Women's History Exhibit To Open At Pequot Library

Press release from Pequot Library:

Feb. 7, 2022

Pequot Library has announced the opening of its next Special Collections exhibition. "[Her]story: Women’s Roles Through History" will open to the public on Thursday, February 17, 2022 with an opening presentation with Dr. Kelly Marino, a leading professor of Women’s History and Gender Studies at Sacred Heart University. The exhibition will remain on view through May 8, 2022.

Dating from the 1700s forward, holdings from Pequot’s Special Collections of Rare Books and Manuscripts reveal the evolution of women’s history through the present day. The selected items, curated by Special Collections consultant Elizabeth A.S. Beaudin, PhD, will uncover the impressive accomplishments made by women and show connections to Pequot Library over time, featuring local and national figures such as Virginia Monroe, Mary Hull Wakeman, and Amelia Earhart. Join Pequot Library for a walk through [her]story, from Colonial America, the Gilded Age, Women's Suffrage, World War employment, and into the modern day. Follow visionary women through text and visual representations to witness their strength and resilience, as they move from atop a pedestal to protest, lead, and love.

“Thanks to Pequot Library’s founders and generous patrons over the years, Special Collections holds a multitude of works related to the evolution of women’s roles, such that it was difficult to choose items for display,” said Dr. Beaudin. “Visiting [Her]story – in person and online – hopefully will deliver surprises and inspire conversation.”

The exhibition takes us on a tour of women’s history beginning in the 1700s, with commentaries by male and female authors about the prescribed duties, roles, and acceptable conduct of women and girls in the 18th century. We then move through the suffrage movement and into the writings of some of history’s most influential female authors, including Ayn Rand, Willa Cather, and Fairfield’s own Mabel Osgood Wright, founder of the Connecticut Audubon Society and a prevailing naturalist in her time.

Notably featured are items from the collections of Virginia Marquand Monroe who, with her husband, Elbert, founded and built the Library and established its Special Collections, and Mary Hull Wakeman, whose generosity expanded upon these efforts by underwriting an addition to house the Library’s stacks and making a formative donation of her own collections. It is thanks to these women that Pequot Library is home to treasures such as the the poems of Phillis Wheatley, John James Audubon’s Birds of America, Bien edition, and Amelia Earhart’s The fun of it, random records of my own flying and of women in aviation, which will be on prominent display.

“As a female executive director of a woman founded and funded historic library that has been serving the community for more than 130 years, I am thrilled that we have the opportunity to bring to use our own Special Collections and showcase the perspectives of women and their accomplishments spanning the last three centuries,” said Stephanie Coakley, Executive Director of Pequot Library.

"[Her]story: Women’s Roles Through History," will be on view from February 17, 2022 through May 8, 2022. The accompanying programs include the Dear Me Writing Contest (opening 2/17), the Opening Reception (2/17) with gallery talk by Dr. Kelly Marino, professor of Women’s History and Gender Studies at Sacred Heart University, The Dress Reform Movement with Janice Formichella (3/2), Meet the Author: Susan Ware (3/24), and Famous Females - a project to create a catalog of the community’s female heroes. Join Pequot Library in an exhibition of fierce, feisty, and faithful women. [Her]story continues.

Please visit the calendar at www.pequotlibrary.org to learn more about [Her]story: Women’s Roles Through History and all associated events. For information: (203) 259-0346 ext. 115. Follow Pequot Library on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

This press release was produced by Pequot Library. The views expressed here are the author's own.