Women's History Month

From Feb. 26 until March 26 the University of Delaware will celebrate Women's History Month with "Women's History/Women's Lives," a weekly movie and discussion series reflecting the remarkable and sometimes unsettling stories of real-life heroines. All free public screenings begin at 7 p.m., Tuesdays in 204 Kirkbride Lecture Hall.

Madam C. J. Walker: Two Dollars and a Dream will be screened Feb. 26. This film tells the life story of a girl born in 1867 to slave parents, who eventually became a millionaire by developing hair products for African-American women. The film chronicles her work as a pioneering businesswoman, philanthropist and political activist and that of her daughter, A'Lelia, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Erica R. Armstrong, assistant professor of history, will speak at the program.

On March 5, Ethel Finley, a Women's Air Force Service pilot, will present Fly Girls, a movie about the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP). During World War II, these intrepid female pilots trained at New Castle County airport and in Texas and served their country, freeing up men for combat duty. The women worked as test pilots and flew artillery targets. Their story is one of patriotic service, indomitable spirit and courage under fire. It also is a story of women's struggle to combat the hostility of their male colleagues and win their rights as war veterans.

Senorita Extraviada, Missing Young Woman will be shown on March 12. The film tells the stories of more than 200 kidnapped, raped and murdered young women of Juarez, Mexico. Although the murders first came to light in 1993, young women continue to "disappear" while no credible evidence has been collected to convict possible perpetrators. The film examines the unsolved mystery of these young women's disappearance, but it also asks why young women who leave their homes in rural Mexico to work in American-sponsored "maquiladoras" seem, in a global economy, to be so disposable. Alvina Quintana, associate professor in English, will lead the discussion.

Take It From Me will be presented on March 19. This film confronts the question: What happens to impoverished women when their welfare benefits run out? It also focuses on recent controversial reforms affecting women seeking economic self-sufficiency in a minimum-wage economy. This film, a true reality program, provides some answers, not all of them comforting, and offers vivid portraits of hard-working and resilient women experiencing the daunting reality of poverty in America. A representative for the Kensington Welfare Rights Union will provide some answers to the problems facing millions of women today.

On March 26, the final film of the series, My Journey, My Islam, will show how Muslim women around the world have begun to wear the hijab (veil) and burkha (complete body cover), embracing symbolic clothing that their mothers and grandmothers once cast off as oppressive. Filmmaker Kay Rasool, born in India and living in England and Australia, journeys among Muslim women in several countries to discover why this is happening and what it means. Also shown will be Shroud of Silence, a short film covering the mandatory veiling of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Bahira Sherif, assistant professor of individual and family studies, and a representative from the Feminist Majority Foundation will speak at the program.

"Women's History/Women's Lives" is sponsored by the departments of Anthropology, English, History and Sociology, the Black American Studies, Faculty and Staff Assistance, Women's Studies and University Honors programs, the Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events, the Minority Discourse Group, the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy and the Office of Women's Affairs.

For more information on the film and discussion series, call 831-8063 or 831-8474.