American Women at Leisure

A Different

POINT OF VIEW IN THIS EDITION 1 NWHM AND GALLAGHER & ASSOCIATES 1 SPOTLIGHT ON NWHM’S PROJECT COORDINATOR 2 NWHM DOES ITS TURN ON THE CATWALK 3 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT 4 DID YOU KNOW CORNER 4 NWHM DE PIZAN HONORS SAVE THE DATE 5 FEATURE ARTICLE: CHAUTAUQUA 7 FROM BLOOMERS TO BIKINIS 9 BIOGRAPHIES 13 NWHM SUPPORTERS SPREAD THE WORD 14 NWHM AND THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

SUMMER/FALL 2013 | VOLUME XIII

NWHM AND GALLAGHER & ASSOCIATES HOLD a Charette to Brainstorm Traveling Exhibit Ideas

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n April 26, 2013, NWHM and Gallagher & Associates, a world-renowned museum exhibit design firm in Silver Spring, MD held a charette to brainstorm ideas for a temporary/traveling exhibit for NWHM. A charette is a collaborative community planning and design process that brings stakeholders together in intensive work sessions to develop plans for a potential project. The traveling exhibit’s format is still being shaped and could explore a range of topics.

women! We are delighted to be working with the firm and are excited to see what kind of exhibit is in store. Some of Gallagher’s featured projects include the National Museum of American Jewish History, The Grammy Museum, The Spy Museum, and Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History.

Charette participants share creative ideas.

The meeting was facilitated by Cybelle Jones and Gretchen Cross. Cybelle is a Principal and Studio Director at Gallagher & Associates, specializing in Museum Master Planning and Exhibition Design.

Gretchen is a Senior Associate and Director of Business Development at Gallagher & Associates and oversees the business development and marketing efforts for the firm. Our challenge at the charette was to brainstorm ways to tell women’s unique history from a woman’s perspective, enhance the value of women’s work, contributions and roles when it is not necessarily valued by society and to portray women’s lives through a female lens.

Several Board NWHM members, staff members as well as leading innovators and designers in the museum world attended the meeting—all were

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Sitting Joan Wages (L), Cybelle Jones.

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NWHM DOES ITS TURN ON THE CATWALK at Tory Burch Fashion Presentation

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omen and the fashion industry have a long history, whether lending their talents through design, sewing, marketing or shopping, women have shaped the industry as both producers and consumers. NWHM continued that history on Thursday, May 9th as it struck a pose at Bloomingdale’s exclusive fashion presentation of the Tory Burch Spring Collection at the store’s Friendship Heights, MD location. Forty guests, members and friends of the Museum attended the two-hour long event which featured the most stylish looks for the Spring including, “Tomboy Chic” and “American Prep Remix.” Prior to the start of the presentation, Museum President & CEO, Joan Wages, told the attendees about the Museum’s efforts to build a permanent site on the National Mall as well as its ongoing programs, exhibits and events. Tory Burch and Bloomingdale’s donated 10 percent of the proceeds from the sales of the evening to the Museum.

Joan Wages informs the audience about NWHM’s work.

Tory Burch tunic and cropped pants

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Sweater and cropped pants set

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LEGISLATION FOR More Than a Museum Over 28,000 have already signed petitions to Congress asking them to pass our legislation, HR.863 in the House of Representatives and S. 398 in the U. S. Senate.

This legislation would create a Commission that would study the need for a National Women’s History Museum, recommend a site on or near the National Mall and how it would be funded.

The establishment of a Commission would be a giant step forward to help obtain a permanent site for the National Women’s History Museum on or close to the National Mall — the place where our nation shows what it honors.

NWHM’s presence on the National Mall will not solely honor women of the past. It will demonstrate our nation’s respect for the many roles and contributions women have made and continue to make to our country.

Other groups have sought recognition on the National Mall for similar reasons — the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and the National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL). Both had commissions like we are seeking, to recommend their sites and both were granted Mall sites.

Establishing a national museum in Washington is a lengthy process. In comparison to other museums established over the last 30 years, NWHM is right on course. The National Museum of the American Indian evolved out of a collection of artifacts in the New York Indian Museum that opened in 1922. The first legislation for an African American History Museum was introduced in the early 1900s.

Although founded in 1996, the first NWHM legislation for a site was not introduced until 2003. The Museum has reviewed over 40 possible locations and narrowed its search down to three sites that we have considered publicly and have lobbied for on Capitol Hill.

Twice before there has been legislation pending on two different sites, but either one side or the other of Congress failed to pass the bill (twice the House did not vote for one site and once the Senate denied a different site).

The Board has always opted for a location that will draw the largest possible attendance of visitors. For example, one museum that is five blocks off the National Mall gets less than 200,000 yearly visitors while museums on the Mall get from one to seven million visitors annually. NWHM wants its exhibits and information to reach the widest possible audience and educate the most people.

This will be the first museum in a Nation’s Capital in the world to recognize and honor women’s many contributions to the building of that nation. A museum of women’s history on or near the Mall will be a beacon to the world.

While we are on Capitol Hill or have people on the phone from our office to the Hill consistently, Members of Congress listen to their constituents. That’s why it is important that they hear from you. Please call your Member of Congress and Senators and urge them to cosponsor HR. 863 in the House and S.398 in the Senate. You can also go to www.nwhm.org and send a letter or sign the petition. They need to hear that you want to see our nation’s women honored.

With your continued help, we are building the foundation for tomorrow. Our sincerest thanks!

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With gratitude,

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Joan Wages

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:

NWHM legislation, S. 398, will be considered by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on July 31st

DID YOU KNOW CORNER American Women at Leisure Did you know that beginning in 1894 Americans started to gain more leisure time than their ancestors? One reason was that industrial employers began reducing work hours and established half-day Saturdays. This gave employees more leisure time to pursue new and fun activities. What did they do with their newfound freedom? Lots of fun things…

Circus Performer c. 1909; Library of Congress

URBAN ENTERTAINMENT Vaudeville shows kept most urbanites entertained during this period. The shows featured a variety of acts that continuously ran so that theatre-goers could drop in at their leisure. Vaudeville shows appealed to a wide range of people across economic and ethnic backgrounds and many were mixed audience. Circuses and Wild West shows were also popular in cities. These new types of entertainment stood out not only for their novelty, but also as an early career opportunity for women A Line of Skaters in 1907; Library of Congress in the United States and as a public example of women’s changing roles around the turn of the 20th Century.

Lady Rides her bike c. 1917; Library of Congress

SAVE THE DATE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

Honoring women from the past and present who have shaped history 7 pm (Program) The Mead Center for American Theater Home of Arena Stage 1101 Sixth Street, SW Washington, DC 20024 The National Women’s History Museum is dedicated to enlightening the public about the historic contributions of women. Plans are underway to build a permanent home for the Museum at the National Mall in Washington, DC

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THE BICYCLE AND ROLLER SKATING FRENZY Bicycles took American consumers by storm in the 1890s and this zippy invention had some surprising, but nonetheless, liberating implications in the lives of women. In many ways the bicycle came to embody the spirit of change and progress that the women’s rights movement sought to engender during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The bicycle provided women with unprecedented mobility and forced a departure from the popular fashions of the day, including corsets, bustles, and long voluminous skirts!

Roller skating was another craze that swept the nation during the late 1800s. James Leonard Plimpton had invented the quad skate in 1863, just two years before the civil war ended and by 1884, roller derbies started gaining popularity. In April 1905, roller rinks opened in cities in New England and New Jersey and women were avid participants. Skating was praised for its fun and health benefits. The skating rink also offered young women a space where they could experience a sense of freedom from the constant supervision of a parent.

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FEATURE Chautauqua: The Summer Resort with an Educational Twist Sydnee C. Winston — NWHM Project Coordinator

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Glimpses of Greater Chautauqua Women’s Fencing Club 1896; Library of Congress

t was the summer of 1883, August to be exact, and Eva Moll was pining for a vacation. She wanted a respite–something that would take her away, if only for a few weeks, from her day-to-day work as a young school teacher in Ohio.

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“I so much desire to go to Chautauqua,” she wrote in her diary. “Could that dream be realized I would consider it the happiest event of my life.”

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The place that Eva wrote so admiringly of was a popular vacation resort for many Americans starting in 1874. Chautauqua, tucked away in the rolling hills and myriad rivers of western New York State, was much more than a recreational resort.

It was a vacation spot that offered educational and leadership opportunities for women and was among the growing trend of “self-improvement vacations” that hit the nation in the late 1800’s.

Alternative summer resorts, run by both religious and secular organizations, sprang up around the country during the latter portion of the 19th Century. They provided middle-class vacationers

Ida B. Wells; Library of Congress

with a wholesome environment free from “vices” like drinking, card-playing and dancing that sometimes lurked at regular resorts.

When John Vincent, a Methodist minister, and Lewis Miller, an inventor and manufacturer, founded Chautauqua in 1874, they envisioned a unique vacation experience, where leisurely pursuits joined forces with self-edifying ones.

Their idea proved so successful and popular that during the first two-weeks of its opening, five or six hundred “elect students” traveled to the resort from twenty-five states. By the mid 1800’s, Chautauqua

had drawn from 60,000 to 100,000 people to its grounds, stated The New York Times.

Rustic bridge, Chautauqua 1898; Library of Congress

“Chautauquas” soon started popping up across the country, including AfricanAmerican Chautauquas in the South that featured Glimpses of Greater Chautauqua Girls lectures from journalist Rowing Club 1896; Library of Congress and anti-lynching trailblazer Ida B. WellsBarnett and other activists.

Women, like Eva Moll, who eventually made her cherished trip to the resort, were among the throngs of people who made their annual summer jaunt up to New York. The resort offered lectures, concerts, courses in language, history, sports, art, music and many other educational activities that engaged the vacationer’s desire to learn.

On one of her trips to Chautauqua during the 1880s, a very busy Eva managed to spare some time from her hectic schedule to reflect on her time at the resort.

Baptism at a Chautauqua c. early 1900’s; Library of Congress.

“There was a lesson, lecture or concert for nearly every hour of the day,” she wrote. “Oh Chautauqua is doing a grand work for she [her sister Lillie] and I. May the good work continue. God bless the hearts that planned and plan it.”

In 1904, feminist, writer and lecturer Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote: “That is what Chautauqua is – a great feeding place for mind and heart and soul; and not the least of the nourishment is in the free contact of so many nice people – quite aside from the courses of instruction.”

The year before, she commented on the educational importance that Chautauquas played in the lives of women in The Independent saying: “The ordinary working housewife wanted association, information and inspiration, some glimpse at least, if not a share of, the large activities of life.”

Chautauquas continued to grow in popularity during the 1900’s and well into the 20th Century. Today, after more than a century since it was founded, Chautauqua continues to be an inspiring place where women and girls can enrich themselves through educational and cultural discovery.

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Eva’s opportunity to participate in such enriching programs at Chautauqua is made even more remarkable when we consider that during the late 19th Century, despite growing opportunities for women in higher education, the vast majority of women were unable to attend. Women were particularly attracted to Chautauqua for this reason. Many women who desired to further their education but were unable to attend college depended on Chautauquas.

Source: Aron, Cindy S. Working at Play: A History of Vacations in the United States. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 101-126. Print.

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FROM BLOOMERS TO BIKINIS: An Evolution of Women’s Swimwear

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ummer is officially upon us and has brought with it an age-old and universal tradition: swimming. As the sun heats up city pavements and raises temperatures to dizzyingly high degrees, we crave water’s cool refreshment. Whether a dip in the community pool, a swim in the ocean, or skipping through the gushing water of a burst fire hydrant, there is one essential garment that we all need — a swimsuit.

4th Century Mosaic with women wearing “Bikinis” Photo: Public Domain

Swimsuits, in their modern-day incarnations, replete with spandex and lycra, may seem like a relatively recent fashion invention. They are anything but! In fact, the first documented use of a swimming costume was on a 4th Century Roman mosaic at the Villa Romana del Casale, which depicted women who wore what look like modern day bikinis.

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It appears, according to historical record, that swimwear went through a dry season for many centuries that followed, especially after the fall of the Roman Empire. The fashion wouldn’t be resurrected until 1687, when English traveler Celia Fiennes wrote about the popular bathing costume of that era.

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Women of this era used bathing gowns, often made of canvas with huge sleeves that filled up with water so as to not reveal her shape. Bathing gowns were used for public bathing, which was believed to possess healing and therapeutic power.

Modesty was of the upmost importance when bathing and bathing machines were employed to ensure privacy. The machines were carriages that rolled out into the water. A typical “swim” was really a short dip in the water with ladies and men relegated to separate sides of the beach.

Woman uses a bathing machine in Germany c. 1893; Photo: Public Domain

Bathing had become a recreation by the middle half of the 19th Century and it sparked the start of a new age of swimwear as Americans flocked to the beaches for some fun in the sun. Swimwear from this period consisted of bloomers and black stockings. Although swimming had become a recreation, it was still thought that women

should refrain from too much of it. By the late 19th Century, swimming had evolved into an intercollegiate and Olympic sport, and it was more acceptable for women to participate in this particular forum. The “Princess” cut with its blouse and trousers became popular in the 1880s and by the beginning of the 20th Century, swimsuits began to expose a little more skin—though, not too much. Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested for indecent exposure in the US in 1909 for wearing a one-piece suit that exposed too much skin!

In the 1920s, swimsuits were made with lighter fabric and included shorts which exposed women’s legs. The 1930s and 40s saw a transformation of swimsuits into more formfitting pieces that exposed the arms and legs but covered most of the midriff. By the mid-1940s the two-piece had made its debut. French dancer Micheline Bernardini daringly modeled the bikini in 1946. America was slow to accept the bikini’s bold navel-bearing style. It wasn’t until the early 1960s that bikinis exploded onto the pool and beach party scene. Bikinis of this era covered the majority of the bust-line and the bottoms stretched the entire length of the form from just below the navel to the top of the thigh.

English woman’s bathing suite 1858; Photo: Public Domain

Lady’s Swimsuit c. 1880s; Photo: Library of Congress Women visit the beach c. 1920s; Photo: Library of Congress

We’ve come a very long way since the days of bloomers and black stockings! So this summer, as you step into your favorite swimsuits for a dip in the pool, think about what our foremothers had to wear to the beach, so that we can wear what we want to today.

Esther Williams models a swimsuit in 1945

A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW

Young Women on the Beach in 1906; Photo: Library of Congress

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BIOGRAPHIES Elizabeth Hawes 1903-1971

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lizabeth Hawes was born into an upper class family in New Jersey in 1903. Even by age 12, when she was commissioned to make dresses for a shop in Pennsylvania, she knew she wanted to be a fashion designer. She studied at Vassar College and Parsons School of Design, worked in a Paris fashion copy house and wrote about fashion for The New Yorker. In 1928, she opened her clothing firm, Hawes Inc., which originally made expensive custom outfits for women affluent enough to afford them. Though she produced clothing for the wealthy, Hawes often mocked high fashion by introducing a bohemian influence to her designs and including styles for full figured women.

She also believed women’s clothes should be comfortable and non-restrictive, which meant a shift toward free flowing outfits and even – as shocking as it may sound – pants for women.

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Though Hawes, Inc. originally produced only expensive custom outfits, Hawes eventually took issue with what she saw as the classist fashion industries of Paris and New York. She criticized the New York industry in particular for creating poorly constructed, expensive clothing and encouraging such items by marketing them as trendy. Hawes began to seek ways to create reasonably priced, high-quality designs for working class women and

for a way to get these designs to the public. She worked with retailers to produce and sell affordable clothes. Her new designs celebrated the working class and diversity, as well as American-made patriotism.

Continuing her working class and patriotic aesthetic, Elizabeth Hawes designed the outdoor uniform for female volunteers of the American Red Cross in the early 1940s. Her design was worn by all but one volunteer branch of the Red Cross for outdoor duties and was very popular with the workers. It was important for Hawes to make the uniforms affordable, especially because Red Cross workers were expected to pay for their uniforms themselves. If she had continued in the trend of New York fashion and made these garments cater only to the upper class, it could have greatly diminished the number of Red Cross volunteers during this preparation period leading up to the United States’ inevitable entry into World War II. Being that these were outdoor uniforms, it was also important that Hawes make them warm and suitable to be worn in cold weather, as well as easy to work in, which she did.

Following the war, she moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1950 and worked as a freelance designer. She also continued to write about the fashion industry. Hawes died in 1971 at her home in New York City.

In 1985, The Brooklyn Museum hosted a retrospective of Elizabeth Hawes designs and in 2010, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the Brooklyn Museum’s costume collection and displayed an exhibition on American fashion, which included Hawes.

Rose Wilder Lane 1886-1968

1918 through the early 1940s, her writings were featured in nationally-recognized publications including Harper’s, Saturday Evening Post, Sunset, Good Housekeeping, and Ladies’ Home Journal. She was lauded for her short stories, several of which were nominated for O. Henry Prizes. Lane was the first person to write a biography of President Herbert Hoover and published The Making of Herbert Hoover in 1920. By the late 1920s, she became one of the highest-paid female writers in America.

Lane traveled extensively and worked as a war correspondent with the American Red Cross Publicity Bureau after World War I and contributed through 1965. She also lived in Albania in the 1920s and reported from Vietnam when she was 79 years-old during the 1960s.

She married in 1909 and in 1910 bore a son who died soon after birth. For several years following her son’s death, Lane and her husband traveled the US working on a string of marketing projects.

During this time Lane taught herself to speak several languages, began freelance writing for various newspapers and found success in real estate. By the time the US entered into the First World War, the real estate market had weakened considerably. Lane accepted a friend’s offer to work as an editorial assistant at the San Francisco Bulletin in 1915 and immediately impressed her editors with both her writing talent and her skill in editing other writer’s work. By 1918 Lane had quit her position with the Bulletin to start a full-time career as a freelance writer. From the

In 1933, she wrote what would become her bestknown book, Let the Hurricane Roar. The book told the story of pioneer life and contained accounts of some actual events that took place in her mother’s childhood.

During the 1940s and 1950s Lane wrote book reviews for the National Economic Council. She also gave lectures at the Freedom School which was run by Robert LeFevre. She continued her writing career throughout the 1960s and published a popular magazine series. One featured an account of her time spent in the Vietnam War zone in 1965. Lane died on October 30, 1968 in Danbury, CT. A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW

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merican journalist, travel writer and novelist, Rose Wilder Lane was born on December 5, 1886. She was the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder. Her mother was the author of the Little House on the Prairie. Lane was a bright student and graduated at the top of her 2 Photo: Public Domain high school class, but despite her academic achievements, her parents lacked the financial resources to send her to college.

BIOGRAPHIES continues on page 11 10

Osa Johnson 1894-1937

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ioneering explorer, photographer, filmmaker and author, Osa Leighty was born in Chanute, Kansas on March 14, 1894. On May, 15 1910, at the age of sixteen, she married Martin Johnson of Independence, Kansas. Martin had recently returned from an excursion to the South Seas with Jack London, who became famous for his wilderness novels and was touring the country presenting travelogues of the trip; Osa joined the tour after she and Martin married. It soon became apparent to Osa that her new husband was always going to want a life of adventure, and she was determined to stand as his equal and share it with him. After several years of traveling around the country, they scraped together enough money for an expedition to the South Seas, where they intended to film the natives in their natural state, not influenced by outside cultures.

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Their first expedition left from San Francisco on June 5, 1917 to the island of Malekula in the South Pacific island chain called New Hebrides, where the Big Nambas were considered as savage a group of headhunters and cannibals as existed anywhere on earth. Once on Malekula, they ascended through steep, thick jungle with a crew of eight natives, a small amount of film equipment and a handful of goods for trade. They soon found the Big Nambas, and while Osa tried to interest their chief, Nagapate, in their goods, Martin rolled the camera. It became clear that Nagapate was more interested in Osa than in the goods she

was offering, and the crew made a hasty retreat, scrambling down the steep path with the natives in quick pursuit. Fortunately, they were rescued by a British patrol boat. The resulting film, Among the Cannibals of the South Pacific, was released the next summer in 1918 to much acclaim.

Far from being scared off by the hardships and danger of their first adventure, Osa embraced this way of life. Whether it was rubbing down with kerosene oil to fight the ever-present mosquitoes, burning off leaches that doubled their size sucking her blood, or dealing with two-inch cockroaches crawling across her while she slept, Osa accepted these challenges as part of the adventure. The following year, in April of 1919, they returned to the South Seas and North Borneo for their next film, Jungle Adventures, which was released in 1921. Martin and Osa were the first to film these South Pacific Islanders, and the resulting films are considered important historic and ethnographic documents of Pacific Island Cultures in the early years of the 20th Century.

After the success of these films, Osa and Martin decided to try capturing the wildlife of Africa. Over the next several years, from 1921 to 1933, they recorded an unmatched photographic record of Africa; its people and its wildlife. These were among the earliest documentary films ever made in Africa, including the first sound movie made entirely in Africa, Congorilla, which opened in 1932. While Martin did the filming, developing, and editing, Osa was responsible for feeding the crew. She fished and hunted. When they put down roots in an area, she immediately planted a garden to supplement their diet. She was responsible for planning the expeditions, getting the supplies and help needed, and making all the travel arrangements. All of this required good managerial skills, as well as linguistic abilities and the discernment to judge which native men would be trustworthy guides.

Along with her husband, Osa got a pilot’s license in 1932, and they acquired two airplanes. Not only did they record the first aerial photos of African wildlife, they were also the first pilots to fly over Mt. Kenya, and the first pilots to film Mt. Kilimanjaro and Kenya.

Martin died of injuries resulting from a plane crash in Burbank, California in 1937. Osa survived the crash and continued to produce films and write books about their adventures. Her book, I Married Adventure, published in 1940, was listed in Best books of the Decade, 1936-1945 and was the top seller in its genre in 1940. When the US entered World War II the next year, the US military chose Johnson to write a book aimed at soldiers in the South Pacific. Published by Editions for the Armed Services in 1944, she titled it Four Years in Paradise.

In 1951, her first best-selling book was translated into French. Osa died in New York City on January 7, 1953 at the age of 58.

Claire McCardell 1905-1958

York School of Fine and Applied Art (today known as Parsons), to pursue a career in fashion. While there, she gained a foundational understanding of art and design as well as costume illustration and design. During her second year of study, she attended the school’s campus in Paris, France.

McCardell completed the program in 1928 and received her certificate in costume design.

From 1928 to 1931, she held a series of short-term jobs before becoming the assistant to Robert Turk, a popular New York based fashion designer and the head designer of Townley Frocks, Inc. The same year, Turk drowned in a swimming accident and McCardell was appointed to take his place and design a collection for the 1931 Spring collection. Her designs were a huge success and she produced cutting-edge designs with the company until 1939.

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merican fashion designer, Claire McCardell was born on May 24, 1905 in Frederick, Maryland. From an early age she displayed an interest in fashion and as a young girl she would create paper dolls from cut out images in her mother’s fashion magazines.

She attended Hood College in Maryland from 1923 to 1925 and immediately enrolled at the New

McCardell received many awards for her designs including the Women’s National Press Club Award in 1950. This award gave her the distinction of being voted one of America’s Women of Achievement. She also appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1955 and in 1990, she was named one of the most important Americans of the 20th Century, by Life magazine. McCardell died in 1958, at the age of 53.

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By the start of the Second World War, fabrics for clothing had started to become rationed, which created setbacks for fashion designers. It was during this time that McCardell started to create the “American Look.” She provided American women with well-made and smart-looking casual ready-to-wear clothes. Her “American Look” played on wartime patriotism, and her 1942 popover dress was an inexpensive, attractive, denim wraparound dress that women could move in easily while they did the additional work that war brought to their lives. Most American designers at this time were virtually anonymous, but McCardell was acknowledged for her designs and her clothes were sold at prestigious department stores.

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NWHM SUPPORTERS SPREAD THE WORD in a Series of Events

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WHM has many enthusiastic and energized supporters across the nation who host events to help spread the word about our efforts to build a permanent site. We are prodigiously grateful to all of the women, men, girls and boys who support our work and use their time, creativity and voices to encourage others to join the celebration of the great women who shaped this nation. Some members had coffees in their homes that were fun and very successful. If you are interested in hosting an event, contact Joan Moser, Volunteer Coordinator at jmoser@nwhm.org. Check out photos from some of the events held in 2013.

COLUMBUS, OH RALLY An energetic group of women organized a rally in Columbus, OH on April 20th. René Delane and Renee Belbeck led the effort.

They rented the atrium in the State Capitol building and solicited many organizations and sponsors. The attendees were from different businesses and they plan to network with friends and colleagues to gather support for the Museum’s efforts.

SCOTT AIR FORCE ST. LOUIS On March 15th Scott Air Force Base incorporated information about our Museum efforts in their regional presentation and a display table, to celebrate Women’s History month.

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NEW ORLEANS, LA CONVENTION From May 5-8, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, (ACOG) gave us a complimentary booth to share information about our Museum efforts and online programs at their annual convention in New Orleans.

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JUNIOR LEAGUE ANNUAL CONVENTION From May 16-18, several NWHM Staff hosted a table at the Junior League convention in D.C. with information on our Museum and legislative campaign. Many attendees enthusiastically signed post cards to be mailed to their Senators to support our Commission bill. They plan to share the information with their local Chapters as well. NWHM President, Joan Wages presented in one of the Leadership workshops.

NWHM AND THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Partner for a New Lecture Series

and offers us inspiration and confidence about our future. So it is all the more significant that women’s history is largely missing from K-12 textbooks and most museum exhibits. Less than 8% of the statues in our National Parks are of women and in our Nation’s Capitol Building, only 15 of the 217 statues are of women leaders.”

Bill Becker, Professor and Chair of GW’s History Department echoed Knapp’s comments.

“We’re delighted to embark on this partnership with the National Women’s History Museum,” Dr. Knapp said. “The Museum is a cultural institution devoted to an important subject area that is not only of great interest to our students, but also a focus of many of our departments and programs — from our Global Women’s Institute and Women’s Leadership Program to our women’s studies and history departments.”

“The partnership between GW and NWHM offers great opportunity to further the understanding of women’s history,” said Becker. “Two years ago, eleven members of the Department of History put together a concentration of courses focused on gender and women’s history. They joined together with colleagues in other parts of the University — the Global Women’s Initiative, the American Studies Department, and the Women’s Studies Program — to focus on common interests and concerns. Now GW’s partnership with NWHM brings together two audiences intensely interested in women’s history and issues.”

In her remarks, Ms. Wages noted that “all of us here know the importance of history — it is empowering

Stay tuned for more information about the lecture series in the coming months at www.nwhm.org.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Thursday, May 30, 2013 by Museum President & CEO, Joan Wages and GWU President, Steven Knapp.

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he National Women’s History Museum and The George Washington University have joined forces to present a new lecture series entitled Initiating Change/Adapting to Change. The series is slated to begin on October 2, 2013. A series of four lectures — two in the Fall semester and two in the Spring — will focus on topics like women affecting change, women in the military and women in entrepreneurship. Speakers will be leaders in their fields and will present both historical and contemporary perspectives.

NWHM & GWU Staff

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