First
ladies' contributions honored
By
Jamie Rowe
On-line Forty-Niner
"This
is a great opportunity for students, faculty
and staff to learn about a special group
of women...." -- director of the Women's
Resource Center, Marcela Chavez
To commemorate Women's History Month, the
Public Corporation of the Arts and the women's
studies department are sponsoring, "First
Ladies: Political Role and Public Image,"
to disseminate information about the political
and social roles of the presidents' wives.
Smithsonian
Week is visiting Cal State Long Beach today
from 2 to 3 p.m. with the lecture on the
first ladies.
Edith
Mayo, the curator emeritus in political
history at the Smithsonian's National Museum
of American History, will deliver the lecture
in the Anatol Center. A reception with food
and a question and answer session will follow
the lecture, said Lynne Coenen, the assistant
director of the Women's Resource Center.
Mayo
will discuss the influence first ladies
have upon the actions of the presidential
administrations and the ways in which society
views women and their roles in society,
according to the Women's Resource Center.
"This
is a great opportunity for students, faculty
and staff to learn about a special group
of women -- the first ladies -- that we
really don't know a lot about," director
of the Women's Resource Center, Marcela
Chavez said. "And it's a great way
to connect history with the present and
look at the political implications for involvement
and the pride of first ladies and their
role in the presidency."
Mayo
will also give a lecture on extraordinary
women today in support of the Long Beach
Museum of Arts' "Women of Our Time,"
an exhibition of photos from the Smithsonian
Institute of women heroines.
Mayo
graduated from George Washington University
with a degree in American studies. She has
curated several major exhibitions on political
history, voting rights and women's history
including re-conceptualizing the Smithsonian's
first ladies exhibition, "First Ladies:
Political Role and Public Image."
The
corporation celebrates its Smithsonian Week
every year. Three scholars are brought from
the Smithsonian Institute – one from
the arts, one from a broad cultural subject
and one from the science field.
"We
generally try to find three subjects of
interest to the community," Joan Van
Hooten, executive director of the corporation
said.
Each
of the scholars visits up to nine or 10
schools, presenting their lectures, Van
Hooten said. She also explained that the
lecturers would visit some high schools
and Long Beach City College in addition
to CSULB this year.
While
most of the presentations take place at
elementary schools, they do appear at public
events for adults and families. Typically
the events are free to attend because the
corporation does fundraising to cut the
cost of putting on the events.
For
more information about Smithsonian Week
visit: www.smithsonianweek.com/ or call
(562) 570-1930.
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