Welcome to A Little HerStory

"A moral wrong upon our Government! It took hold of me." Mary Bonney was the fourth of six chidden born to a devoted Baptist family in Hamilton, New York, on June 8, 1816. Her Father was a farmer in good circumstances, said to be a man of integrity, sound judgement and strong influence. Her mother had been a teacher before her marriage and was very cheerful, kind, interested in everything that concerned the the well being of her family, but especially education and relilgion. This was evident in way they raised their children. Her education began at the Ladies Academy in Hamilton but soon transferred to the Troy Seminary, where she studied with Mrs. Emma Willard. The Seminary was then the

Gretta Thunberg, the amazing sixteen year old activist from Sweden, is in the forefront of much of today’s news. Rightly so, she is a great force and gives me hope! However, there are other young people who are tirelessly fighting to save our planet who don’t seem to get as much press. I stumbled on this young woman in a post from my alma mater, Goddard College. Young Autumn Peltier has been raised with traditional ways and has been learning to be a community leader for most of her life. Peltier lives on the Unceded Anishinawbe Territory on Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario. Her mother Stephanie was raised with traditional teachings that were passed on by her father and her auntie Jos

"Materialism does not produce happiness," Mrs. Nearing told those who came to tour her Forest Farm and marvel that, in an age of mass communications, she still made do without radio or television. Helen Knothe Nearing was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, on February 23, 1904. She grew up in a comfortable home in a family of Theosophists (Theosophists have a mission of encouraging open-minded inquiry into world religions, philosophy, science, and the arts in order to understand the wisdom of the ages, respect the unity of all life, and help people explore spiritual self-transformation.) Her mother was Maria Obreen Knothe and her father was Frank Knothe. Aspiring to become a concert violinist, H

“We had the right to vote as American citizens. We didn’t have to be granted it by some bunch of guys…” We lost a brilliant reporter and amazing woman on September 17th, 2019. I have always admired Cokie Roberts greatly. I thought she was brilliant, funny, crisp, clear, concise, honest. Her smile lit up the world! She was an award winning journalist and among the first female broadcast reporters -along with Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer and Susan Stamberg - to cover the highest levels of U.S. government. ABC News President James Goldston called Roberts, an award-winning political commentator and author, "a true pioneer for women in journalism.” "Cokie's kindness, generosity, sharp intelle

Recently I watched a film, An Ordinary Hero. It was a good film and documented some of the unrest and violence in the south during the fight for Civil Rights. I learned about a woman, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, a Freedom Rider, and I greatly admire her. Her story needs to be retold and understood especially in these time of such hate, violence and divisiveness. I wanted to share a little of her with you today. I remember these times and had strong feelings of support for the Freedom Riders, but now, as an adult, I can view this time through a different lens and it speaks to me, loudly, again. We must not forget. Joan was born in 1941, in Washington D.C. and raised in Virginia. Her gre

Information gathered from: The Times of London, The Guardian, BBC News and Yachting Monthly. When I saw mention of this woman, and her astonishing feat, I knew I had to know more about her. She sailed around the world, non stop, unassisted, alone, at aged 77. ( I have read conflicting reports on how many days it took her from 320, 339 to 380) Wow, just wow, no matter how many days it took. This news began to appear in several places on August 21, 2019, when she celebrated her 77th birthday, alone, at sea less than a thousand miles from Victoria. Initially, she set sail to release the ashes of her husband, and somehow she just kept going on her 38 foot yacht, Nereida. Socrates, from Lymin

From Silver Disobedience by Dian Grisel Here’s something few will tell about finding personal peace. It is what I know to be true about the elusive “zen” so often spoken about. So, this is worth a slow read. Peace is not something external. It is not granted to us or withheld by others. It’s not something we need to “get.” We can’t study to achieve personal peace, nor can it be taught to us by others. No vacations to mountaintops or to the sea in exotic locations are necessary. Peace is neither exciting nor boring.Peace is a byproduct of concentrating on our daily routine and fulfilling our everyday responsibilities to the best of our abilities. That’s it. That’s the secret to greater perso

Mary Moody Emerson was born on August 23, 1774, on the eve of the American Revolution, in Concord, Massachusetts, the fourth child of Phebe Bliss and the Reverend William Emerson. Both Phebe and William were very spiritual and came to America for religious freedom. In 1776, when her father, who was a chaplain to the Continental Army at Fort Ticonderoga, died of “army fever,” his widow had five young children to raise. Two-year-old Mary was packed off to be reared by a childless aunt and uncle who lived in nearby Malden, Massachusetts. She later described these lonely formative years as a “slavery of poverty & ignorance & long orphanship.” The family was so impoverished that they very oft

Martha Ellis Gellhorn was the only woman journalist who landed on the beach in Normandy during World War II. She was born on November 8, 1908, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the daughter of Edna Fischel Gellhorn, a suffragist and George Gellhorn who was a German born gynecologist. Her older brother Walter, became a noted law professor at Columbia University and her younger brother Alfred was an oncologist and former dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 1926 she graduated from John Burroughs School in St. Louis and enrolled in Bryn Mawr College. A year later she left Bryn Mawr without graduating, in order to pursue a careen as a journalist. Her first published arti