Bartlesville Women's Network

Programs 2010-2011

2011-03-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

Women’s Network Programs 2010-2011

September 2010 -- Women Drummers: Clandestine Drummers Demonstration and invitation to join a drumming session with Lisa Roll and the local drumming circle

When : Thursday, September 16, 7 p.m.

Where: Oak Park Methodist Church

October -- Then and Now: Habitat for Humanity by Lela Brinlee and two local women recipients of homes

When: Thursday, October 28, 12 Noon

Where: Bartlesville Library

November -- “Getting Ahead Building Bridges: Positioning People to Thrive” by Gina Elias with two Circle Leaders

When: Thursday, November 18 12 Noon

Where: Bartlesville Library

December – Holiday Party

Reservations required, cost $10

Music, wine, and catered meal by Katie’s Kitchens

When Friday, December 17, 6:30 p.m.

Where: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Hall

January – Movie

When: Sunday, January 16 2 p.m.

Where: Joan Dreisker’s, 81 Osage Moon Rd.

Additional Cinema Sundays are: Sunday, February 20, 2 p.m. and Sunday March 20, 2 p.m.

February – Dr. Lyn Johnson, Animal Behaviorist

When: Thursday, February 17, 12 Noon

Where: Bartlesville Library

March – Women’s History Month Celebration: Honoring or History Maker of the Year

When: Thursday, March 24, 7 p.m.

Where: Tri-County Technology Osage Room, 6101 SE Nowata Rd

April—Women Artists: “Entrepreneurial Aspects of an Artist”

When: Thursday, April 14, 12 Noon

Where: Bartlesville Library

May – Annual Meeting, Potluck Supper

When: Thursday, May 19, 6 p.m.

Where: Joan Dreisker’s

Women’s Network Programs 2009 ~ 2010

2010-02-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

SEPTEMBER -- Dr. Jean Warner

Oklahoma Women's Coalition, OKC

When: Thursday, September 17, 7 P.M.

Where: Library

OCTOBER -- Panel Discussion: Health and Fitness Over 50

Mike Bass, Wellness Center, Jane Phillips Hospital; Kimberly Carpenter, Blue Sky Therapy; Leah Thompson, Extreme Fitness; Charles Colaw, Body by Colaw

When: Thursday, October 22, 12 Noon

Where: Library

NOVEMBER -- Dr. John Hatchett

The Status of Palliative Care

When: Thursday, November 19, 12 Noon

Where: Library

DECEMBER -- Holiday Party

Rhonda Redden’s Jazz Band

When: Friday, December 18, 6 P.M.

Where: Women’s Club Building

JANUARY -- Movie(s)

When: Third Sundays at 2:00, January 21

Where: Joan Dreisker's

FEBRUARY -- Dixie Clayborne and Laurie Paulson

Changes in Child Welfare in Washington County

When: Thursday, February 18, 12 Noon

Where: Library

MARCH -- Frosty Troy

Women's History Month -- How Far Have We Come?

History Maker Award

When: Thursday, March 25, 7 P.M.

Where: Bartlesville Area History Museum

APRIL -- Kelli Williams

The Future of Print Media

When: Thursday, April 15, 12 Noon

Where: Mutual Girls Club

MAY -- Annual Meeting Potluck

When: Thursday, May 20, 6 P.M.

Where: Joan Dreisker's

Memorial celebration of Miss Ruth Brown, Bartlesville’s famous librarian

2007-02-12T10:21:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12 February 2007

FROM: Women’s Network, Bartlesville, OK

Joan Dreisker, Chair, Women’s Network Miss Ruth Brown Memorial Project

918-336-3288 dbionnet [at] aol.com

WHAT: Memorial celebration of the life and work of Miss Ruth Brown, Bartlesville’s famous librarian -- in conjunction with Women’s History Month and the Oklahoma Centennial Year.

WHEN: Major event: Sunday, March 11, 2007, 2 p.m. - Unveiling of the bronze bust of Miss Brown.

Five other events (see page 2) will be held at 7 p.m. in the preceding week: March 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

WHERE: Bartlesville Public Library, 600 S. Johnstone, Bartlesville, OK

WHY: Miss Ruth Brown was Bartlesville’s librarian for over 30 years, from 1919 to 1950, when she was fired for allegedly being a Communist. This was during the McCarthy era when the fear of Communism caused a backlash of censorship and repression and the Jim Crow segregation laws that denied blacks equal access were still in force. In reality Miss Brown lost her job because of her determination to promote equal rights for blacks, not only at the library but also at churches and businesses. Fearless champion of intellectual freedom in a fearful world, she was ahead of her time in her quest for truth and justice.

As a librarian, she believed in universal access to the wisdom—and the foolishness—of the ages. As an activist for civil rights, she relentlessly challenged the racial taboos and legal inequities of her time, stating that she “simply wanted to live as a Christian in a democracy.”

She and her friends established the Committee on the Practice of Democracy in Bartlesville in 1946. This was the first CORE affiliate group—the Congress of Racial Equality—south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Miss Ruth Brown is nationally recognized as the first librarian in the U.S for whom the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the American Library Association requested a field investigation—carried out by other brave Oklahoma librarians.

We honor her spirit. Her actions here helped changed minds and laws and reshape the future. Miss Ruth Brown was a righteous woman.

The memorial celebration at the Bartlesville Public Library features a week-long series of informative events, culminating on Sunday, March 11, 2 p.m., with the unveiling of a bronze bust of Miss Brown by local Native American sculptor Janice Albro. The bust was made possible by the donations of more than 200 “Friends of Miss Brown” who wished to bring her back to the library. A special lobby display designed by Cindy Bray of Barking Dog Design Group of Dewey, OK will highlight Miss Brown’s life and work. In addition, Miss Brown’s 1948 Chevy, which is being restored by Duke Epperson of Duke’s Accessories (also in Dewey) will be on hand. The unveiling ceremony on Sunday afternoon will feature music by members of Bartlesville’s Greater First Baptist Church choir. This celebration is partially funded by a grant from the Allied Arts and Humanities Council of Bartlesville.

This memorial event is the Oklahoma Centennial Year contribution of Women’s Network, in collaboration with the Bartlesville Public Library, to celebrate Women’s History Month. This project began over a year ago, and to date more than $25,000 has been contributed by those who wished to honor the life and work of our famous librarian, Ruth Winifred Brown, whose name is known and respected in library schools across the nation. Funds contributed beyond the cost of the bust—and future contributions—are being used to endow a scholarship for Bartlesville Public Library employees who wish to pursue a master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences. The first recipient will be named at the unveiling ceremony.

A series of programs to honor Miss Brown will take place at the Bartlesville Public Library during the week before the March 11th unveiling, as follows:

1. Tuesday, March 6, 7 p.m.

The Johnstone Irregulars reading group: Discussion of The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown: Civil Rights, Censorship and the American Library, written by Dr. Louise S. Robbins, Director, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin. Robbins did extensive research in Bartlesville for the book, which was published in 2000 by the University of Oklahoma Press. Odie McReynolds, an original member of Miss Brown’s 1946 Committee on the Practice of Democracy, will lead the discussion.

2. Wednesday, March 7, 7 p.m.

Movie: Storm Center, starring Bette Davis. This 1956 film is very loosely based on the McCarthyism aspects of the Ruth Brown story, but don’t expect to see anything familiar. The “Ruth Brown episode according to Hollywood” is not set in Oklahoma, the librarian is married with a family, and none of the civil rights issues are addressed at all. However, the inspiration for the film, according to the screenwriter, came directly from Bartlesville, thanks to a letter to the editor published in The Saturday Review, written by a member of the ousted library board about the situation here.

3. Thursday, March 8, 7 p.m.

“Telling the Story of Miss Brown”: Bartlesville's international storyteller Fran Stallings brings to life Miss Ruth Brown's years in Bartlesville, her tumultuous dismissal and its aftermath in a vivid narrative based on oral history interviews and Louise Robbins' book.

4. Friday, March 9, 7 p.m.

“The Legal Aspects of the Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown”: Retired District Judge Janice P. Dreiling will review Robbins’ book with a focus on Bartlesville in 1950 and also the lawsuit Ruth Brown filed against the City of Bartlesville which went all the way to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

5. Saturday, March 10, 7 p.m.

“Responses to the Resurrection of Miss Ruth Brown”: Author Dr. Louise Robbins will discuss what she has learned since the publication of her book. Robbins began her library career in Oklahoma, starting out in 1981 as a school library media specialist at Byng School, just north of Ada, where she lived for 24 years. Robbins has lectured widely in the United States and abroad, and her historical research, focusing on libraries and intellectual freedom during the McCarthy period, has won numerous awards and has even won her a spot on an Oklahoma Library Association centennial list of 100 Oklahoma Library Legends.

All of these programs are free and open to the public and will be held at 7 p.m. at the Bartlesville Public Library.

For more information, please contact:

Joan Dreisker, Chair, Women’s Network Miss Ruth Brown Memorial Project 918-336-3288 dbionnet [at] aol.com or

Joan Singleton, Director, Bartlesville [Oklahoma] Public Library

918-337-5353 jsinglet [at] bartlesville.lib.ok.us

# # #

2005-08-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

from OkieDoke blog ...

The good old days

Wouldn’t you think that after 85 years, women would stop making a big deal about the 19th Amendment?

On Aug. 27, Bartlesville Women’s Network will celebrate the 85th anniversary of “woman suffrage” by conducting a rally, a march to the courthouse, and a re-enactment of the famous trial, United States versus Susan B. Anthony.

Talk about the good old days!

At that time, both women and slaves were considered the property of men. Women, in fact, had fewer rights than a male inmate of an insane asylum. Women were prevented from attending college and barred from all professions. Women who dared speak in public in the early years of American democracy were thought “unladylike” at best, and indecent at worst.

Boy, were women ever unreasonable back then! Reasonable women would have been happy with the 14th Amendment.

The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War in 1868, stated that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. The Amendment also said that states could not abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens nor deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

But no. Give ‘em an inch…

Following ratification of the 14th Amendment, the National Woman Suffrage Association was formed in 1869. Elizabeth Cady Stanton served as president. Women in several states attempted to vote, but their ballots, though cast, were not counted.

But men were men back in the 19th century.

In 1875 the Missouri case of Minor versus Happersett was heard by the United States Supreme Court. The court held that being a citizen does not guarantee women the right to vote. The Court said that each state could decide who, among its citizens, were entitled to vote.

Everything was going fine until those pussy-whipped men of the early 20th century came along.

The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, was ratified Aug. 26, 1920, ending 72 years of struggle to extend the voting privilege to women. No longer could the United States or any state deny the vote to women.

Susan Lauffer really put out a very good article on this struggle for the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise; a story that reminds us of our ancestor’s ingrained ignorance of only a short time ago. Can we sincerely believe that we are fully enlightened today?

Famous 'woman suffrage' trial re-enactment slated

2005-08-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

By Susan Lauffer | Special to the E-E | Imagine not being able to vote or even voice an opinion in public. College was out of the question and so was working in a profession. In 1776, the country may have won independence, but women did not.

The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, was ratified Aug. 26, 1920, ending 72 years of struggle to extend the voting privilege to women. No longer could the United States or any state deny the vote to women.

On Aug. 27, Bartlesville Women's Network will celebrate the 85th anniversary of "woman suffrage" by conducting a rally, a march to the courthouse, and a re-enactment of the famous trial, United States versus Susan B. Anthony.

Women's Network President Pat Netzer said, "We stand on the shoulders of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and all those who gave significant portions of their lives to secure the vote for women. It has been less than 100 years that women have been allowed to vote in the United States. It is a story that every person should know and not forget."

Members of the legal community and other prominent Washington County citizens will dress-up and act to teach the history of the suffrage movement in the United States.

The public is invited to the free events and "period costume" is welcome.

At 10 a.m., the celebration will begin with "a rally for woman suffrage" at the Bartlesville Community Center.

Nationally acclaimed storyteller Fran Stallings will narrate the story of how women won the vote in 1920. A cast of characters, including nine suffragists and one man opposed to woman suffrage will cover a period in American history from 1840 to 1920. Some known to history and some unknown, each member of the rally cast was a real person who participated in the movement which led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

The suffragists are Quaker minister and teacher Lucretia Mott, portrayed by Pauline Kenton; Seneca Falls Convention attendee and activist Emily Collins, portrayed by Becky Wallace; abolitionist and national suffrage leader Lucy Stone, portrayed by Ann Cleary; journalist Grace Greenwood, portrayed by Harriet Guthrie; Salina, Kan., boarding house keeper Mother Bickerdyke, portrayed by Deborah Langley; former slave Sojourner Truth, portrayed by Bettye Williams; actress Olive Logan, portrayed by Fran Stallings; leader of the militant wing of the suffrage movement Alice Paul, portrayed by Washington County Commissioner Linda Herndon; and president of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1920 Carrie Chapman Catt, portrayed by Pat Netzer.

The lone speaker opposed to extending the vote to women is Oklahoma's first governor, Charles Haskell, who will be portrayed by Thad Satterfield.

Following the rally, songs of suffrage will be sung, followed immediately by a parade, led by the actors, and complete with banners and placards endorsing "Votes for Women." Participants will march to the Washington County Courthouse for a re-enactment of the 1873 New York trial, United States versus Susan B. Anthony.

In November 1872, Anthony and suffragists in nine other states managed to cast their ballots in the presidential election. Three weeks later a federal marshall arrested Anthony at her home in Rochester, N.Y., for the felony offense of "voting without a lawful right to vote."

The third floor courtroom of the Washington County Courthouse will be the scene of what some legal scholars called "the trial of the half-century." To the extent possible, the courtroom will be stripped of modern furnishings and adorned with inkwells, glass water pitchers, paper fans, and a spittoon. A portrait of Ulysses S. Grant, president of the United States in 1873, will hang over the judge's chair.

Defendant Susan B. Anthony will be portrayed by District Judge Janice P. Dreiling. James W. Connor, local attorney and former state legislator, will play Federal Circuit Court Judge Ward Hunt, who at the time was also a sitting associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Associate District Judge Curtis L. DeLapp will be Richard Crowley, U.S. district attorney who prosecuted Anthony. Local attorney Bruce Peabody will be former Judge Henry R. Seldon, defense counsel for Anthony. Witnesses will include local attorney Scott Buhlinger, who will play the part of Beverly W. Jones, an election inspector who was also arrested for having allowed Anthony to vote. District Attorney Rick Esser will play John E. Pound, a U.S. assistant district attorney who assisted in the preparation of the prosecution's case.

The trial will be narrated by Women's Network member Joan Driesker, who also serves as the trial's director. Throughout the trial, excerpts from the correspondence of over 50 years between Susan B. Anthony and suffrage leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton will be read. Anthony, the correspondent, will be portrayed by former County Commissioner Joanne Bennett. Stanton, the correspondent, will be played by long-time community leader Carolyn Price.

The rest of the trial cast includes Special Judge Kyra Franks Williams as Harriet Stanton Blatch (daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton), local attorney Marty Meason as the bailiff, and Examiner-Enterprise reporter Tim Hudson as the court reporter.

In 1873 only men were eligible for jury duty. Accordingly, the jurors are played by Tom Janer (Foreman), Glenn Davis, Rob Fries, Jim Hess, John Holden, Richard Mitchell, Thad Satterfield, Merrill Schnitzer, Earl Sears, Cliff Sousa, Allan Stocker and Jesse J. Worten III.

Following the trial, everyone is invited to return to the Community Center for a reception and refreshments. Students who attend will be given a "proof of attendance" card to be submitted for possible class credit.

The story of the struggle for suffrage is a long one. In 1776, despite Abigail Adams' pleas to her husband, John, to "remember the ladies" in the framing of the United States Constitution, that historic document left to the individual states the determination of who could vote.

At that time, both women and slaves were considered the property of men. Women, in fact, had fewer rights than a male inmate of an insane asylum. Women were prevented from attending college and barred from all professions. Women who dared speak in public in the early years of American democracy were thought "unladylike" at best, and indecent at worst.

During the nineteenth century, some women became involved in the fight to end slavery. But at a World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were barred from being delegates or otherwise participating because they were women.

In 1848 these two women helped organize the first women's rights convention, held in Seneca Falls, N.Y. It was at this meeting that the demand for woman suffrage was first made public. Further conventions were held until 1861 when women put aside suffrage activities to help in the Civil War, as north and south battled over slavery.

The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War in 1868, stated that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. The Amendment also said that states could not abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens nor deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

Following ratification of the 14th Amendment, the National Woman Suffrage Association was formed in 1869. Elizabeth Cady Stanton served as president. Women in several states attempted to vote, but their ballots, though cast, were not counted.

In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was ratified. It stated that citizens cannot be denied the vote on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. It took nearly another century until the federal government forced all of the states to adhere to this amendment by passing the Voting Rights Act in the 1970's.

The granting of suffrage to former slaves but not to women incensed the suffragists. A series of court cases were brought, designed to test whether voting was a "privilege" of citizenship which should be extended to women. One of these cases was United States versus Susan B. Anthony.

The trial transcript is the foundation for the "script" of the re-enactment Aug. 27, along with the actual correspondence between the most famous of woman suffrage leaders, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. But the outcome of the trial was predetermined by the politics of the day. Judge Hunt, an appointee to the Supreme Court by President Grant, was not about to open the floodgates that would extend the vote to the women of the nation. Despite a courageous and well-articulated defense by her attorney, former Judge Henry R. Selden, Anthony was found guilty in a procedure that would be totally unacceptable today. Although Anthony was charged with a felony offense, Judge Hunt refused to allow the jury to decide the case, finding her guilty as charged and directing the verdict.

In 1875 the Missouri case of Minor versus Happersett was heard by the United States Supreme Court. The court held that being a citizen does not guarantee women the right to vote. The Court said that each state could decide who, among its citizens, were entitled to vote.

Examiner Enterprise full article