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Jennifer Jones is my collaborator for Projectkin’s new monthly series, the Speakers' Corner. Since she’s put this remarkable program together, I’ve asked her to host the livestreams previewing each month’s program. The Speaker's Corner invites members of the Projectkin community to step up to share their family stories in an interactive Zoom program. We hold these now on the second Thursday (or Friday across the date line) each month.
This month, Jennifer invited two remarkable guests, Bill Moore and Aryn Youngless, to discuss their research into their female ancestors. You can still register for this week’s program here:
If you think you might be interested in sharing one of your stories reach out to Jennifer directly:
Several of you popped in today's program with recollections from your ancestors.
Kathy Stone, who publishes Kathy’s Coaching and hosts Kathy’s Corner, reported:
My grandmother had twins in early 1930's on a farm on the prairies of Alberta. the youngest of 6. They slept in a dresser drawer in the 2 room house. Whenever I struggled with my twins, I reminded myself of what Gramma did.
Dr. Mary Marshall, who writes for her Collection, noted:
When my great-grandmother's husband died in 1916, she inherited four homes. She then raised their six daughters by herself, using rental money from three of the houses to support herself and the children.
Anne Young of Anne’s Family History wrote:
"Women hold up half the sky" is a well-known Chinese proverb popularized by Mao Zedong in 1949. It emphasizes women's indispensable contributions and equal role in society.
In the conversation about witchcraft,
Dr. Mary Marshall also shared,
Black women and women of color weren't included at all, except in slave records. Free women of color might be listed if they were in northern states.
Aryn concurred and referenced the incredible story of Tituba. (I had to remind myself of the details and found this summary on Wikipedia helpful.) It’s breathtaking. We may discuss that more during the Thursday/Friday program.
These are the stories we carry with us about the women in our families. During Jennifer, Bill, and Aryn’s discussion today, they referenced a few of their posts. Most relevant are probably:
Bill’s post about his remarkable great-grandmother, Sarah Ellen Inaham Boardman:
Aryn shared stories about the women in her family tree who were accused of witchcraft. Her three-part series goes beyond that to suggest some interesting strategies for anyone exploring the women in their history. It’s a terrific three-part series starting here:
Note: This post was an unintentional an experiment in testing just how responsive Substack’s support team can be. They passed my test. I learned a day later that by rotating the recording from portrait mode I triggered a bug that caused the black video seen immediately after the recording. While the Substack team isolates and resolves the issue, we’ll enjoy it in portrait mode. Whew!
In the meantime, explore last month’s episodes of the Speakers’ Corner featuring Jennifer’s conversation with Anne Young:
Perhaps we’ve inspired you to step up to the soapbox and share your story at the Speakers’ Corner, too? Join us, won’t you?
