Life and Legacy of Jeannette Rankin Celebrated in March Program Series
Posted on Feb 17, 2010 by JRF
“The Life and Legacy of Jeannette Rankin,” the first woman elected to Congress, will be celebrated throughout the year with a series of programs marking the 130th anniversary of her birth on June 11, 1880. The events will kick off in March during Women’s History Month, which has the theme “Writing Women Back into History.” Programs will address Rankin’s Georgia connections and concern for women workers, suffrage and participatory democracy, pacifist philosophy, women’s legal status, America’s role in the world and workplace justice.
Rankin was elected to Congress in 1916 and 1940. Although she is perhaps best remembered for her votes against entering World War I and World War II, Rankin was also an advocate for women’s and children’s rights and was founding vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union. After she died in 1973, the sale of her Georgia property for $16,000 provided seed money for the Jeannette Rankin Foundation (JRF), which awards scholarships to low-income women 35 and older enrolled in educational programs. JRF awarded its first scholarship of $500 in 1978 and in 2009 gave $2,000 scholarships to 80 women.
The commemoration has been organized by the JR130 committee, which includes JRF’s “Founding Mothers” Susan Bailey, Gail Dendy, Margaret Holt, Heather Kleiner and Reita Rivers.
The JRF founders agree that 2010 is an appropriate year to honor Rankin’s legacy and that her commitment to peace and economic justice are particularly relevant in today’s contentious world. “Our democratic election system is troubled if not broken—from bitter partisanship to the distorted role of hidden money sources,” said Gail Dendy. “Jeannette’s proposals for direct election of the president and for preferential voting address these concerns, and technological advances now make her ideas even more compelling.”
This program series is presented by the JR130 committee with generous support and assistance from the following co-sponsors: Jeannette Rankin Foundation, Athens-Clarke County Library, Oconee County Library; and the following University of Georgia Units – Institute for Women’s Studies, Willson Center for Arts and Humanities, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Department of History, and Women’s Studies Student Organization. All programs are free and open to the public. Each will be followed by a light reception.
For more information visit http://www.rankinfoundation.org/events/month/3/2010, or call (706) 542-5788.
Writer: Elaine Kalber, elkalber@charter.net
Contacts: Jan Levinson, (706) 542-5788, jlevinso@uga.edu
