Women's History Month by

wjburges — 2024-02-21 20:25:37 UTC

My Mom, Aurelia "Dolly" Burgess, with no college experience, organized and led a preschool in 1973 at her church. The school grew to be one of the most popular in Stark County, OH, and often had a waitlist. She went on to complete school, but in the meantime, impacted hundreds of children in the community. More impressive, she remembered each one. She inspired my love for education and helping others achieve their goals.

2024-02-22 23:42:53 UTC

This is me, my grandmother, and my sister the night before I graduated with my undergraduate degree. She was a pioneer in her local rural church for ensuring that children had access to a high-quality preschool experience, and she did not suffer fools gladly. She personally vetted every candidate for minister, oral-exam style, and she called individuals out on their hypocrisy to advance the church's positions about the place women hold in the home and in the world. She was an avid world traveller before raising three children, and her stories from that time in her life made our jaws drop in the best way. She gave me a home when my parents could not and never failed to advocate for me in every way possible. When she met my then-boyfriend, now-husband, she told him that she planned to live long enough to see me become a doctor. She kept her promise and passed away shortly thereafter during my very first week as a professor. I would give anything to sit at her kitchen table again with a nice cup of tea, a good book resting on the table, a game of Rummy 500 waiting to be played, and her across from me, laughing about everything and nothing at all. May we all tackle institutional sexism and life's other challenges with the good humor and resilience of my Grandma Betty.

My mentor

2024-03-07 18:34:54 UTC

I met Nawal in graduate school at the Kent Campus. She was a member of my faculty committee for my MA. I took numerous courses with her during both my MA and doctoral programs. She introduced me to the Restorative Justice Model. A concept that I now teach to my students. I enjoyed every class with her. She used to refer to the graduate students as the "grandchildren." A wonderful term of endearment. She has had a major influence on my career trajectory. She supported and encouraged me to pursue my doctorate and to teach. She reminded me to be kind and that the university needs good teachers. I have strived to follow her words. I am grateful for her kindness and generosity in my life.

Mary G. Wilson

lsinger09_ — 2024-03-12 13:55:22 UTC

Sergeant First Class Chelsea Porterfield is retired from the US Army. Chelsea was my Drill Sergeant in 2009-2010. She believed in me and took time to mold us. Chelsea and I maintained contact. I, too, became a Drill Sergeant. Chelsea had the honor to serve as a Tomb Guard in Washington, D.C. and served as the Platoon Sergeant there. She made history when the first ever all female changing of the guards occurred. Chelsea is an advocate for suicide prevention in our military ranks.

Helene [Bock] Roberts (1900-1991)

2024-03-12 15:10:45 UTC

We grandchildren all called her "Grammy". Grammy was intelligent and strong in her convictions, but always open to ideas. She was one of a small number of American women to graduate with a college degree (Pratt Institute) in the 1920s, where she met our grandfather. She was born the youngest to a family of eleven people in Germany. Her father was the artistic son of a relatively famous sculpturer at the time. When her father was struck by lightening and became totally deaf, he went a little crazy and lost the family business. So, at 5 years of age, she and her family sailed across the ocean to resettle in Brooklyn. Actually, she had her fifth birthday on the ship carrying them to America. On her birthday—she used to tell us—she put on her prettiest dress and went from person-to-person, declaring, "Heute is mine Geburtstag!" ("Today is my birthday!") and then do her best curtsy. She got all sorts of little treats that day (oranges, chocolate,...). My grandmother was self-driven that way, and that way was just one of the many ways I believe she both influenced and inspired me. She inspired a love of learning, and she was often frustrated by the limitations put on her as a woman. When she was really old, she once rather bitterly said to me, "If I had to do it over, I would have fought my parents and gone to a better college ... all those stupid boys I dated from Brown University: they would take me out to dinner and I would tutor them in math. I would have been a much better engineer than any of them!" She was always trying to be useful. During World War II, while the kids were at school, she sewed bandages, repaired uniforms, and created similar supplies for "the war effort". During the Great Depression, after he lost his job, Grammy helped our grandfather learn to become an accountant, and helped do the books, if and when he needed help. She loved my grandfather very much—they were married for nearly 50 years when he died. Not long after that, she once told me, still wearing his watch on her wrist, "I just don't have time for men in my life right now." She was in her 80s. She was a teacher in subtle ways. When I was having trouble with fractions, she pretended to need tutoring, and every night I would present a concept to her, and she would ask questions "trying to understand" what I was "teaching her". I have loved doing fractions ever since then. She was blunt, but kind, and she was good humored. It's been decades since she passed away, but I still miss her.

Carol L. Robinson