The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 10, 2000 Page: 4 of 28
twenty eight pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10,2000
Feminist authors speak about famous political women
by Elizabeth Decker
THRESHER STAFF
One day after this year's elec-
tions, two authors discussed the
women they've studied, the state of
current politics and their own friend-
ship.
Celia Morris and Blanche Wiesen
Cook spoke at "Women, Politics and
Power," a talk sponsored by the So-
ciology Department in Sewall 301
Wednesday.
'In a nutshell it's the
story of somebody who
grew up with a life that
seemed blessed, and has
gradually; through quite
a lot of'Sturm und
Drang,' moved to a life
that really is blessed.'
— Celia Morris
Author
Morris is the author of several
books, including a biography of 19th-
century women's rights advocate
Fanny Wright, a book about cam-
paigning with former Texas Gover-
nor Ann Richards and California
senator Diane Feinstein, and a book
about sexual harassment. Her mem-
oir, Finding Celia's Place, was pub-
lished last month. The autobiogra-
phy has received critical acclaim for
its hard-hitting and brutally honest
narrative style.
She has also married and di-
vorced two well-known men—writer
Willie Morris, a former editor of
KIJANA KNIGHT/THRESHER
Author Celia Morris spoke Wednesday along with fellow historian Blanche
Wiesen Cook. Morris has written books about 19th century women's rights
advocate Fanny Wright, former Texas governor Ann Richards and California
senator Diane Feinstein, and about sexual harassment. She recently
completed her memoir, titled Finding Celia's Place.
Harper's, and liberal former Texas
Congressman Bob Eckhardt.
Cook is the author of several
books, most recently a two-volume
series on Eleanor Roosevelt. She has
won numerous literary awards and
is currently a professor of history
and women's studies at John Jay
College and the Graduate Center of
the City University of New York.
Sociology Department Chair
Chandler Davidson introduced Mor-
ris and Cook to an audience of over
100. He praised them both as "first
rate scholars and wonderful writ-
ers.
Morris began the talk with an
account of her childhood in West
University Place during the Depres-
sion, citing the anti-Roosevelt
mindset of the neighborhood.
Partly out of childhood rebellion,
Morris said she developed a fascina-
tion with Eleanor Roosevelt. "Here
was a woman whose horizons were
so much bigger than the ones of the
people I knew, and that mattered to
me," Morris said.
Knowing what Roosevelt
achieved helped Morris realize that
she wished for a life beyond that
wh ich was expected of h er as a Sou th-
ern belle.
"In a nutshell, it's the story of
Take Your
E-mail on
the Move!
Any phone.
With SpeechMail
you can listen and
respond to your
e-mail on the move.
Wouldn't it be cool
if you could access your
e-mail from any phone?
You can.
Anytime.
Try SpeechMail free for 30 days.
And if you sign up now, SpeechMail
is just $60.00 for the rest of your
college career!
For more information or to sign up:
http://www.mailonthemove.com
Earn extra cash! Become a student
reseller! Call 713-273-4273.
Anywhere.
vcx.Ama * a
speechmail
somebody who grew up with a life
that seemed blessed, and has gradu-
ally, through quite a lot of Sturm und
Drang, moved to a life that really is
blessed," Morris said.
Morris said her own intellectual
development stemmed from the dis-
covery of powerful women in U.S.
history, including Fanny Wright, the
subject of her first book.
An early advocate for equality
between men and women, Wright
ignited Morris' interest. "I started
getting very interested in the way
men, who controlled the media, re-
sponded to women in power," Mor-
ris said.
It was her book, Fanny Wright:
Rebel In America, that took her to
Claremont Graduate Institute to lec-
ture, and it was at Claremont that
Morris and Cook met for the first
time and began a close friendship.
Both are grateful for having met
that day at Claremont, even if it was
a lucky accident for Cook to have
been at Morris's lecture.
Cook said meeting Morris was
only one of many accidents that
shaped her life. "1 feel my whole life
has been an accident," Cook said.
"The good thing about accidents is
to just have them and go with them,
and you never know what's going to
happen."
One of Cook's accidents was tack-
ling the project of writing a biogra-
phy of Dwight Eisenhower. Al-
though she originally had little in-
terest in the project, her agent told
her she should not refuse the offer.
During her research on
Eisenhower, Cook realized that her
true interests were rooted in politi-
cal history. "I'm very interested in
power," Cook said.
This interest eventually led her
to study Eleanor Roosevelt. "Eleanor
really cared about people in want
and need and trouble, people on the
margin," Cook said.
Roosevelt's identification and
empathy with so many marginalized
people amazed Cook, especially be-
cause Roosevelt's empathy shaped
the political agenda of her time in
ways still being discussed.
Cook said one example is the
history of public housing in the
United States, pioneered by
Roosevelt in Appalachia, and how
the issue of public housing is still
the subject of debates.
"All these issues are still on the
table," Cook said. She also noted
how health, education and Social
Security, all issues originally dis-
cussed by Roosevelt, are still press-
ing problems in the United States
today.
'This is arguably the
meanest moment in the
20th century, ...It is
really the first time that
the one-third of the
nation that is ill-
clothed, ill-housed and
basically suffering is
just off the screen.'
— Blanche Wiesen Cook
Eleanor Roosevelt biographer
Cook also discussed today's po-
litical scene and the need for further
progress on issues that Roosevelt
brought up 60 years ago.
"This is arguably the meanest
moment in the 20th century," Cook
said, although the nation as a whole
is in a period of great prosperity.
"It is really the first time that the
one-third of the nation that is ill-
clothed, ill-housed and basically suf-
fering is just off the screen. And this
is really just a great tragedy, in my
opinion," she said.
Hanszen College senior I^ura
Sullivan, who attended the lecture,
said she responded positively to what
Cook and Morris had to say. "It's
encouraging, I think, for women
thinking about going into politics or
becoming involved as leaders,"
Sullivan said.
Student
Airfares
Eurailpasses
1
~o
3
More Than
100 Departure Cities
Study Abroad
$
*
student universe!
IT'S YOUR WORLD. EXPLORE IT
studentuniverse.com
800.272.9676
¥
<3
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 10, 2000, newspaper, November 10, 2000; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth442991/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.