Welcome to A Little HerStory

Jessie Annette Jack Hooper was born on a farm in Winneshiek County, Iowa on November 9, 1865. Her mother was Mary Elizabeth Nelings and her father was David Hayes Jack, a wealthy businessman who mustered into a unit for Iowa during the Civil War. He married Mary when he returned home from the war. Jessie’s early education was with a governess. In 1888 Jessie married Ben Hooper, an Oshkosh, Wisconsin attorney, who encouraged activism and civic interests. The couple moved to Os

What does society require of us? The same thing our parents, our church, our school required? That we be what they wanted; to mold us and shape us into their vision of us, not what we are innately. It's time we recognized this and not only tell the truth, but live the truth of who WE are. When we do this we will be transformed! We will accept ourselves for who we are and celebrate that beautiful and wise woman. ‘Women have another option. They can aspire to be wise, not mer

Recently, a mainstream publisher has shown interest in publishing a second edition of They Persisted. I'm really excited about this because the first edition, while containing wonderful women, also contains typographical errors. The women are still fantastic, the errors embarrassing and made it quite difficult for me to market. I was less than thrilled with my first publishing experience! It was not good. That said, I have been reworking They Persisted and hopefully, it wi

“I packed my bags with a beating heart. Go I would - for why life unless adventure?” Excerpt from the second edition of They Persisted Madeline Zabriskie Doty was born on August 24, 1877, in Bayonne, New Jersey. Her parents were Samuel William Doty and Charlotte Gautier Zabriskie Doty. The had three children, Madeline, Douglas, and Ralph. Madeline earned a B.L.(Bachelor of Law) from Smith College in 1900 and went on to study law at Harvard, even though women were strictly ba