Dorothea Lange- Posted by Melynie Northcott

Dorothea Lange was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. She took photography classes at Columbia University. She worked at a New York portrait studio until 1918, and then she decided to travel the country. While she did not like to be in the studio, she did this kind of work during the 1920’s. She traveled to the southwest with her husband and began to photograph Native Americans. She believed that the camera could teach people “how to see without a camera.” She was known as the most gifted photographers, because she really documented the poverty people faced during the Depression years. Her Depression subjects may be dated, but the message captured in those images is timeless.

Her most outstanding personal characteristic was her keen visual and auditory perceptiveness that in her combined with a strong belief in human benevolence, kindness, and justice. The photograph that has become known as "Migrant Mother" is one of a series of photographs that Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California. This is the most prominent photograph that really captured the essence of poverty. The mother in this photo really shows how hard life was during that time. In 1960, Lange gave this account of the experience: “I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it”. 

I can only imagine how hard it must have been during that time, but the photographs taken by Lange really opened my eyes. You could just feel the people’s emotions while looking at the photos. She captured moments that no one else could during that time. She did not want to make them look like models or capture a beautiful sunset, she captured their souls almost. These are real people dealing with real problems and she did a wonderful job of giving people today a view into the past. Dorothea Lange was not only a great photographer, but she was passionate about helping others. Her concern for these people was really an artistic expression that many other people couldn't capture during that time.

Works Cited

"Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" Photographs in the Farm Security Administration Collection: An Overview." Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" Photographs in the Farm Security Administration Collection: An Overview (Library of Congress). Library of Congress, 2004. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

Gawthrop, L. C. (1993). Dorothea Lange and visionary change. Society, 30(5), 64-67.

Shetterly, Robert. "Dorothea Lange." Americans Who Tell The Truth. Americans Who Tell The Truth, 2006. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

"THE COLLECTION." MoMA.org. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2009. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

~ Melynie Northcott 

Dr. Sally Ride

Sunnye Caldwell

Rosalind Franklin

Many of us learn about the breakthrough discoveries of Crick and Watson concerning the structure of DNA. While Crick and Watson had a history of studying DNA, their most famous contribution happened only after they were shown the work of the British biophysicist, Rosalind Franklin. Franklin was discouraged and looked down upon by her colleagues because of her sex. The information that was shown to Crick and Watson was given to them by another colleague, Maurice Wilkins, without Franklin's knowledge. All three men won a Nobel Peace PRize for their contributions to science. Franklin's work was portrayed as a contribution to the discovery but was ultimately downplayed by the scientific community. Her discovery enabled the scientific community to make one of the greatest discoveries of the twenty first century, yet she is rarely credited with it. Franklin continued to lend her expertise and skill to the scientific community until she died of ovarian cancer at the age of 37. Had she lived, she could have advanced molecular biology even further than the monumental stride she enabled in her short career as a scientist.

Works Cited

"Pioneer Molecular Biologist." Www.sdsc.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

 

Brett Kirk

Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was born on June 27, 1869. She is known for being an anarchist, radical feminist, and for her speeches and writing. She played a key role in the progression of the anarchist political philosophy. She was born in Lithuania. Her family later moved to St. Petersburg and her father denied her from continuing her education. Despite being unable to attend school, Emma constantly read and studied the politics of her day. In 1885, Emma and her sister Helena emigrated to Rochester, New York and lived in New York City. 

While living in New York, Emma joined the burgeoning anarchist movement. She was married for a brief time but quickly divorced her husband as she progressively became more involved in the anarchist movement. She became a writer and lectured on anarchist philosophies, women's rights, and social issues. She wrote many books and speeches on anarchy and women's rights as well. 

While being a part of this movement, Emma and her close friend, Alexander Berkman, plotted to assasinate Henry Clay Frick. After a failed attempt of assassination, Alexander was sentenced to twenty-two years in prison. Emma later went to prison on several occasions for inciting to riot and illegally distributing information of birth control. She was later sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to persuade young men not to sign up for the draft. She was later deported back to Russia once she was released from prison.

To me, Emma was a very driven woman. Despite everything that was thrown at her, she was willing to do anything she could to make her voice heard. She attracted thousands with her speeches and thousands more with her books. Emma is proof that women can achieve great things despite being put down by men and authorities.

Works Cited

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/

http://jwa.org/womenofvalor/goldman

-Lyndie Whiting

Margaret Sanger

Question: Did you know who opened the first birth control clinic in the United State and also was arrested for distributing information on contraception?

 Answer: The one and only Margaret Sanger.

Margaret is a vital part of why women are afforded the right to birth control today. After being a nurse and witnessing the horrors and illnesses that come with self-induced abortions, she found interest in giving women the information and tools to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Margaret was the mother of her own family during the period of the Comstock Act. She launched a paper called the Woman Rebel which provided women with information of birth control. She was immediately charged for publishing “obscene materials” and fled the country for one year until the charges were dropped against her. She opened the first birth control clinic, a research institute dedicated to birth control, the first scientific journal dedicated to birth control, and a large advocacy organization dedicated to birth control. She lived just long enough to see the repeal of the Comstock Act. Margaret is responsible for so many advancements in women’s rights and the birth control movement.

 

 

 

LaRissa Robertson

 

Elizabeth Blackwell (First female to recieve a medical degree in he US)

Alisha Drain

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910)

         Elizabeth Blackwell is described as a stubborn and persistent woman. Perhaps it is these two distinct traits that pushed her to accomplish her many successes within the realm of women’s liberation and the medical field. Mrs. Blackwell or should I say Dr. Blackwell was the first women to become a Doctor of Medicine within the United States (Smith).

         The thought of becoming a Doctor had never crossed her mind until she went to visit a dying friend whom made the comment that if her doctor was a woman she could have been saved (Joyner). It was this moment that she realized someone had to step forward and she made that someone herself. No female had ever been accepted into an American Medical Program, she knew it would be a struggling goal. She applied to 19 universities and was denied by all. The faculty at Geneva College decided to allow their all male anatomy class vote on weather to accept Mrs. Blackwell. Professor Webster sated that they thought it would be fun to see the men’s reaction; every male voted “Aye” as a joke (Smith).

         During the two-year medical program she faced many struggles. During an internship she was not allowed to have the title of “intern” as the men were. She was sabotaged during her intern ship by male doctors who would neglect diagnosis cards for her patients in an attempt to shake her confidence (Joyner). She battled through the program and received her degree in 1849. As a new doctor she now faced the task of finding another internship, her teachers suggested she should attempt to pass as a male; she refused! Dr. Blackwell landed an internship in Paris; the only speculation was that she could not use the title of doctor just because she was female.

           Dr. Blackwell serves as an important symbol of the barriers women have overcome and the barriers that still remain. She cracked the biggest glass ceiling in history.

Works Cited

Joyner, Laura. "Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell: Determination Helped Her Break Medical Barriers     
           for Women." Investor's Business Daily 10 August 1999, n. pag. Print.
           Retrieved from: www.hws.edu/about/black-well/artic;es

  Smith, Dean. "A Persistent Rebel"." American History Illustrated January 1981, n. pag. Print.
           Retrieved from: www.hws.edu/about/black-well/articles/amhistory.asp&xgt