Tag Archives: Inspiring women

Turning Back Time: Inspiring Women

15 Tuesday Mar 2011

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Our small, rural town did not have a public library. However, our small Lutheran school did have a library, and when I was old enough to go to school, I was thrilled to find this treasure-fold of books.

While the boys in my class were off in the corner behind a book shelf giggling at National Geographic magazine photos, I was inspired by the biographies I discovered. I read about Nellie Bly and Annie Oakley. Annie Oakley inspired this tomboy because of the image of the Wild West that she brought to mind. Not only did her sharpshooting skills impress me, but the fact that fellow sharpshooter Frank Butler wanted to marry her because she was better than him at shooting was an amazing thought.

During her travels as a sharpshooter, Annie Oakley met Sitting Bull, who gave her the name Little Sure Shot. Although she was a part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, she never ventured west of the Mississippi. She continued to display her sharpshooting skills well into her 60’s.

What an inspiring woman Annie Oakley was for this schoolgirl!

Did you write about a woman who inspires you? Link up your post below!

Women’s History Month continues all week at Lemon Drop Pie; be sure to come back soon for more posts about inspiring women!

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The Women Behind the Newspaper

14 Monday Mar 2011

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Ever since I read the biography on Nellie Bly when I was in elementary school, I have been inspired by women reporters.

Elizabeth Jane Cochran wrote for newspapers under the pen name Nellie Bly, and strove to write investigative stories calling for reform of various institutions. However, the newspaper who first hired her, continued to assign her to stories about flower shows and fashion. Nellie fought against these assignments, and traveled to Mexico to write as a foreign correspondent about the every day lives of Mexican people. When she returned to the United States, her Pittsburgh editor went back to his old ways and assigned her to the woman’s page once again.

She left Pittsburgh for New York City, and in her first reporting job for the “New York World,” she impersonated a mad woman to gain entrance to an institution for the mentally ill on Blackwell’s island. Her stories not only brought reform to institutions such as these, but they also pioneered undercover investigative reporting. During her years as a reporter, she continued to expose corruption and injustice, bringing about reform.

It is no surprise, then, that as a teenager I began to follow “Brenda Starr, Reporter” every Sunday in the comics section. Not only did Brenda follow hot leads and travel the world, but her romance with Basil St. John captivated me. Since 1985, real life Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, along with illustrators Ramona Fradon and June Brigman, wrote the story lines for Brenda Starr. I was so sad when Brenda Starr ended this year, but the ending was fitting. Brenda retires from the paper and walks into the sunset, with a box containing a black orchid and a card with the initials “BSJ”.

Since I have started writing a blog, I look up to certain newspaper columnists whose columns I read regularly. Barbara Brotman frequently writes about everyday topics in an engaging way. It is still a mystery to me how good columnists think of such great stories almost daily that are worthy of publication.

What women writers inspire you?

You can read Barbara Brotman’s column from today here: Do you unplug from your music when you encounter a friend? – chicagotribune.com

Find out more about Nellie Bly at my source, pbs.org. Read Nellie Bly’s Ten Days in a Mad-House.

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