Through May 31, The West Virginia and Regional History Center will be displaying the exhibit “Women Making History: Showcasing the West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection” on the sixth floor of WVU’s downtown library. (The library is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) The collection features archival material and documents, as well as records of oral histories. We encourage everyone to go see it.
Too often, women are erased from history’s narrative, whether intentionally or through implicit bias. “Women Making History” of course highlights the movers and shakers: the advocacy groups and individuals fighting for women’s rights and the creatives who used their mediums to draw attention to women’s plight.
But it also gives space to the women you wouldn’t think about: the ones who elbowed their way into male-dominated professions like coal mining and construction. (Cue “Anything You Can Do” from the musical “Annie Get Your Gun.”) Those are the women who truly get erased: They weren’t loud; they didn’t leave behind speeches or essays; they weren’t photographed on the frontlines of marches or protests. But they banged against the door of patriarchy and misogyny until they got one foot in, making it just a little easier for generations of women after them to keep pushing that door open wider.
