Changing the World, Empowering Themselves: Women's Clubs in Environmental History

Since the early 1800s, women’s clubs and organizations have been at the vanguard of environmental awareness, education, and reform in the United States. This richly illustrated talk, spanning two centuries, will feature a few of their stories—from the vast General Federation of Women’s Clubs to more localized groups including The We Say What We Think Club, Women for a Peaceful Christmas, The League Against Nuclear Dangers [LAND], Women of all Red Nations [WARN], the Smog-a-Tears, and the Cambridge Plant and Garden Club. The importance of oral history in capturing this important record will also be highlighted.

This virtual talk is free to the public and is made possible through support from Ohio Humanities.

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Dr. Nancy C. Unger is Professor of History at Santa Clara University in California. She is the author of Beyond Nature’s Housekeepers: American Women in Environmental History (a California Book Award finalist); the award winning biographies Belle La Follette: Progressive Era Reformer and Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer; and is co-editor of A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Her op-eds applying lessons of the past to present-day problems have appeared in venues including TIME.com, CNN.com, the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Miami Herald, and San Francisco Examiner. C-SPAN TV has aired four of her talks; she is featured in the award winning PBS American Masters series Unladylike2020, and her on-air appearances include Public Radio International, and National Public Radio.