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| A Successful Salute!
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Brigid Duffy as
Mother Jones |
On March 28, 2015 over 200 people gathered at the Irish American Heritage Center for WWHP's Mother Jones benefit, A Salute to "The Most Dangerous Woman in America." WWHP is proud to announce that the benefit raised approximately $6,000 for the New Mother Jones Museum in Mount Olive, Illinois.
The benefit took full use of the space generously provided by the Irish American Heritage Center, with every seat filled through the majority of the program. Guests were treated to food and drink, with interim performances by singer Kathy Cowan. Keynote speaker Rosemary Feurer showed a portion of her Mother Jones documentary and spoke about Mother Jones' work as well as the importance of keeping her legacy alive. The benefit also featured WWHP board member Margaret Fulkerson, who gave a talk about the Mother Jones Museum, and actor Brigid Duffy, who gave a bombastic performance as Mother Jones returned to critique labor rights and politics in our modern-day world. The program ended with a Q&A session featuring all of the speakers and a raffle draw. WWHP is ecstatic about the success of this event and would like to thank all who attended and contributed to its success! We plan to continue supporting Mother Jones' legacy-stay tuned for news of future events. |
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| Female Presidential Candidates of the Past
For the last two presidential campaigns, the country has been abuzz with the prospect of Hillary Clinton becoming the first female President of the United States.However Clinton would hardly be the first woman to run for the nation's highest office-check out these biographies of two trailblazing women from centuries past.
Victoria Woodhull - ran 1872
 Born in 1838, Victoria Woodhull first gained influence in 1870, when she and her sister, Tennessee Claflin, became the first female stock brokers in the United States. They used their money to fund a paper, Woodhull &Claflin's Weekly, which supported all manner of progressive causes. Woodhull described herself as being 100 years ahead of her time and was an ardent supporter of women's suffrage, sex education, legalized prostitution, labor rights, and vegetarianism, all radical ideas for the time. Her campaign was marked by controversy, and she was accused of being everything from a prostitute to a witch. All the same, she had many supporters, including suffragists, laborers, and communists.
Shirley Chisholm - ran 1972
 Born in 1934, Shirley Chisholm first became involved in politics when she was training to be a teacher at Brooklyn College. She spent her years as a teacher involved in the Democratic Party, and in 1964, she was elected to the New York State Assembly. She was antiwar and supported the rights of women, African Americans, and workers. In her 1972 presidential campaign, Chisholm supported these issues alongside prison reform, gun control, and other progressive causes. She received 10% of the Democratic Party vote but did not win the nomination. She continued in her career as a Congresswoman until her retirement in 1982.
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In Memory of Clara Day 1923-2015
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Clara Day shaking hands with Ralph Abernathy.
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Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1923, Clara Day was a founding member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. A lifelong proponent of women's and labor rights,she was instrumental in organizing warehouse workers at Montgomery Ward, where she worked beginning in 1947. In 1955, she joined the Warehouse and Mail Order Employees Union Local 743 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. She quickly became a staff member for Local 743, and in 1976 was elected to the Executive Board, where she spent over 20 years as Trustee and Recording Secretary.
Clara Day had numerous other achievements, including acting as commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, and was a strong proponent of civil rights. When hundreds of thousands of Americans participated in the 1963 March on Washington, Clara Day led a delegation of her union members alongside them.However, her involvement in CLUW will always stand out as one of her proudest achievements. |
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| Child Care Project Handle With Care, an original play written by Tracy Walsh with Lookingglass' Young Ensemble and loosely inspired by interviews from WWHP's Child Care Project, will be performed at the Lookingglass Studio May 9-10 and May 16-17, 2015. For tickets, click this link or call the box office at 312.337.0665. After this first production, Tracy will create new short plays based on the information collected from our 36 interviews. We will be planning to present these plays in 2015-2016. |
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