Where Are We Going? Where Have We Been?
The ERA's History and Future in Illinois

by Jess Kozik

As I write this, it is International Women's Day. I watch as my Facebook and Instagram timelines blow up with articles and images of so many resplendent women. Women who have paved the way for other women. Women who are strong and beautiful and intelligent. So why is it that in the eyes of the law, women are still not seen as equal to men?

 

We have the potential to resolve this issue by ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. For those unfamiliar with the language of the ERA, it states that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex." The amendment was passed by Congress in 1972, but ultimately failed to be ratified by enough states--three-fourths of the states (38)--for it to be added to the Constitution, but as discussed in a previous article for Working Women, Illinois State Senator Heather Steans introduced SJRCA4 into the Illinois Senate back in 2014, reigniting the ERA's chance to be turned into law. The bill calls for the "ratification of the proposed equal rights amendment to the United States Constitution." The bill has yet to be fully passed in Illinois, but there is a strong sense of hope that 2018 will be the year. After the March 20th primary, the bill will make its way to the Senate and House in April.

 

Illinois has been both a ground for progressiveness and support for the ERA, as well as a foundation of deep opposition, led notably by Phyllis Schlafly in the 70s. The opposition managed to tip the scales, but it's not too late for a new scale, especially when we see strength and solidarity heightened in the movement for equality for women due to the #metoo platform. In a world of Trumps and Weinsteins we can't afford to not be seen as equal to men in the eyes of the law.

 

Many groups like ERA Illinois and the National Organization for Women have been working to help people become engaged with the issue and encourage them to reach out to their representatives to support the ERA.

 

Today for International Women's Day, ERA Illinois is hosting a virtual postcard party. The postcards will be sent to legislators to encourage their support of the passing of the bill. ERA Illinois is also looking for venues to host screenings of the film Equal Means Equal, a documentary created by Kamala Lopez about status of women in America. If you are interested in helping host a screening or would like to find out about other ways to get involved, please check out their website:

  http://www.eraillinois.org/
The fight for the ERA has been a long one, but the perseverance of women knows no bounds.

 

Radical Ideas! Women and the Vote!

by Joan McGann Morris

 

Actors in dressing room

Working Women's History Project and Her Story Theater presented the program "Radical Ideas! Women and the Vote!" and it was a resounding success! It was sponsored by the League of Women Voters and presented as part of CultureBridge 2018 at DANK Haus on February 17, February 24, and March 3 to enthusiastic, SRO, capacity audiences.

 

Radical Ideas! Women and the Vote!  by Mary Bonnett, artistic director of Her Story Theater, tells the story of the struggle for Illinois women's right to vote that resulted in Illinois women getting partial suffrage 7 years before all American women won that right when the 19th Amendment was finally ratified in 1920!  The play featured 3 suffragists excellently performed by Brigid Duffy as Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch, Alma Washington as Ida B. Wells, and Connie Foster as Grace Wilbur Trout plus Paul Odell who played a variety of roles, "Horrible Doorman, here!" to the great amusement of the audience.

After the play, each event had a different moderated panel of experts who spoke on women and the vote, 2018, connecting the past to the present. The panelists mirrored the characters in the play as noted by Grace Wilbur Trout, "We were as different in our ideas as in our faces, but our goal remained the same."--to get women the vote! The panelists of the program were all very different, in their personalities and strategies, but their message was the same--learn about the candidates and vote in the March 20, 2018 primary.

SRO audience

An audience member, Rencie Horst-Ruiz who brought all three of her daughters:

Jylene-15, Juvia-12, and  Keilan-7, poignantly said, "I wanted to bring my daughters to the event, so they could know the struggles women have gone through." The audience, young and old, were informed and reminded of the importance of the vote for women. 

 

The Chicago League of Women Voters provided voter registration and information about voting in the 2018 primary.  Special thanks go to Marianna Buchwald, Laura Engel, the IAG Team who curated CultureBridge 2018 in the beautiful Scharpenberg Art Gallery and to DANK Haus for their partnership and hospitality.

Moderators (*) and Panelists

*Ann Breen-Greco, Chicago Women Take Action  

Joyce Chapman, Women Empowered for Civic Engagement

Pat Wilder, Chicago League of Women Voters

Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, Indivisible Illinois

Pictured Above: Ann Breen-Greco, Jackie Kirley, Helen Ramirez-Odell, Mary Bonnett standing, Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, Joyce Campbell, Pat Wilder

Pictured Above: Panel 2--Annie Logue, Ibie Hart, Betty Magness, Kady McFadden 

Dr. Agnes Lattimer (1928 - 2018) and WWHP founder Yolanda (Bobby) Hall (1922 - 2015):
"Fighters for Health Care Justice"

by Jackie Kirley

 

Pediatrician and public health expert Agnes Lattimer died January 9th of this year at the age of 89. In 1986 Dr. Agnes Lattimer was appointed the chief medical officer of Chicago's Cook County Hospital, she was the first Black woman to head one of the nation's largest hospitals. As the acting medical director of a 1,200-bed public hospital, she was in a position to determine how medical care was delivered to the poor, and Dr. Lattimer had an enduring interest in improved health care for them.

 

When I interviewed her in 2009, she spoke about how much more difficult it was for poorer parents to care for their children's health. They relied on clinics with rotating physicians instead of the private pediatricians that middle class parents usually had. A private pediatrician remained a somewhat constant presence in the child's life and when parents had concerns about a child's health, they could usually get advice over the phone. However, poorer parents were unlikely to get advice over the phone. Instead, they had to visit the clinic, which could take up most of a day. They usually traveled both ways on public transportation and at the clinic had to wait their turn. Not only was this hard on the sick child, but also on parents as their jobs often lacked the flexibility to allow the parent that much time away from work.

 

To lessen those difficulties, Dr. Lattimer established a "Totline," staffed by nurses, so poor parents could call in with their questions 24 hours per day.

 

Like Dr. Lattimer, Bobby Hall was concerned with equity in healthcare. In 1981 Bobby was one of the founders of the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group (HMPRG) which advocated for health equity and improved public health. In 2011, HMPRG created the "Bobby Hall Social Justice Internship" in honor of her lifelong commitment to social justice and the elimination of healthcare inequities.

 

Agnes Lattimer and Bobby Hall also shared a commitment to a collaborative leadership style. Dr. Lattimer invited Bobby, then an assistant professor at Rush University, to co-teach a course on nutrition to medical students. The course filled a knowledge gap in the medical school curriculum, and also gave medical students an opportunity to observe two professionals co-teaching a course, a rarity in the field which emphasized individual, competitive models. Both Dr. Lattimer and Bobby felt that working collaboratively would benefit these students in their later life.

 

For more about Dr. Agnes Lattimer's extraordinary life:

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/dr-agnes-lattimer-dead-at-89-lauded-as-1st-black-woman-to-head-major-hospital/

and

http://hpherald.com/2018/01/31/dr-agnes-lattimer-89