Dr. Sally McMillen found a keen resonance this week in the words chosen by a Hollywood star when she announced that Kathryn Bigelow had became the first female director to earn an Oscar.
“Barbra Streisand said, ‘The time has come’ – the same thing a lot of people said when North Carolina elected its first woman governor,” said McMillen, Department Chair and Mary Reynolds Babcock Professor at Davidson College. “It’s exciting to see women gain a greater sense of equality and more opportunities in politics, education and business, but we still have a long way to go.”
McMillen and I will examine the changing role of women in America, and the historic events that helped break the so-called glass ceiling, as part of the Women’s History Month Celebration, a free and public event to be held at 6:30 p.m. March 22 at the N.C. Museum of History. Gov. Bev Perdue will deliver the welcoming remarks.
McMillen will focus on the famous 1848 suffragist convention – the topic of her most recent book, “Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women’s Rights Movement” – the 19th century women’s rights movement, and its continuing impact.
“People know the name Susan B. Anthony, but I don’t feel that people in this country, especially women, have enough understanding of women’s history,” said McMillen, who actively engaged in the Equal Rights Amendment efforts of the 1970s. “It took 72 years for women to earn the right to vote, and the struggle did not stop there.”
Please join us for this special evening. Also on the program will be Dr. Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College in Greensboro, and a performance by the all-female a cappella group Stella of Durham.