Early Women of
Lansing Honored March 8-August 28
In celebration of the Capital City’s
150th birthday, the Michigan Women’s Historical Center is
reintroducing its popular “Creating a Community: The Early Women of
Lansing” exhibit for display from March 8 through August 28, 2009.
The exhibit focuses on the achievements of 19th-century
women, detailing their courageous efforts to
establish themselves in their professions in the early years of the
community. These women include:
● Dr. L. Anna
Ballard—Lansing’s first female doctor
● Amanda Fleming Barnes—Lansing YWCA and Woman’s Hospital Association
founder
● Laura Montgomery Burr—First teacher in Upper Town
● Eliza Powell Bush—First teacher in Lower Town
● Margaret Custer Calhoun—State librarian
● Augusta Chapman Chapin—Second female Universalist minister in
the U.S.
● Lucy Barnes Cooley—Pioneer settler of Lansing Township
● Sarah Van de Vort Emery—Populist writer and suffragist
● E. Genevieve Gillette—Mother of Michigan’s state park system; Michigan
Women’s Hall of Fame inductee
● M. Adele Brown Hazlett—Political activist and suffragist
● Gertrude Howe—First female Methodist missionary to China
● Kate Marvin Kedzie—Founder of Matinee Musicale
● Christiana Teeter North—Pioneer settler of Lansing Township
● Metta Woodward Olds—Philanthropist
● Abigail Rogers—Michigan Female College founder; Michigan Women’s Hall
of Fame inductee
● Mary Wilson Spencer—State librarian; established Lansing’s Carnegie
Library; Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame inductee
● Dora Hall Stockman—“Bard of the Grange,” first female elected to
statewide office; Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame inductee
● Harriet Edgerton Tenney—First female state librarian in U.S.; founder
of the Lansing Woman’s Club
● Marian Monroe Turner—Pioneer settler of Lower Town; philanthropist
The exhibit
will also feature hands-on activities that
encourage young visitors to design their own suffrage sash, build a
pioneer log cabin, and take their place in history by
posing within a vintage photograph. Personal
artifacts associated with these women--including
baskets once owned by Metta Woodward Olds, pages from
a sermon by minister Augusta Chapman Chapin and song sheets penned by
Granger Dora Hall Stockman--will
also be on display.
"Heirloom Love" Art Exhibited
May 3-July 24
Modern sculpture meets traditional painting in a new exhibit featuring
the art of Julia and Cara Garnett—mother and daughter artists from
Spring Arbor, Michigan—to be on display May 3 through July 25, 2009 at
the Michigan Women’s Historical Center.
The “Heirloom Love” theme relates to a family
quilt handed down over the years from woman to woman. “We chose the
pattern of an old quilt, handmade by a great-grandmother in our family,
to bring unity to our collaborative work,” explained Julia Garnett, an
elementary school art teacher and painter. “By this we mean unity not
only in color and design, but in concept as well.” Julia will be
exhibiting painted portraits, landscapes, and floral pieces in the show.
Her daughter Cara—who has a BFA and is studying for a master’s in art
administration at Eastern Michigan University—will display figurative
sculptures executed in a surprisingly modern medium: packing tape. This
exhibit marks Julia and Cara’s first work together.
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