Women, Past and Future

After surviving the challenge of raising three sons, I am thrilled to have two beautiful granddaughters. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spoiling the lovely Madelyn Simone over the last five years, but, as the Bob Dylan prophetically teaches us, “the times, they are a-changin’.” Lauren’s maternity leave is over, so Thursday will be my first day with the delightful Elizabeth Holiday (age seven weeks). I do hope she lives up to my descriptor and doesn’t cry all day.

I’m sure Madelyn will offer me much expert assistance, although she’s already made it very clear that she doesn’t do diapers. But her help will be short-lived, as she’ll leave me high – and hopefully dry – my second week, on her way to kindergarten. How can that be?

Ah, what will the future be like for Madelyn and little Liza? Born female and American in the twenty-first century, it’s likely they will have few restrictions on what they want to be when they grow up (a question I struggle to answer even at age sixty).

It hasn’t always been so. That question was answered in a much narrower way for girls born one hundred or two hundred years ago, and it generally involved a life within the home. Those women who sought opportunities in the world around them did so at the risk of chastisement for overstepping their boundaries, sometimes forbidden to continue in the direction of their choosing. Most women accepted the norms of the day, but, as happens in today’s world, some pushed the envelope, finding success in a variety of endeavors.

We were reminded of this reality as Deleasa Randall-Griffiths portrayed the life of Carrie Chapman Catt during this year’s Ashland Chautauqua. Mrs. Catt determined early in  life that she was charged with a mission – obtaining the vote for women. I’d never heard of her before, so was glad to make her acquaintance through Randall-Griffiths’ compelling performance.

While Mrs. Catt functioned on the national stage, women here in Ashland were also stepping forward. Shirley Fulk Boyd has compiled an excellent resource in recognition of Ashland’s bicentennial entitled Ashland Women: 1815-2015. I loved reading the snippets of biography describing women such as Bella Osborn, the high school principal for many years, and Norah Abbe, superintendent of the early Samaritan Hospital. Some were noted for their achievement of a “first,” such as Helen Arnold, Ashland’s first probation officer; Sarah Wartman, admitted to the Ohio bar in 1893; Catherine Luther Sampsel, the first Ashlander with a piano; and Agnes Duice, Ashland’s first woman to wear pantalettes. Scandalous!

Many women worked tirelessly to make Ashland a better place for all. Clara Miller founded the YWCA and Mary Freer raised orphan children, while others fought against the scourge of alcohol, banding together in the Ladies Indignation Society (sounds like a great book title). Boyd notes that women like Caroline Jackson Kellogg stood nightly outside Ashland saloons to protest the easy flow of alcohol, while at the church, her husband Bolivar prayed for her success.

My favorite Ashland athlete from the book was Ann Petrovic, who starred for the Kenosha Comets in the women’s baseball league made famous by the film, A League of Her Own. Others, such as M. Lucille Sprague, joined the military. Sprague later provided leadership in our country’s Housing Administration.

Many who succeeded in business did so in partnership with their husbands, opening stores, medical practices, and even factories. After the death of her husband, Edna Garber ran the A.L. Garber Company from 1941-1969. I’m guessing her accomplishment gave courage to her daughter, Lucille Garber Ford, whose presence as the Grand Marshall of the fabulous Ashland bicentennial parade honored her own achievements within our community.

Regardless of circumstances, regardless of cultural barriers, Caroline and Clara, Ann and Bella, and Edna and Lucille remind us of what we can be, what we can achieve. Today, their courage reaches through the years to Madelyn and Elizabeth and to all the girls – and boys – of our community and our world. With continued encouragement and support, one day they too will say with Carrie Chapman Catt: “I have lived to realize the greatest dream of my life.”