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International Women’s Day 2014 Logo
International Women’s day, March 8th, brings back memories for me of the Women’s Week events that my mom, her colleagues, and students organized at the State University College at Oneonta (SUCO). Those were exciting, if exhausting, times. When I was a “tween” and a teen I remember going to hear some of the speakers and just absorbing it all like a sponge: the excitement, energy, activities and political dialogues.
According to Wikipedia, International Women’s day was first celebrated in 1908. The day had a political focus from the start and quickly included women’s suffrage as part of its focus. So in honor of those roots, here’s another card from my mom’s suffrage postcard collection.
And what better way to honor International Women’s Day, those SUCO Women’s Weeks, and Joan Iversen herself than by giving to the Joan Iversen Scholarship? The scholarship will be the first at Oneonta to go to a women’s/gender studies student. We are already past the halfway mark for our scholarship goal. You can donate here and move us one step closer.
What do you remember about the SUCO Women’s Weeks?
Meeting of Cabinet Ministers 1978
~ Nancy J. Smyth (Joan’s oldest daughter)
In Memory of Dr. Joan Iversen 
Back in the 70s, there wasn’t a formal women’s week, but we did have Joan’s “History of Women and Women’s Movements” course. I will always remember those lectures. Joan reading Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I A Woman?” always stays with me when questions of equality come up. The wealth of information on women’s role from Mary Wollstoncroft Shelley to Bella Abzug, Flo Kennedy, and Shirley Chisolm is a gift that Joan gave us all those years ago keeps giving to this day!
Mark, your comment made me wonder when the Women’s Weeks started.
Also, I’ve heard so many of her former students refer to her reading of that Sojourner Truth speech. I wish I had experienced that!