Column by Erin Johnson
Women in History
Irena Sendler’s Gift Of Life
04/02/2013- The writers of our history books must feel some deep embarrassment. They forgot all about Irena Sendler and she has somehow been left out of discussions of Nazi resistance. This is not to suggest that no teacher or professor has ever mentioned her in a lecture. Some may in fact be well versed in Sendler’s story. However, the rarity of such an education is simply outrageous. In fact, I’ve only very recently been made aware of this injustice myself, and even then, it was not in the classroom. Irena Sendler was born 15 February in 1910 and lived until 12 May 2008. She was truly lucky to have lived such a long life.
Marie Antoinette
03/26/2013- Perhaps it is because her story is so well known and infamous, but I have recently realized that my entire education has been entirely void of Marie Antoinette’s story. I knew little pieces that are easy to pick up from popular media, but nothing substantial. I knew her famous (albeit untrue)”Let them eat cake” line to the starving populace of France and that she was beheaded primarily for her selfish and exorbitant consumption. That said, I found myself wondering how accurate this picture was. How much influence and responsibility can reasonably be said to rest with her?
Queen Nzinga Mbande
03/19/2013- Queen Nzinga Mbande was an early 17th century ruler of the kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba who endless fought the Portuguese who were colonizing the West African coast in an attempt to control the African slave trade in the area. When she inherited the throne after her brother committed suicide in 1624, the area was under attack from both African and Portuguese assailants. In order to pacify the Portuguese and protect her kingdom from becoming a supply site in the slave trade, she showed her skills of adaption and converted to Christianity. She encouraged the religion’s spread by permitting Christian missionaries into her territories and keeping a confessor herself. She further demonstrated her political insight in allying herself with the Dutch; despite their combined forces, they were not able to defeat the Portuguese. She was eventually forced to flee Matamba where she capitalized on its strategic location and maintained its independence.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
02/25/2013- Eleanor of Aquitaine is a widely known and rather infamous historical figure. She was born in 1122 in the French province Aquitaine, and died in 1204 in Fontervraud Abbey. She became Queen of France and later became the Queen of England. She was active in the governance of her territories, wielded a significant amount of power and was extremely cunning and intelligent. It is, however, more common for Eleanor of Aquitaine to be remembered for the children she gave birth to, the animosity she supposedly fostered between them and her alleged affairs. This is not suppressing as women in history are less remembered for their actions and decisions and more remembered for their behavior and offspring. They are discussed in terms of the men and number of men they slept with and nature of the children they gave birth to; almost without exception is this true if their children were male, which is the case with Eleanor.
The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
02/18/2013- In November 1637 Anne Hutchinson was brought to trial by the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for preaching against the teachings of the colony’s ministers. Hutchison had broken no law, but was seen as a danger to the existing theocracy because she was a woman who held opposing Antinomian views and, more significantly, had the ability to influence others in their community.
The Cave 