Women's History | March 2024

Dive into the life and career of groundbreaking writer, performer and subversive star Mae West. Over a career spanning eight decades, she broke boundaries and possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s.
Scientist Mária Telkes dedicated her career to harnessing the power of the sun. Though undercut and thwarted by her male colleagues, she persevered to design the first successfully solar-heated house in 1948 and held more than 20 patents.
Marguerite: From the Bauhaus to Pond Farm is centered around the story of Pond Farm, the school Marguerite operated from a remote location above Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. Every summer, she drilled students in exacting ceramics techniques she had learned at the Bauhaus. Students came from across the country, and many returned year after year. Her students included famed sculptors like Robert Arneson, who described Marguerite as “the grande dame of potters.”
Sarah Cannon was an educated woman who had once dreamed of becoming a Shakespearean actress, but she found fame playing a simple country girl.
Instantly identifiable by her straw hat with a price tag dangling from its brim, Minnie Pearl became an icon of country music radio, stage and TV. While Sarah and Minnie are two sides of a coin, they share a legacy of compassion, empowerment and humor.
Amy Cheney Beach was born September 5, 1867, in Henniker, New Hampshire and became one of the most respected and accomplished American composers of her time. She debuted as a pianist at 17 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, became a national symbol of women's creative power, and was the dean of American female composers.