I find myself amused and dismayed at times about how much there is to learn. Yet, when I overcome my resistance to learning and change, I experience more joy and connections in my life. Paying attention to Women’s History Month is an opportunity to keep learning and to deepen connections. 

I grew up with limited exposure and information about lots of important things. For the first ten years of my life it was me and my two brothers until our sister was born. At age 13 I went away to a Catholic seminary school and was encouraged not to socialize with girls.  I’ve had a lot of catching up to do in appreciation of women and their many roles in my life and in history. 

 During Women’s History Month, we pay attention to the many ways that women’s contributions have been distorted and underappreciated. This week’s post focuses on three little-known women who overcame extraordinary prejudice to follow their hearts and values. 

On a recent trip from Greenbelt to Washington D.C., Geraldine and I passed a road named Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue.  A route we travel often, we had never noticed the sign. We had never heard of Nannie Helen Burroughs and so we googled her. We discovered that she was born around 1879 in VA, the child of a formerly enslaved couple, John and Jennie Burroughs.  After her father died, she and her mother moved to Washington DC. She attended M Street High School (now Washington DC’s well-known Dunbar High School). She did quite well in school and attempted to become a teacher in Washington public schools, yet was turned down. 

Her father was a Baptist preacher; she worked for and was a leader in the National Baptist Convention. In 1900, at the age of 21 or so, she gave a speech to the Virginia National Baptist Convention entitled “How the Sisters Are Hindered from Helping”. Determined to be an educator and to expand the roles of African American women as leaders in the church, society and the workplace, she raised money from other African American women and opened the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington DC. 

Think about the courage required to stand up in a male-dominated church and say “the sisters” are being deprived of opportunities. She raised money to buy land, open and staff a school, and develop a curriculum when opposed by whites and African Americans alike. In a time when we need hope and inspiration, learning about this bold and determined woman is inspiring. 

A trip to the Eastern Shore of Maryland took us back to the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cambridge. My father grew up in Cambridge, the son of a furniture salesman who sold to both white and African-American customers despite his beliefs that white people were the superior race. To my grandfather, Black people were “darkies”. My father grew up in this culture;  my challenge has been to unlearn the racism that was rampant in Cambridge, and most places in Maryland. 

Knowing Cambridge’s past, it is amazing to find a community-developed Harriet Tubman Museum and Education Center on Race Street in downtown Cambridge.  Harriet Tubman grew up as an enslaved person on a plantation 10 miles outside of Cambridge. Growing up, she suffered a traumatic brain injury which impacted her health all her life. She escaped from her plantation and traveled north only to return to free her family from slavery as well. Over the next few years, she returned and led thirteen groups of enslaved people to freedom. 

She is among the better-known conductors of the Underground Railroad, the path to freedom for enslaved people. Again, think about the risks Harriet Tubman willingly faced to lead scared people at night through the marshes and dangerous terrain northward. They traversed to Pennsylvania and New York and later into Canada to avoid the retribution of white slave owners. It is an inspiring story that bears repeating and studying in today’s context.  

A recent walk through our local library reminded me of another little-known woman leader. The table with books for Women’s History Month included Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day’s Radical Vision and Its Challenge for our Times.  The title couldn’t be more relevant or inviting. 

The author D. L. Mayfield and Dorothy Day were neighbors and friends. She shares her personal observations about Dorothy Day’s Catholic faith; Dorothy believed Jesus’ message was to serve the poor. As the author states, there are many biographies of Dorothy Day and this isn’t one of them. Rather Mayfield’s book is a reflection on how Dorothy Day inspired the author as they both struggled to live out their faith and make real their values. 

Isn’t Dorothy Day’s struggle one we all have today? What does “love my neighbor” mean for me today? All three of these women courageously put their faith into action. What might we learn? What’s ours to do?