Last weekend, I flew to Little Rock, AR for the National Women’s History Project’s networking conference. Not only was I attending this conference as a member of the board of directors but as a presenter. Saturday morning, I woke up early and presented a paper along side other women like Gwynn Cassidy of Girls in Government and the the Real hot 100, Alicia Daly of Ms. Magazine, Kim Salter of California NOW. The panel was entitled “Moving History Forward - 21st Century Strategies and Issues”–the biggest theme from the panel was discussion of how to engage more young women in women’s history through the internet and grassroots movements.

Afterward, I attended a few more workshops which included hearing Zoe Nicholson talk about her experiencing fasting for the ERA in 1982. In all the conference was a success and then I set out to do some sight seeing with my traveling companion.

(1) Of course, our first stop was the Clinton Presidential Library. I was very impressed with how much information was presented in such an aestheically pleasing and non overwhelming way.

I was impressed with how they handled the Monica Lewinsky incident by calling it a lapse in “personal judgement.” Before I entered the library, I wondered out loud whether or not it would be addressed. Some may think that it has no place in a presidential library but the history of Clinton’s impeachment was presented along side his major accomplishments–reminding us that he is human.

I wish they would have included some more of Hilary Rodham Clinton’s personal life and achievements. Perhaps they are saving that for her own presidential library?

(2) Next, we went to the Old State House Museum which I was thoroughly impressed with. Upstairs there are two large rooms that used to be legislative chambers at seperate times. One was restored to the way it used to be in the 1980s. The second one featured a coherent and straightforward historical account of politics in Arkansas. The sections on slavery, Jim Crow, and Black politicians did not shy away from addressing Arkansas’s racist pass and did not offer any irresponsible explanantions for the treatment of African Americans.

The bottom floor offered a wonderfully comprehensive exhibit of significant women and their accomplishments in Arkansas history. One of these accomplishments was from the early 1900s when many women’s volunteer groups came together to save the Old State House and turn it into a museum. Women from different political backgrounds including Daughters of the Confederacy and Daughters of the American Revolution came together to petition the government to preseve its history. Finally, women’s groups in the 1950s finally suceeded into renovating the Old State House.

The woman at the front desk of the museum said “it was pretty advanced for women in the 1950s to come together like that.” I couldn’t help but think that women have been coming together for years in the shape of volunteer organizations to improve their societies and in turn change history.

Old State House Museum, October 23, 2006.

(3) I hate to admit this but I was sadly disappointed with the Little Rock Central High memorial because we couldn’t properly find it. It turns out they turned an old gas station into a resource center about integration and other civil rights issues. There were not many signs pointing you in the right direction and when we finally found it we did not have time to stop. I think this place deserves more than an old gas station. Hopefully, I’ll learn more about this soon!

I was pleasantly surprised by my weekend in Little Rock.

This will be my blog about women’s history, experiences in my post grad career, feminism, politics, academia, being a fim researcher, pop culture, and whatever I want.

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