Letters, photographs, diaries and manuscripts embodied the lives of female pioneers in history for students at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Tuesday.
The presentation was part of the Student Discovery Seminar series and featured memorabilia from women such as nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, political activist Emma Goldman and former Secretary of State Madeline Albright.
“This is an opportunity for women to speak for themselves,” said assistant professor of sociology and attendee Ashley Mears.
“Women Trailblazers” is partially a celebration of Women’s History Month. Women like Nightingale, Albright and poet Nikki Giovanni share a common thread of being politically active, said Acquisitions Director Jenifer Pino.
Students were given white gloves and encouraged to look through various documents displayed on six tables.
The first table featured movie stills and documents from Maya Deren, an experimental filmmaker from the 1940’s. Deren became the first person and the first woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship for film.
Deren’s success pioneered women’s roles in film, and she thrived as a producer, not as an actress, Mears said.
“Women were excelling in the entertainment field not in the role of producers of film, but in the role of actors. They were fulfilling a male director’s vision for a performance,” she said.
Another table contained letters and documents from Nightingale, including a hand-drawn map and plans for a hospital on one letter.
Two other tables incorporated articles and letters from journalists such as Martha Gellhorn, a World War II and Vietnam War correspondent, and Francis FitzGerald, a Vietnam War reporter and the author of “Fire in the Lake.”
One letter addressed from Gellhorn to Fitzgerald praises Fitzgerald’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, saying, “If you were run over by a bus tomorrow, you would have paid your full entrance fee to life.”
Another table displayed notebooks, letters and photographs of Oriana Fallaci, an Italian journalist known for her fearlessness in wartime reporting.
The exhibit also featured the two politically active writers, Giovanni and Margaret Culkin Banning.
One document contained a speech by Banning titled, “Are College Women Necessary?” In the speech, Banning spoke about why women still do not attend college when given the choice.
The final table included documents from female political figures such as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Albright.
Diana Marie Falvo, a first-year School of Management graduate student, said she came to the event because of her interest in women’s history.
“I like looking at how women were the first to do things,” Falvo said.
Women today should be aware of the path that these women paved, Mears said.
“From your perspective, these women trailblazers might feel a little out of date. They might not seem like they’re doing all that interesting of stuff because you come up in a time that is radically different,” Mears said.
HGARC Associate Director Sean Noel said that seeing the documents is an appealing opportunity for students at BU.
“It’s a chance to touch and interact with material and fall into the moment of history you have at hand. You’re reading someone’s mail and that is pretty intoxicating,” Noel said.
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