Greater Grand Rapids Womens History Council
  P.O Box 68874, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-8874                     Phone: 616-574-7307

  

  

May 10,  2016

GGRWHC Board of Directors

Mary Seeger,
Jo Ellyn Clarey,    
    Co-Presidents  
Susan Coombes
    Vice President 
Ruth VanStee,
     Secretary
Connie Ingham
     Treasurer
  
Jennifer Bryant 
Jo Ellyn Clarey
Susan Coombes
Falinda Geerling 
Sharon Hanks
Connie Ingham 
Kyle Irwin
Mary Seeger
Ruth Stevens
Julie Tabberer
Ruth VanStee 
  
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Gert, Grace, and the Berkey & Gay Girls 
Women, War, & Work in 1910s Grand Rapids 

Berkey & Gay Girls Picnic, 1918
  
7 p.m., Thursday, June 2, 2016  

Grand Rapids Public Library, Main - Auditorium  
Co-sponsored by the Grand Rapids Public Library, 
& the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council
      
If this sounds familiar, that's because it's a repeat of our Women's History Month opener on March 1, the night of a snow storm.  We're still celebrating the working women of Grand Rapids a hundred years back.

Using unique archival resources, three staff members in the Grand Rapids History and Special Collections department of the Grand Rapids Public Library will highlight some of the city's women employed outside their homes during World War I. The last decade of the heady Progressive Era opened doors both personal and professional for these 11,000 women, and the disruptions of wartime provided opportunities in a working world previously off limits.

Julie Tabberer makes use of what she discovered in the Shop Mark, an employee newsletter of the Berkey and Gay Furniture Company,   to illustrate the lives of the women working at that company during WW I. 

Grace Van Hoesen, second from the left,
and the League for Women Voters
Heather Edwards will illustrate Grace Van Hoesen's roles as a local suffrage leader, wartime chair of the industrial committee of the Woman's Committee of the Council on National Defense, and as a founder of the League of Women Voters.

Gerturde Van Houten
with her cartoon image of Gert
The third part, led by
Drew Damron, will introduce Gertrude Van Houten, an illustrator and cartoonist for the Grand Rapids Press. Gert quickly became a local celebrity, who was sent to draw on location in wartime Washington D.C.  Damron has uncovered numerous examples of her work.
  
Gert reports from Washington,  March 1, 1918
Free and open to the public.


For a full description of each of the three presentations see GGRWHC website.  
    

Join us or Update your Membership!  

Not a current member of GGRWHC?    Register or renew your membership and help offset the expenses associated with annual research and programs. Your membership helps to set the record straight on the women who've made history here in our community.
 

GGRWHC Board Meetings

Board meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at the Vanderveen Center for the Book at the Grand Rapids Public Library. If you have suggestions for programs, oral histories, or other items, please email us or plan to attend a meeting.

 

 

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Please take a moment to forward this message to others you know who may be interested in Women's History.  If you've received this message as a forward, consider joining our mailing list (click on the button in the left column above!) in order to receive future updates about programming.

Thank you for your interest in preserving and celebrating the history of the many phenomonal women who've helped to shape West Michigan!  If you aren't already a member of the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council, consider showing your support through annual membership.  Visit our web site for more information and the ability to register using Pay Pal online!

Hats off to the historical women who've shaped West Michigan!