The Powder Keg

A look at the unexpected topic of nursing the armies.

Through the words and adventures of the nurses who lived it, discover the exciting, unexpected path that women traveled from the Napoleonic Wars to World War Two. In the beginning they were unacknowledged "camp-followers" who labored to save their loved ones; by 1949, they had evolved to commissioned officers in their countries' armies. On the journey they laughed and wept, died and triumphed!

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Tea and Sensibility

Tea and Sensibility gives us a glimpse of Jane Austen (1775-1817) who lived a quiet life in most respects, except that she became one of the foremost novelists of her--or any--era, through acute observations of her life and times. Although her novels are only peripherally political, her precise presentations of equal female-male relationships are classically "feminist" in view, and her portrayal of women's (lack of) rights is an eye-opener for 20th century viewers.

The Rift in the Lute

The Rift in the Lute sings a riddle of Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) who, like so many 19th century women of talent and intelligence, spent a life of poverty, passionate involvement with abolition and women's rights, overwork and early death. Her name was a household word in America and Europe, for stories she knew only partially fulfilled her desires and potential. She did not live to vote in a national election, but she was a leader of a women's taxpayers' revolt that resulted in her being the first woman to sign the register and vote in the town council of her home, Concord, MA.

Charting a Life

In Charting a Life, we travel with Isabella Bird (1831-1904), nurse, botanist, photographer, and vocal advocate for education of the poor, and wanderer of the world for 40 years. Through her courageous individualism and self-motivated outdoor adventures, she became the most published travel writer of the 19th century, in an era of almost universal repression of women's activities and education. How did she accomplish what thousands of other women could not dream of?

With Trousers as Her Costume and "The Lily" in Her Hand

With Trousers as Her Costume and "The Lily" in Her Hand, Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894), was known as the first woman to wear trousers in public. She introduced her close friends, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to each other, thereby setting up a partnership that changed history. She published the world's first women's issues journal, The Lily, in which she and others advocated education, good health, dress reform, and voting rights for women. She paved the way for women to wear trousers and to speak their truths in public. You will be proud to know her.

We Cannot Fail

In We Cannot Fail, Los Gatos resident Sara Bard Field (1882-1974), reveals her unorthodox life as a poet and feminist. In 1915, she made a cross-country automobile odyssey carrying a petition advocating immediate adoption of the Susan B. Anthony amendment (which became the 19th in 1920) from the Panama-Pacific Exposition to Congress. Upon departure from San Francisco, the petition carried the signatures of 500,000 registered voters. The group traveled 88 days over roads that were mostly unpaved, largely unmarked, and always without the amenities of rest stops or motels. But when Sara and her companions presented the petition to Congress, it carried over a million signatures! Sara's tale is a virtually forgotten, yet absolutely amazing chapter in history.

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