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Women Veterans

Written by Sady on February 25th, 2009

Here’s more information about this event next week:

Women Veterans: Citizen-Soldiers in Changing Times

Thursday, March 5, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
*This BHS event is being held around the corner from BHS at the Rotunda Gallery, 33 Clinton Street*

Women veterans who served in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan
discuss their military experiences and the expanding role of women in U.S. Armed Forces.

Presented in conjunction with the Brooklyn Historical Society exhibit
In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn’s Vietnam Veterans

Featuring:

Joan Furey, author with Lynda Van Devanter of Visions of War, Dreams of Peace, and a narrator in the exhibition In Our Own Words.  Ms. Furey joined the Army Nurse Corps as a Second Lieutenant in June 1968 and volunteered for duty in Vietnam.  She served as a staff nurse in the Post-OP/ICU at the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku from January 1969 – January 1970.  Ms. Furey worked at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs for 30 years.

Captain Esther S. Marcella, Commander of the Long Island Recruiting Company, U.S. Army and Army Reserves.  Captain Marcella first entered active duty in May 2002 and served in a variety of assignments as a Chemical Officer and Intelligence Officer in the U.S., Kuwait, and Iraq.

Susan O’Neill, author of Don’t Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam.  Ms. O’Neill signed up for the Army Nurse Corps in 1967 and she served in Vietnam as an operating room nurse from 1969 – 1970.

Moderated by:

Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers, filmmakers behind the documentary Lioness (aired on PBS).
Lioness tells the story of a group of female Army support soldiers who were part of the first program in American history to send women into direct ground combat. Without the same training as their male counterparts but with a commitment to serve as needed, these young women fought in some of the bloodiest counterinsurgency battles of the Iraq war and returned home as part of this country’s first generation of female combat veterans. Lioness makes public, for the first time, their hidden history.

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Brooklyn Women

Written by Sady on February 20th, 2009

Yesterday, I was getting some ducks in order for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project we’re working on and browsing through some audio recordings to double check dates of birth and I happened to listen to two striking moments.

In one, a woman who grew up in Red Hook in the 1920s and 1930s breaks into tears when she talks about having to end her schooling and go to work.  She was a proud honors student but she didn”t finish high school.  In the second, a woman who worked as a welder in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWII talks about how she would have loved to continue her career as a welder but no one would hire a woman; you can hear the disappointment and frustation in her voice but this interview was conducted in 1989 and you can also hear how resigned she is to that being the way it all went.

Women’s History Month is a week away now.  In February, there was lots of public conversation about Black History Month and whether it’s still necessary after Obama’s historic election.  I always feel a little funny about the History Months but the fact remains that Black History and Women’s History are still not given fair enough play during the rest of the year.  And so much has changed in such a short amount of time there’s a lot to think about and discuss so, both months still seem important.  But ungh, I remember calling radio station programmers on behalf of Voices of Public Intellectuals, a feminist radio series produced at Radcliffe, and there was always a handful of station managers who would respond, “Oh but Women’s History Month already passed…”

That said, we do have some great events coming up in the spirit of Women’s History Month:

Wednesday, February 25
Seminar Application Deadline
Listening to Women: Documenting Women’s Lives Through Oral History

Thursday, March 5, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Discussion – Women Veterans: Citizen-Soldiers in Changing Times

Wednesday, March 18, 6:00 PM
Domestic Violence, Citizenship and Equality – A Lecture with Professor Elizabeth M. Schneider

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Citizen Soldiers

Written by Sady on February 13th, 2009

While We Lie Sleeping, a silent short film by Monica Sharf, is a tribute to those who have served or are still serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It’s a provocative addition to the ‘support the troops and oppose the war’ conversation.

Relatedly, we’re hosting a discussion with women who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam:

Women Veterans: Citizen Soldiers in Changing Times
Thursday, March 5th
6:30 – 8:30pm

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Oral History in Turkey

Written by Sady on February 6th, 2009

Oral history workshops are becoming really popular in Turkey.

Professor Leyla Neyzi, who leads the workshops, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “We have started to think very differently about our history.  The past is being rethought in terms of the demands of the present.”

Yesterday, we hosted a workshop for teachers regarding our oral history exhibition In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans.  We discussed ways to teach contested histories and difficult material; using oral history as a tool in the classroom both to bring history alive and to teach important listening skills; and we were lucky to hear from three Vietnam Veterans, Michael Palo, Rudy Thomas, and Bill Kupper, who generously and courageously shared their stories with us and answered our questions.

Here are two more oral history events coming up soon:

Women Veterans: Citizen-Soldiers in Changing Times
March 5, 2009
6:30 – 8:30pm

Listening to Women: Documenting Women’s Lives through Oral History
Registration deadline February 25, 2009

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Lioness

Written by Sady on November 6th, 2008

Last night, on Channel Thirteen, I saw a documentary called Lioness about women Iraq war veterans.  I was totally turned off by the title until I learned that “Lioness” is actually the Army term they use in Iraq and Afghanistan when they need units of women for particular tasks like body searching Muslim women, for example.

The main point of the film is that in the current wars, military women are serving in combat situations even though Congressional law prohibits women from combat – which means that women are serving in combat but not being trained for combat duty, nor are they being appropriately recognized for their combat experience.

I’m not sure when Lioness will air again in New York but the DVD is for sale for $20 (less than 2 tickets to a movie in the theater).

We’re currently planning a panel discussion here in conjunction with the In Our Own Words exhibit called Women Veterans: Citizen-Soldiers in Changing Times.  Women who served in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan will talk about their experiences:  Thursday, March 5, 2009, 6:30pm.

Let us know if you know women who served who would be interested in joining the panel.

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