Friday, March 22, 2013

Celebrating Our History

I am delighted to be writing during Women’s History Month.  Communities across America celebrate the accomplishments of women who beat the odds to blaze the trails that make it possible for us to live self-determined, authentic lives.  We gather to draw inspiration from the lives of great women like Alice Paul, Shirley Chisolm, Kateri Tekakwitha, Dolores Huerta, Dorothy Day, Sojourner Truth, Patsy Mink, and Wilma Rudolph (and many, many others).  Then, on April 1, our conception of “history” takes its regular shape and we look forward to celebrating more women from eras past when March comes again. 

At least as wonderful as these histories is the unbounded admiration that we give these women for their accomplishments.  There’s no instantaneous accounting of how much makeup Amelia Earhart wore.  There’s no attempt to downgrade the courage of Susan B. Anthony or Eleanor Roosevelt in proportion to any support they may have received from men.  There’s no asterisk next to Queen Liliuokalani's name to indicate that she could not have made her strong stand against imperialism if she hadn't come from a powerful family. We don’t compulsively slap labels like “girly girl,” “sell-out” or “man-hater” on Elizabeth Blackwell, Ella Baker, Rachel Carson, Victoria Woodhull, Abigail Adams, or Sandra Day O’Connor.

There are some who suggest that such conversations about contemporary women emanate from a well of aggression hidden deep within the hearts of women.  But these are not conversations of the heart.  They are reactions to the pressures of our own historical moment.  In the 1970s-1990s women dreamed of “having it all.”  As this vision evolves into an expectation, we find ourselves juggling family, education/career, and community life.  Not only must we never drop a ball, we are to look, feel, and simply be fabulous while keeping everything aloft.   

Some women are reckoning with the fact that “having it all” may be more struggle than juggle.  Many of us, years into our own attempts to “do it all,” find ourselves making on-the-spot decisions about what we really can and cannot pull off in the narrow span of time between high school graduation and late middle age (with only twenty-four hours in each day in that interval).  Anxiety and fear are the foes of wisdom and compassion.  Every projection or judgment about whether a juggler’s costume is cut sexy or dowdy, or gets extra practice time by being “careeristly childless,” or receives unearned praise for “just” being a mother is a lost opportunity for the kind of mutual support and solidarity that could bring an end to the whole exhausting performance.  

As in every historical era, women are making history with everything that they give life to, whether babies, ideas, artworks, collaborations, movements, conversations, communities, homes, cultures, celebrations, or relationships.  We’re all in this era together (men, too!) and whether it’s at the forefront of our consciousness or not, we are creating the stuff of the Women’s History Months of the future.  So why wait?—Let’s celebrate the history that we are making together every day!

Kindly,













Dr. Heather Fryer
Professor, Department of History and
Women's & Gender Studies

Monday, March 18, 2013

A Tribute to Dr. Anne Scheerer


I write this tribute to one of Creighton’s most remarkable women to urge that SOMEONE here do something to keep her memory alive.
            Dr. Anne Scheerer, retired dean of summer sessions and lifelong learning, died recently. It’s not surprising that her death has received little attention since she had outlived most of her contemporaries and had Alzheimer’s. The shrunken woman trying to remember something someone had just told her was a far cry from the dynamo I met as a young reporter in the early 1970’s.
            Anne taught mathematics before becoming one of Creighton’s first women administrators. As a dean, she took Creighton into the community with seminars and non-credit classes that benefitted many, including women trying to figure out new roles. I think I met her on the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women that worked to open doors to women. Along with people like Eileen Lieben and Mary Higgins (yes, the Mary Higgins who still works in retention), she helped transform the role of women in the University and inspired many outside of Creighton. In 1987, she received the Mary Lucretia Creighton Award.
            What I remember best about Anne, however, was the way she spent her first years of retirement. Instead of relaxing, she joined first the Papal Volunteers then the Peace Corps, serving in various Third World locations. She sent back detailed descriptions of her adventures including bicycling on the Great Wall of China. What a woman!
            Sadly time and illness caught up with Anne but good friends like Sister Mary Alice Haley, retired philosophy professor, patiently took her to community events. I would wish that Anne rest in peace but she would hate that. Instead I’ll hope that her eternity finds her as energetic as she was in life. 
Isn’t it time to permanently memorialize this Creighton pioneer who did so much for so many? How about a Dr. Anne Scheerer Outstanding Retiree Award? 
Kindly,













Dr. Eileen Wirth