authors and presenters bring the unbridled enthusiasm that comes from years of research and writing about a specific woman or  women’s history topic.

To find performers/authors available within a specific state, use the pull-down list provided below:

STEVE ADAMS
Suffrage Balladeer
Email: stephenjadams@sjadams.net
Phone: 617-721-8563
Website: www.sjadams.net

Description: Steve Adams performs a program of original ballads he authored to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. The 45-minute program includes 8 songs and engaging narrative that provides the historical context for the events and individuals celebrated in the songs. Covering key moments and individuals in the 72-year struggle for the 19th Amendment, the program presents Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass and others as they fight for women’s right to vote.

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JENNY ALDRICH
2019 Chippawa, Sarasota, FL 34234
Phone: 941-735-1260
Email: costars@comcast.net
Website: www.JennyAldrich.com

Performance DescriptionCelebrating women, art and life, these programs use the magic of theatre to bring these artists to your audience. Often in their own words, they describe the people and events that shaped their lives and works. http://jennyaldrichpresents.com/

A Visit with Mary Cassatt. Ms Cassatt, known for her frankness and wit, describes her struggle to become an artist and her life in France during the birth of Impressionism. She was the only American artist to exhibit with the French Impressionists, who considered her an equal. She shares her joy at being a young artist in 19th century Europe and her stormy relationship with Edgar Degas.

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A Circle of Artists. After Mary Cassatt’s breakdown, she became a feminist. Feisty, irreverent and willing to sever her family ties for her beliefs. Cassatt presents women before her time, like Sofonisba Anguissola; women she knew and admired, like Berthe Morisot; women whose work she didn’t respect, like Cecilia Beaux; and women whose work she didn’t understand, like Veladon.

Georgia O’Keeffe: A Dramatic Portrait. Miss O’Keeffe conducts a tour of her world through her sensational flowers, abstracts and cityscapes to the vastness and beauty of the American West. Joyful, irreverent and courageous, she discusses her career, her breakdown, her critics, her “photographic portrait’ by Alfred Stieglitz and their extraordinary relationship.

Lilla Cabot Perry: Impressions of Monet & The American Impressionists Mrs. Perry was a prominent Boston artist, a “Boston Brahmin” and a published poet.  She spent nine summers in Giverny with Claude Monet who encouraged her to paint en plein air. She shares stories about Monet, Sargent, Theodore Robinson, John Breck and Giverny, the “cradle of American Impressionism.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh: An Extraordinary Life. Anne was the author of thirteen books, an aviation pioneer and a feminist. She shares her joy of flying and the numbing tragedy of her son’s kidnapping, illuminating the life that gave her the wisdom to write Gift From the Sea, which, over fifty-five years later, is still widely acclaimed. The program is set in 1975, at a celebration of the 20th anniversary edition of Gift From the Sea with Anne as the featured speaker.

Lillian Hellman: Memories & Moments. Hellman was a brilliant, passionate, provocative woman and an internationally acclaimed author who wrote Broadway plays and best-selling books. Rude, independent and eloquent, she was renowned as a political activist, a wit and extraordinary hostess and a fabulous storyteller. In an illustrious career spanning five decades she won a permanent place in American Letters.

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“Here’s to the Women” is now available as a video production!
LINDA ALLEN
4915 Samish Way, Unit 122, Bellingham, WA  98229
Phone: 360-920-7533
Email: linda@lindasongs.com
Website:  www.lindasongs.com/Suffrage , http://www.lindasongs.com/trailer

Performance Description: The silencing of women’s experience and the empowering of women’s voices as they struggled for the vote will be showcased in this one-hour presentation featuring songs, images, stories and readings.  We meet Helga Estby who walked across America in 1896, Suffragists Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, Ida B. Wells, Inez Milholland, “Rosie, the Riveter”, and many more known and unknown women.   Linda offers a window into these ordinary and extraordinary lives. Dr. Linda Allen is a songwriter, performer and educator.  She has worked with numerous organizations to promote women’s history including the Washington Centennial Commission, the Washington Women’s Heritage Project, the Women’s History Consortium and Humanities Washington, and has presented her program over 40 times.

Click here to learn more and to experience Audio

SUFFRAGE MUSIC:

Visit Linda’s web site for both traditional and contemporary songs about Suffrage.

Here’s to the Women! Commemorating Women’s Journey to Justice

Original and collected songs that celebrate women’s history with a special emphasis on the battle for the vote. Meet Native weavers, quilters, suffragists, labor leaders, domestic workers, and Rosie, the Riveters. Available as download or hard copy.

Failure is Impossible: Traditional Songs of the Suffragists

Eight traditional songs recorded by Linda and her daughter, Kristin Allen-Zito, for the documentary “Courage in Corsets”.

COMMENTS:

“Linda Allen breathes life into the 19th Amendment story through song and story that is totally charming as well as instructive. Goose bumps and joy were the response of the day”.                                                                                                                                 — Muffy Francke, Co-Chair, The 19th Amendment Centennial Committee of the Renaissance Society

“A vibrant voice in this important struggle”

--Robert P.J. Cooney, Jr. author of Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement and Remembering Inez: The Last Campaign of Inez Milholland, Suffrage Martyr.

 
Listen to song by Linda Allen: If You Had Seen Inez  

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CARRIE SUE AYVAR
1829 NE 179 St., N. Miami Beach, FL 33162
Phone: 305-945-4804 Email: csayvar@gmail.com
Website: www.carriesueayvar.com

Performance Description: Everyone’s heard of Miami Beach! See it through the eyes of Rose Weiss: Mother of Miami Beach, who transformed it, with persistence and a smile, from a sparsely populated sandbar (where Jews like her could only live in the southernmost tip) into the world famous multicultural metropolis it is today. Or you can meet trailblazing Doc Anner: Petticoat Doctor of the Everglades, 2nd female doctor in Florida. Artist, physician, pharmacist, wife, mother (and even veterinarian when called upon) she braved alligators, rattlesnakes, violent outlaws and chauvinism to help and heal her patients. Q&A sessions follow with storyteller, performance artist and Chautauqua Scholar Carrie Sue Ayvar.

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ANNETTE BALDWIN
Phone: 630-279-0856
E-Mail:  amb@staginghistory.com
Website: www.staginghistory.com

Persistent Women on the Road: Historian, actor, lecturer Annette Baldwin has traveled the Chicago area and the U.S. presenting historical portrayals, lectures and Readers Theater in nineteen states:  to public libraries, historical societies & museums, community & professional organizations, colleges & universities, corporate & government offices, State Humanities Chautauquas, as well as at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.

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Annette Travels with the Following Determined Women :Lucretia Mott; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, and Carrie Chapman Catt, who persisted in their drive for equal rights for women are portrayed in one production:  The Long Road to Victory: From Pedestal to Politics & Prison in the Battle for Woman Suffrage. 

Jane Addams, humanitarian and founder of Chicago’s social settlement Hull House, was a persistent advocate for social justice and workers rights during the first great wave of immigration.  Her daring ideas and leadership for international peace earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

Susan B. Anthony, the forthright, passionate and unstoppable woman suffrage leader, was persistent in pressing the case for a woman suffrage amendment in the U.S. Constitution and equal pay for working women.

Coco Chanel, the 20th century’s most influential fashion designer and business tycoon, pulled out all the stops on style and age with her fashion theories and innovations, persistently demanding  that women reject fashion fads and be comfortable in their clothes and in their own style.

Louise Nevelson, sculpture’s Queen Bee, persistently pushed at the boundaries of art until at the age of 68 she received respect & recognition for her innovative environmental art, and at 85 received the National Medal of Arts from President Ronald Reagan.

Elizabeth Van Lew, whose persistent loyalty to the United States and antipathy for slavery, in spite of her Southern birth and residency, led her to become the Civil War’s most effective espionage agent, all for which she paid the price of life-long ridicule and segregation from neighbors and former friends.

Dorothy Thompson, mid-20th-century journalist and oracle, whose persistent, nonconforming views presaged today’s social and political conditions, was named by Time magazine in 1939, along with Eleanor Roosevelt, as the “most “influential” woman “in the United States.”

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KATHIE BARNES, Actor
Lloyd J. Schwartz, Playwright/Director
Email: mwalkerindependence@gmail.com
Website: http://independencedrmarywalker.com/

Performance Description: Women’s history solo play about Dr. Mary Walker – Civil War Surgeon. This theatre piece brings to the forefront the dramatic and intense life of Doctor Mary Walker, the only woman to have been awarded our country’s highest honor, The Congressional Medal of Honor.

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Trail blazer for Women’s Rights, Dr. Mary Walker was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, several hospitals and military bases bear her name, yet most people do not know of her.

Truly a heroine who needs to be known – audiences are captivated and surprised by her story, rooting for her as her story of persistence unfolds. Not intimidated by any man, even President Lincoln! Being denied enlistment as a surgeon because of her gender did not stop her.

Born into a family of abolitionist, Dr. Walker’s parents believed strongly in equal rights and equal education for all humans. Their family farm was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

“Our Education Committee is very happy to have been able to present INDEPENDENCE. Following the play, we held a reception for the actress who made herself available to chat with our residents, which was appreciated by all!” Fran, Kendal on Hudson

“…The play allowed students to see just how hard women in the past worked to change those gender expectations. There is a lot of history packed into that short play!” Dr. Eliza McFeely

“Students were mesmerized by performer Kathie Barnes. This was the first time, for most students and adults in the audience that they had ever heard of Dr. Walker whose feistiness, tireless energy and sheer will to keep moving ahead and not accept defeat was very well portrayed through script and actor.

Students had a chance to ask questions, and did they ever!” Vivian, LFNY

Visit website to watch the trailer and read more testimonials.

Workshop with students or groups available

Q&A with actress (and playwright if available)

#1Margaret Fuller

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#1Michael

REV. MICHAEL BARNETT, M. Div., M. Ed.
P.O. Box 281, Lederach, PA 19450
Phone: 215-256-8481
Phone: 505-988-5364 Email: mbarnett@tradenet.net 
Blog: www.margaretfuller.wordpress.com

Performance Description: Michael Barnett presents the extraordinary life of women’s rights activist Margaret Fuller for your events. Considered the most brilliant woman in 1840s America, Margaret created “Conversations for Women” in Boston and was hired as the first woman critic for Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune. Her book, “Woman in the Nineteenth Century,” was the first American feminist tract which inspired the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention.

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As the first woman foreign correspondent in Europe, Margaret supported the Roman Revolution of 1848-49. She died with her family in a shipwreck off Fire Island returning to America on July 19, 1850. Since 2001, Michael has spoken on “The Transcendentalists: Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Theodore Parker.” He earned his Master of Divinity at Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, PA while serving as Student Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, PA, and at Thomas Paine UU Fellowship in Collegeville, PA.

His studies included the Sacred Feminine, the creative and spiritual gifts of Hildegard von Bingen and the goddess Asherah as the consort of God. Michael achieved his Master of Education, Secondary History Certification, at Gwynedd Mercy University while teaching religious studies. His History Seminar paper, “Margaret Fuller Shapes the Consciousness of America through the New York Tribune,” is in the libraries of the New York and Massachusetts Historical Societies.

During Margaret Fuller’s 2010 Bicentennial, Michael spoke at First Parish of Concord, the Summer Conversational Series, Concord School of Philosophy, at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, and at the UU History Conference in Waltham, MA. Currently, he is representing Margaret Fuller for the New York Cultural Heritage Tourism Network as New York State prepares for the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote 2017. His program there is “Margaret Fuller in New York: Planting the Seeds for Equality and the Sacred Marriage.” Michael adds, “I am available to travel to you. My honorarium is $350.00. I seek accommodations  through your group and also help with travel expenses as needed . I am available for in-depth workshops on Margaret Fuller including her intuitive and creative gifts and the sacred marriage she struggled to live.”

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DR. BARBARA BERNSTEIN 
Bowie, Maryland
Websitehttp://www.danceintime.com
Email: Barb@DanceinTime.com
Phone: 443-773-2623

Performance DescriptionWomen Take The Lead! This fun, lively, and inspiring dance presentation is based on the principle of women’s capability and innate equality.  The show is constructed around an all-women dance team (from DanceInTime.com) which presents Latin dances with women playing both the leaders’ and the followers’ role.  In some cases, the ladies even switch roles so that someone who starts out leading ends up following and vice versa. Traditionally in partnership dancing, men lead the dance, deciding what moves to lead, how to initiate and style, them, etc.  Women simply acquiesce and follow whatever is led. In professional level dancing, the steps that leaders do can be quite complex and require a lot of practice and memory.  But all those challenges belong only to the leaders.

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However in this lively all-ladies Latin dance team, ladies step up to the plate and learn this material themselves, demonstrating that women can lead very capably, too! The phenomenon of women leading partnership dances reflects their changing role in society.  In the spirit of “art imitates life,” DanceInTime brings you a presentation in which ladies embrace all the roles that are played by Latin dancers. And the audience members may want to bring their dancing shoes, as the program can be constructed to give them a chance to learn some dance steps if they wish!  (Women in the audience can be given the opportunity to learn the leader’s steps, of course.)  The program is guaranteed to be both empowering and fun!! Every time this show is done, it’s uniquely designed to best suit each venue/audience.  The show would generally be constructed to include any or all of these components, according to what is desired:

  1. Performance by two dancers
  2. Performance by a dance team  (Can include having the audience guess which dancer is leading/which is following)
  3. Instruction for anyone in the audience who might like to try some moves
  4. Brief talk about the history of women’s roles from antiquity to the present and how they have changed.  Talk can include discussion of how dance roles reflect societal norms, and the tradition-breaking work done by this dance group.

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PAULA F. CASEY
Memphis, TN 38103-5005
Phone: 901-525-7510
Email: pfcasey@bellsouth.net
Websites:
http://www.paulacasey.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-casey-736110b
http://memphissuffragemonument.com
https://www.facebook.com/TN-Woman-Heritage-Suffrage-Trail-337086010106147/

Paula F. Casey is a dynamic speaker on voting rights, particularly the 72-year struggle for women to be included in the U.S. Constitution. She has published a book, The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage, that’s also available as an e-book and audiobook. She produced a 12:40 DVD on woman suffrage that covers the 72-year struggle for American women to win the right to vote. The suffragists were the original persisters!

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Paula has spoken extensively around the country at conferences, universities, colleges, and junior colleges. She is an ideal speaker for American history, political science, sociology, Law Day (May 1), Constitution Day (Sept. 17), Susan B. Anthony’s birthday (Feb. 15), Women’s History Month (March), Women’s Equality Day (Aug. 26), and any leadership or election event.

Videos are on her website – www.paulacasey.com – and on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3NoP1YjkuK9_aHhTUrAYA

She is also the co-founder of the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Heritage Trail – http://tnwomansuffrageheritagetrail.com. In her presentations, she highlights the dearth of statuary honoring women.

She served as president of Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument, Inc., and was the primary fund-raiser for the monument that was unveiled on Aug. 26, 2016, in Nashville’s Centennial Park. She served as fiscal agent for Jackson’s statue of Sue Shelton White, the only Tennessee woman jailed fighting for suffrage, which was unveiled on May 25, 2017, in front of Jackson’s City Hall.

She chairs the Memphis Suffrage Monument committee which will unveil the “Equality Trailblazers” public art on the Mississippi river side of the University of Memphis law school on March 27, 2020.

Her book, The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage, and DVD, “Generations: American Women Win the Vote,” are available in the NWHP online store.

Dr. Daisy Nelson Century Historical Interpreter Extraordinaire
Educator, Actress & Author
Home City:  Philadelphia
Web Site:  www.daisycentury.com
Email:  drcentury@aol.com
Phone: 267.977.8335
Performances in Person and Virtual

Program Description:   All my performances are approximately 50 minutes to one hour and twenty minutes.  I dress like the women and weave their life story from birth to the end of their life.  I bring history alive!!!  The audience will be right there when history unfolds right in front of their eyes.  My performances are educational, inspiring, empowering, transforming and entertaining at the same time.  It is a must-see program.  It is not your average program.  One of the audience members once said that “I did not perform Sojourner Truth tonight I became her.”  There is always a question-and-answer period at the end of each performance.  I also travel with historic memorabilia.

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Historical Women Portrayed and Thematic Units:

Harriet Tubman: Civil War, Slavery, Underground Railroad, Abolition

Sojourner Truth: Civil War, Women Suffrage, Abolition, Slavery, Itinerant Preacher

Bessie Coleman: World War 1, Aviation, Jim Crow, Roaring Twenties

Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur (Hair, skin & nail products), Civil Rights, Harlem Renaissance

Mary Fields: Wild West, Mail Carrier

Phillis Wheatley: Revolutionary War, (General George Washington, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere), Revolutionary Poet, Literary Genius

Hatshepsut: Egyptian Pharaoh

Cathy Williams-female Buffalo Soldier:  Civil War, Wild West, Buffalo Soldier

******All of the above women may be seen and read about on my web site.

Audience Range: Grades three to adults Geographic Range: Anywhere in the USA and Abroad—Whomever calls I will come.

Books Written:

Belle:  A beautiful woman inherits her father's farm and inherits all that goes into running a successful farm; love, romance, marriage, tragedy.

Ms. Emmaline's Little Book of Wit & Wisdom:  It is a list of phrases parents used on the farm of a little girl growing up in South Carolina.  It is the African Proverbs meeting Roots.

Zach and his Lucky Zebra Socks:  A little five-year-old walking to the beat of his own drum; in dressing himself; he is extremely lucky whenever he wears his zebra socks.

Deedle, Deedle Your House is on Fire!  The best summer adventures since Huckleberry Finn.

 **I am available for your next Book Club Meeting or Book Signing.  Books may be ordered from Amazon or Author house.

 I am available for your next:  Banquet, luncheon, meeting, conference, convention, community day, family reunion, youth summit, summer camp, church program, school program, college seminar, women conference/forum, documentary, feature film, radio talk show, TV talk show, and birthday parties.

 I also present a very special KWANZAA presentation –everyone gets involved --making gifts, dancing and singing.

 **** For the sixth year I will present The Harriet Tubman summer camp and the Bessie Coleman summer camp.  A unique camp fusing history and science-STEM.

 NEW! NEW!!  NEW!!  NEW!!

  QUILT STORIES---QUILTS MY MOTHER MADE ON DISPLAY, STORIES ABOUT THE QUILTING BEES, AND HOW TO MAKE A QUILT.

MOTHER EARTH—CHARACTER FOR NATURE FESTS, GARDENING CLUBS, REFUGE CENTERS, SCHOOLS, EARTH DAY, ETC.

 Please share this information with others and I do hope our path cross soon, thank you.

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KATHRYN CHESLEY
Address: 37 Sunset Drive, Apt. 71, Sarasota, Florida 34236
Phone: 716-903-8848
E-mail: lifetimeportrayals@gmail.com
Website: kathrynchesley.wixsite.com/website

Performance Description:Meet some fabulous ladies and hear about their life and the times in which they lived. As an actress, writer and historian, I tell the stories of historic and influential women who are brought to life. Each woman brings a 60 minute power point of photographs and all portrayals are done in full-authentic era costumes.

Let me introduce you to the ladies I currently portray:

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MABLE RINGLING: This is a 'farm to table" story. Mable grew up on an Ohio farm and ended up at the most beautiful table in Sarasota. Hear her story unfold as she tells of her life and times when she was the woman behind the man who ran "the greatest show on earth."

BERTHA HONORE PALMER: Bertha's life took her from the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, to Washington D.C., to a castle in England and then to the state of Florida to become a rancher and developer. She has a tale to tell about her exploits and her challenges as she becomes one of the most influential women of her life and times.

MARTHA (MARTY) HARTMAN: Martha is best known for founding The Petticoat Painters in 1953, which is the oldest continuously exhibiting women's art group in the United States. In her Life and Times, she tells the story of the development of all of the arts in Sarasota County, Florida with references to the men and women who helped to create the cultural coast of Florida.

ELIZABETH VAN LEW: As a Northern sympathizer in the Confederate capital of Richmond, VA, Elizsabeth became Ulysses S/ Grant's primary spy during the Civil War. Her work helped to turn the victory to the North. She also recounts the aftermath of the Civil War and how the failure of Reconstruction affects us today.

CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT: Hear the story of the fight for women’s rights as told by one of the leaders of the movement. As the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, it was Carrie's work which got the last state to vote to pass the amendment. Hear her story of her life and times before and after women had the right to vote.

MINA MILLER EDISON: The daughter of an inventor and the wife of an inventor, Mina tells the story of her life and times during the development of the Chautauqua movement and her life and times as the wife of Thomas Alva Edison.

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PENNY COLMAN
138 Knickerbocker Rd. Englewood NJ, 07631
Phone: 201-568-6052
Email: pennycolman@gmail.com
Website: www.pennycolman.com

Program Description:  Celebrating Women!  A dynamic slide show of  photographs enlivened by award-winning author Penny Colman’s narration and commentary. For twenty-five years Colman has traveled throughout America to parks, cemeteries, historic sites, city streets, buildings, nature preserves, gardens, etc. to locate and photograph monuments, markers, and memorials to historic women. Now, she has compiled her extraordinary collection of photographs into an entertaining, informative, and inspiring presentation that can be adapted to suit different venues. The author of many award-winning books, Penny has been honored by the New Jersey State Legislature for her books and public appearances that have “contributed to the advancement of women.”

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Her other thoroughly engaging programs are:

Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories about Women Who Made a Difference A fascinating slide show and Penny Colman’s stories about eight amazing women from an Arctic explorer to a plant hunter who lived passionate, productive and adventurous lives.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World A thought-provoking slide show and Penny Colman’s insights into the legendary friendship between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and their historic 51-year-long fight for women’s rights, despite fierce opposition, daunting conditions, and betrayal by friends and allies.

Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front In World War II An inspiring slide show with archival film footage and Penny Colman’s commentary about the heroic women who kept the home front running and created the “miracle of production” that ensured the Allies success in World War II.

Book Club Conversations: Lively, interactive conversations with Penny Colman about any of her books via Skype or Facetime, or in person if possible. For information galore about Penny’s books please go to

ROBERT P. J. COONEY JR.
P.O. Box 362 Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Phone: 650-712-4400
Email: agp@ebold.com
Website:  www.AmericanGraphicPress.com

Description: Robert P. J. Cooney, Jr. has studied the historic drive to win the vote by American women for over 15 years.  After attending the University of Santa Clara in California, he joined the staff of the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence in Palo Alto where he designed and co-edited “The Power of the People: Active Nonviolence in the United States” (Peace Press: 1977).  This illustrated history traced nonviolent tactics and philosophy throughout U.S. history from William Penn to Martin Luther King, Jr., and awakened an interest in the woman suffrage movement.  Moving to Pt. Reyes Station in 1977, he opened Robert Cooney Graphic Design and subsequently created hundreds of books, publications, and special projects for commercial and non-profit clients.

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In 1993 he started the Woman Suffrage Media Project to coordinate and further efforts to popularize this little known part of American history. He also began research for a photographic history of the suffrage movement, and over the following years visited or corresponded with major libraries and historical societies across the country.  Recipient of a research grant from The Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard, he served as a researcher and consultant for several suffrage related books, publications, and films including the PBS documentary, “One Women, One Vote.”  After over a decade of work, he completed the lavishly illustrated, 500 page history, “Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement,” full of facts and images documenting women’s early political achievements.

The book received glowing reviews and was recommended as an essential resource for the nation’s public and school libraries.  He has spoken at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Constitution Center, and the Library of Congress, emphasizing in particular the successful grassroots political campaigns suffragists waged between 1910 and 1920. Mr. Cooney received the “Write Women Back Into History” Award in 2005 from the National Women’s History Project in recognition of his work uncovering this empowering chapter in American history.  A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he lives with his wife in Half Moon Bay, California and is available to speak in California and nationally about this important part of American history.

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VALERIE DILORENZO
Ladies of Liberty - Celebrating Suffrage and the History of Womens Rights in America 
Mailing Address: 432 Sunset Lake Blvd., #102 Venice, FL 34292
Phone
: 212 433 2579 / 914 325 2642
Email: valeriedilorenzo1@gmail.com
Website: http://www.valeriedilorenzo.com

Performance Description: Ladies of Liberty, the acclaimed musical revueimagined, created, and performed by NYC award-winning cabaret artist and actress, Valerie diLorenzo—celebrates the Suffrage Centennial as it relates the history of women’s rights in America. The beginnings of the Suffragette journey and its connections with early Civil Rights movements are included, and the show brings us up to modern day and the feminist legacy of the #MeToo movement and female empowerment—all through exuberant, lively, sometimes humorous, and often touching, songs.

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This LIVE performance (with piano accompanist) is both entertaining and engagingly educational.

♪ Includes both Vintage and Contemporary Songs:♪ Audience Participation♪ Appropriate for ages 12+

Testimonials:

"LADIES OF LIBERTY, was one of the most remarkable events – of any kind – that I have ever attended. This brilliant one-woman performance traced the roots of suffrage from its roots all the way to 21st century feminism. Her genius was to illustrate the struggles and triumphs using songs, stories, and readings that were sometimes humorous, sometimes touching, and always deeply affecting.  The audience literally went wild."Penny Wright, Director of Programming, Rogers Memorial Library

"From beginning to end Ladies of Libertyis a fantastic show for people of all ages. I thought I knew a lot about womens rights but seeing the fight put to music with original songs from the period was eye-opening. And it brings you right up to todays woman so it is a real joy to see and hear."Judi, League of Women Voters

"Ladies of Liberty is an awe-inspiring, outstanding performance of songs, script and screen images, created as part of the Hamptons League of Women Voters Centennial celebration of women winning the vote in NYS. It exceeded everyones expectations and received rave reviews."Arlene, League of Women Voters

 

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SHERYL FAYE
Sheryl Faye Presents Historical Women Amesbury MA
Website: http://www.sherylfayepresents.com
Email: info@sherylfaye.com
Phone: 866-936-6551

Performance Description: Since 2003, Sheryl Faye has masterfully brought to life important historical women to both children and adults across the U.S. In her one-woman shows, she immerses the audience in a multimedia learning experience that captivates viewers and sparks their interest to explore more. Choose from Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, Clara Barton, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Sally Ride, Anne Frank, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Adams and coming January 2020, Susan B Anthony to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Women’s right to vote!​

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“Sheryl’s performance as Eleanor Roosevelt exceeded all our expectations; we can’t wait to have her back again! Her portrayal is done in a very thoughtful, creative, and interesting manner that draws you into her world. The performance would appeal to all age groups. Thank you Sheryl!” ~ Donna Weiss, Stoneham Historical Society

“We gathered together again for our first meeting, luncheon, and program on September 10,2018. We truly appreciate the performance by Sheryl Faye. Thank you Sheryl for the entertaining and enlightening re-enactment of Abigail Adams. She is designated as the “First Second Lady and Second First Lady of the United States.” Her life has been the most documented of our First Ladies. We can get an accurate glimpse of history by the letters she wrote. The costumes and historical information were very thorough”. ~Women’s Club of Woodbury CT

 “Ms Faye captivated the entire audience, including the youngsters. She made us laugh and she definitely brought tears to our eyes when Helen’s teacher finally broke through to the deaf and blind girl with her sign for “water”. Ms Faye captured the moment of Helen Keller’s awakening vividly and realistically. We look forward to having Sheryl Faye return to Lancaster with more performances about historical women in the future. A true professional, Sheryl was easy to work with from beginning to end. We cannot recommend her highly enough as an artist and performer.” ~ Karen Silverthorn, Assistant Director, Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster.

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SONIA PRESSMAN FUENTES
4633 Longwater Chase Sarasota, FL 34235-7124
Phone: 941-379-6215
Email: spfuentes@comcast.net
Website: www.erraticimpact.com/fuentes

Program Description: Sonia Pressman Fuentes is an engaging speaker, known for her sense of humor, even when discussing  serious subjects like “The Women’s Rights Movement, Its Past, Present, and the Problems That Remain–Both in the U.S. and Worldwide.” Sonia occupies a unique position among feminists: She was a co-founder of NOW and is one of a handful of NOW founders alive and actively involved in women’s rights to this day. She was also the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and drafted some of the EEOC’s landmark decisions and guidelines.

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She has given talks, presented testimony, or served as a consultant  on the American revolution in women’s rights throughout the U.S., as well as in Canada, the UK, France, Belgium, Spain, Japan, China, Israel, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. For years, she traveled abroad as an “American specialist” on the women’s rights movement for the then-US Information  Agency. Sonia also gives talks about her exceptional life. She was born in Berlin, Germany of Polish-Jewish parents,  with  whom she fled the Nazi regime, going first to Belgium, and then coming to the U.S. in 1934.  One of six permanent exhibits at the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, dedicated to the Red Star Line and immigration, is about Sonia. She is the author of a memoir, Eat First–You Don’t Know What They’ll Give You: The Adventures of an Immigrant  Family and Their Feminist Daughter.

LEIGH HALLINGBY
140 West End Avenue, Apt. 5B, New York, NY 10023
Phone 551-404-7514
Email: lhallingby@gmail.com
Website: HarlemWalks.com
Facebook: @HarlemWalksNYC 
Instagram: #HarlemWalksNYC

Program Description: A FEMINIST WALK THRU HARLEM: CELEBRATING REMARKABLE WOMEN. Leigh will take us on a virtual walk through both Central Harlem and Spanish Harlem, stopping at places where accomplished women, some famous and some not, are honored. A huge advantage of doing this walk as a virtual tour is that we can visit both of these iconic and very different neighborhoods within Harlem. Stops include murals and mosaics, statues, plaques on the sidewalk, named buildings, and commemorative street corners. And the women whose stories we hear range from A’Lelia Walker to Nicholasa Mohr to Zora Neale Hurston. This 60-minute slide presentation with live commentary will be followed by time for Q&A.

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Leigh has an enhanced Zoom account and thus is able to host this virtual program for up to 100 attendees.

Leigh is a licensed NYC tour guide. She is passionate about exploring all five NYC boroughs and beyond on foot, mostly through organized walking tours. Leigh is retired from a 36-year career as a non-profit librarian. She loves doing research about the neighborhoods where she gives tours and sharing the information about them with attendees. Leigh is a feminist, collector, genealogist, and lover of arts, culture, and travel. After residing in the suburbs of NYC for many years, she now loves living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Leigh has presented the virtual Feminist Walk through Harlem many times. The presentation is always well received by audiences. And it elicits many questions and comments during the Q&A afterwards. Attendees have access to a list of all the stops, as well as a reading/watching list related to the virtual tour.

TRACY CHAMBERLAIN HIGGINBOTHAM
Phone: 
315-708-4288
Email: womenties33@gmail.com
Websites: www.womenties.com and www.womensathleticnetwork.com

Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham never knew growing up with a mother and aunt as entrepreneurs in the late 1960’s or as a daughter of two Physical Education teachers and coaches that she would grow up to be an advocate, supporter and promoter of women entrepreneurs and female athletes, but that’s who she became the past 30 years. Labeled a “feminist” by women who do business with her, Tracy has embraced the title and created numerous presentations that speak to her passion in sharing her economic message of women putting their money in the hands, bank accounts or pocketbooks of other women first and foremost to help create a stronger buying circle for women today and eradicate pay inequality.

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Tracy also empowers women entrepreneurs, in a number of speeches, to do business “on the golf course” like men have done for years  by participating in health, fitness and sporting events together as well as support today’s female athletes by attending their games.

Tracy has been a pioneer in woman entrepreneurship in Central New York since 1995 as women business ownership was becoming a good career option. She has promoted, advocated, written and advised thousands of women with her knowledge in order to help them become more successful. She is willing to share her knowledge with your organization too.

To see an example of one of Tracy’s recent speeches, visit https://vimeo.com/186109168.

To learn more about her, visit her personal website at www.tracyhigginbotham.com or her company  websites at www.womenties.com or www.womensathleticnetwork.com.

Tracy has an active business blog with her written work that have become speeches at www.womenties.wordpress.com.  She is happy to tailor make a speech perfect for your event or audience.

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PAT JORDAN
Phone:  610-688-5842
Email: 
patjrdn@gmail.com
Website:  www.heritagetheatreguild.com  or  www.famousamericanwomen.net

Program Descriptions: It’s my great joy to bring Famous American Women to your library, school or organization. Every one of these ladies changed the world for the better but it wasn’t easy.  Meet them!   Choose a 45-minute presentation, Q&A, Speech, Meet & Greet, Workshop or Special Program

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~ Healers & Heroes ~

Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse & Founder of the American Red Cross  Clara Barton was an 1821 Christmas baby.   After careers as a teacher and a clerk, she headed for the front lines in the Civil War, taking supplies to wounded soldier and earning the title “Angel of the Battlefield.” Later, she established the American Red Cross, bringing disaster relief to countless thousands. Clara’s indomitable determination and boundless good will are a model for all Americans.

Dorothea Dix:  Advocate for the Mentally Ill & Head of Civil War Nurses  Dorothea Dix was born into a respected New England family, but her early life was a hard one.  As a girl, she was called upon to take care of her sickly mother and two small brothers in the Maine wilderness. With her grandmother’s help, Dorothea went to school in Boston and opened a successful school for the poor, became the Civil War’s Head of Nurses, and later returned to her life’s work, profoundly affecting the destinies of mentally ill people throughout the country.  She was determined to make a difference, and with the help of family and friends, Dorothea made her dreams come true.

Carrie Chapman Catt:  Suffragist, Founder of the League of Women Voters and National Women’s Hall of Fame Honoree  Born in 1859, Carrie Chapman Catt became a popular school superintendent, charismatic lecturer, astute organizer and two-time president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.  She was Susan B. Anthony’s hand-picked successor and a major force in the 19th Amendment becoming a reality in 1920.  Carrie was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, worked for world peace and children’s rights, and received the Chi Omega Award at the White House.  This show is getting Rave Reviews!  Watch Carrie’s Trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ehKy6B9GVMQ

Louisa May Alcott: Reformer & Author of “Little Women”  Nineteenth Century writer Louisa May Alcott grew up in a time of radical social change.  After a childhood spent in ‘genteel poverty’, she struggled to establish a writing career, later becoming a Civil War nurse.  Louisa never married and continued to write and work tirelessly for reform as she single-handedly supported her family.  It’s an extraordinary story!

More:  Amelia Earhart, Betsy Ross, Martha Washington, Mary Todd Lincoln, Indentured Servant Bridgid O’Murphy, Pennsylvanian Anna Morris Holstein

Client & Audience Reactions

“She talks the talk and walks the walk [in] a convincing first-person voice to share the compelling and decades-long story of the fight for women’s right to vote.” League of Women Voters of Radnor

“Thank you for…a great performance. We hope to have you here again.” NASA-Langley

“We have 28 participants enrolled in your Elder Week lecture and are very excited!” Delaware Co. Elder Week

“Carrie… got rave reviews!” Shannondell Community Interest Group

“Betsy Ross was perfect!”  PA Sleep Study Conference

“Pat tells a dynamic and memorable story in a short amount of time, and students from all locations and backgrounds have reacted very well to her.” Dir. of Campus Life, Delaware County Community College

“You had the audience mesmerized.  BRAVO!”   NJ-AARP Chapter

“Thank you, thank you!  …Amelia came to life for [my daughters] and me.”  College Park Airport Museum

“…A wonderful portrayal…so quiet, you could hear a pin drop!  That’s a first for our group.” Jacksonville Community Center

“Everyone loved you…You take such a personal interest, we can tell you love it too.  Also, here’s a copy of the article/interview by the local paper–you were front page!”  Montville Historical Society

Award-Winning Shows:  U.S. Coast Guard Museum Captain’s Coin; Public Scholar for NJ Council for the Humanities; BellAtlantic Video Awards contest; Women for Greater Philadelphia; NAVSUP Commander’s Coin – US Navy; Federal Women’s Program Appreciation Award

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MICHÈLE LaRUE – Tales Well Told
281 Lincoln Ave.,
Secaucus, NJ 07094 (I also reside part-time in the Chicago.)
Phone: 201-863-6436
Email: ruedelarue@aol.com
Website: http://www.michelelarue.com Facebook, Linked In

Performance Description: I’ve been “celebrating women who tell our stories” for 25 years—presenting vibrant tales from women writers of America’s Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Their stories were written to be performed, as family entertainment. How sad they’ve been lost, because they move us still: a century later we recognize their heroines’ dilemmas and insights, passions and humor, as our own.

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Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s overlooked spinster in “The Bedquilt,” Edna Ferber’s restless saleslady in “Representing T. A. Buck“ [pictured], Kate Chopin’s yearning widow in “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s daring farmwife in “The Revolt of ‘Mother’,” Elsie Singmaster’s Mary Bowman, persevering through war and its long aftermath in “Gettysburg: One Woman's War” [pictured]: these women—our foremothers—are ever so familiar.

From coast to coast, in my unique style I’ve portrayed every character in 30 different stories, live, for 450 sponsors—including colleges and universities, woman’s clubs, libraries, historical societies, senior communities, and international conferences.

FROM MY AUDIENCES:

  • “What you have to offer in ‘Gettysburg: One Woman's War’ is priceless.” /  “Luminous!” “Revelatory!”
  • “BRAVO for ‘Roman Fever’! Thank you for the elegance and intelligence you bring!” [pictured]
  • “ Enchanting!” / “ ‘The Bedquilt’ was extraordinary! You opened so many doors for me!”
  • “ ‘The Apple Tree’ was perfect. You simply ‘became.’ ”
  • “You totally transported me back to the turn of the last century.” / “What a gift to us was Every One His Own Way: The Chicago Stories of Edith Wyatt.’ ”
  • “ ‘Representing T. A. Buck’ was perfection. You evoked the period and the characters effortlessly. I could smell his cigar.”
  • “You bring such a vulnerability and radiance to your reading: lovely ‘Christmas Stocking’!” / “I felt you were talking just to me.”“I'm not feeling real comfortable around my shadows at the moment. Glad I had the lights on during ‘Halloween Hauntings.’ “ [virtual]

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PHOTO INFORMATION:

Edna Ferber's Representing T. A. Buck; CREDIT Wm. Grau

Elsie Singmaster's Gettysburg: One Woman's War; CREDIT Kathryn Durr, Gettysburg College

Edith Wharton's Roman Fever; CREDIT Michael Goodwin

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Living Voices
Hear My Voice
600 North 36th Street, Suite 221
Seattle, WA 98103
Phone: 800-331-5716
Email: livingvoices@livingvoices.org
Website: http://www.livingvoices.org

 Performance Description:  How long was the fight for women’s suffrage? Join the 72 year battle that won half of America’s citizens the right to vote. Living Voices combines dynamic solo performances with archival film and sound, turning history into a moving and personal journey. Using historical viewpoints based on real people and events, the Living Voices dynamic technique combines archival film footage and photographs, blended with audio and presented in synchronization with a solo actor, giving the audience a chance to experience how the world looked, sounded and felt during the suffrage movement.

Click here to learn more

With presenters based on both coasts and in between, Living Voices programs are developed to be presented in a variety of school and community settings and for a range of audiences, from K-12 students through adults. The adaptable and flexible format of the programs was designed to be effective in both large and small venues, from a single school classroom in Alaska to a thousand-seat theatre space at Universal Studios, and anything in between.

Winner of the 2017 Governor’s Arts & Heritage Award for Education

Here is a link to our preview video: https://vimeo.com/291746980

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SORAIDA MARTINEZ
Studio: 220 South Berlin Road, Lindenwold, NJ 08021
Mailing: P.O. Box 32, Gibbsboro, NJ 08026
Phone: 856-346-3131
Website: www.soraida.com
Email: Verdadism@aol.com

Performance Description: Soraida Martinez is a nationally recognized artist and social justice advocate who since 1992 has been promoting peace and tolerance through her Verdadism paintings with written social commentaries. The themes of Martinez’s exhibition and art talk address racism, sexism, stereotyping, ethnocentrism, feminism, personal relationships, healthcare and many of the social issues relevant to 21st century American society. Martinez’s presentation promotes a deeper understanding of the human soul through art with social commentaries. The artist’s goal is to foster open-mindedness and the acceptance of everyone’s diverse humanity.

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Martinez has made appearances at universities, corporations, institutions and organizations, including Columbia University, Trinity College, Towson University, The University of Pennsylvania, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The NJ National Guard, The PA Department of Veterans Affairs, The NJ Department of Community Development, The Vanguard Group, Synchrony Bank and J.P Morgan Chase. The artist is available to speak throughout the U.S. Many of the paintings and social commentaries in this socially-conscious presentation are in Martinez’s art book, “Soraida’s Verdadism: The Intellectual Voice of a Puerto Rican Woman on Canvas; Unique, Controversial Images and Style.”

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LINDA MCKINNEY  Actress, Writer, Story Teller
Address: 5 Stark Trail, Gansevoort, NY 12831
Phone: 518-229-5695
Email: mckenney_linda@yahoo.com
Website: www.susanbanthony.live

Performance Description: I introduce Susan B. Anthony, in story form, to middle and high school students and adult audiences.  My representation of her is a clear message of equality of rights and opportunity for all. Susan Brownell Anthony was a pioneer leader for women’s suffrage. In my historical re-enactment, I take my audience on Susan’s journey from childhood to her death. Providing snippets of her life and roles in Temperance, Abolition and The Women’s Suffrage Movement. My representation of Susan B Anthony includes interaction with the audience. I open the floor for questions and do not deter from character while answering. This is a one-woman show of historical significance.

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SYLVIA MENDOZA
The Latina Influence in American Society
Based in: San Diego, CA
Emailsmendoza7@aol.com
Websitewww.sylvia-mendoza.com

Performance Description: The Latina Influence in American Society. Compiling and writing The Book of Latina Women: 150 Vidas of Passion, Strength and Success was a life-changing experience for award-winning journalist Sylvia Mendoza. Writing hundreds of profiles and feature stories covering human interest, diversity, literacy, women’s empowerment, education and social justice was always her passion—but the book brought her passion full circle. It became the project of her heart. And writing it changed her life. The women Sylvia researched for The Book of Latina Women had courage that strengthened her, vision that inspired her, and passion that engulfed her.

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To share their stories with people from all walks of life, especially students and women, is a joy, an honor—and a mission. There is a need to acknowledge these Latinas (and so many others!) and celebrate their accomplishments in order to break stereotypes, bridge societal gaps, and establish a mutual respect so that each individual can be seen as a potential center of influence. These Latinas serve as examples—that each of us has the power to make a positive mark in this world. Sylvia’s other lecture topics include:

  1. A Woman’s Power to Effect Change—Locally, Nationally, Globally
  2. Every Woman has a Story to Tell
  3. Writing to Change the World (One Journalist’s Point of View)

The Book of Latina Women: 150 Vidas of Passion, Strength & Success was selected for the 2007 California Collection for High Schools by the California Readers’ Association. Sylvia has presented at C-Span Book TV, The L.A. Times Festival of Books, Book Expo AmericaSouthern California Writers’ Conference and Latino Book & Family Festival. Sylvia earned her M.A. in Digital Journalism from National University, her B.A. in Print Journalism from the University of Southern California, and certification in Women’s Studies from San Diego State University. A journalist, author, teacher, and editor, Sylvia continues to adamantly believe in the power of the written word, that every person has a story to tell—and that these stories need to be shared.

National Performers/Authors – N-Z by last name (Go to 2nd page>)