
Next Wave Feminism
The Movement Forges Ahead at Rollins
By Kristen Manieri

On Mother's Day in 1980, NOW co-founder Muriel Fox '48 participated in a march for the Equal Rights Amendment in Chicago, Illinois.
“The
torch is passed, and it has lit a fire.”
So
declared Muriel Fox ’48, who visited Rollins along with 12 other Veteran
Feminists last October to celebrate the National Organization for Women’s 45th
anniversary and to participate in the Feminist Forum. As the co-founder of the
National Organization for Women (NOW), chair of Veteran Feminists of America
(VFA), and legendary ambassador for women, Fox has made an immeasurable contribution
to modern feminism through decades of advocacy, writing, and leadership.
Over the
course of NOW’s anniversary weekend, Fox hoped to see her work continuing in
others. And she did.
“The
success of the conference was first that we succeeded in passing the torch—we
now know that there is a group of feminists at Rollins who will spend their
lives working for feminism because they have been inspired by the successes and
dedication of the pioneers who founded the women’s movement,” Fox said. “These
young women got it. Not just the ones who participated in the oral history
project, but also the ones in the audience. I really think they are going to
dedicate themselves to the future of this movement.”
Fox is
referring to the 10 Rollins students who volunteered to participate in an oral
history project during the summer leading up to the Feminist Forum. Completed under the guidance of Associate Professor of Education Wendy
Brandon and Associate Professor of Philosophy L. Ryan Musgrave, the oral history
project was designed to connect students with longtime feminists for the
purpose of recording their stories.
“Feminists
use oral history as a way of gaining rich qualitative data from those whose
experiences have not always been included in research agendas,” explained
Brandon, who paired students with VFA members and tasked them with asking the
13 VFA members to contemplate out loud the moment they first thought of
themselves as activists. “The point of the oral history project was to go beyond
a typical interview. The idea was for each student to listen to a story, and
live it, and experience it alongside the teller. It’s not research on women;
it’s research with women.”
As the
stories were shared over recorded Skype and telephone conversations, a
multitude of narratives unfolded and strong bonds were formed. “There was so much value in the
storytelling—and not just for the Rollins students but for the VFAs as well,”
Brandon said.
Roxanne
Szal ’13 interviewed Ginny Watkins, current secretary of Veteran Feminists of
America, and called the experience eye-opening. “Ginny Watkins was a major
advocate for working mothers and lobbied for childcare leave in the workplace;
she also pushed for equality in the career world,” Szal said. “At the time I was interviewing her, I was in
the middle of an internship at a social services company called Resources for
Human Development. I worked in the human resources department of the
company, so I had grown very familiar with the idea of the Family Medical Leave
Act, which mandates that companies allow employees to take time off in order to
take care of a child, among other things, and ensures job protection. It
was amazing to share experiences with Ginny and to actually be living out what
Ginny had worked so hard to pass.”
As part
of the project, students created typed transcripts of interviews, which will
eventually be archived at Olin Library. Brandon reviewed the transcripts and
used them to form the basis of the panel discussions during the Feminist Forum
on October 29 when the students in the oral history project met their subjects
in person for the first time.
“I met
Zoe Nicholson at Gloria Steinem’s stone ceremony and she immediately hugged
me,” remembered Jamie Pennington ’12, who also interviewed Amy Hackett and
Barbara Love. “I felt very honored and humbled meeting all three of them. I was
so amazed by all that they had accomplished.”
Four
sessions formed the day’s program, each giving the oral history project
students the opportunity to continue the dialogue with their VFA counterparts
as an audience listened. What unfolded was the opportunity to transform the
academic ideologies and historical milestones of the women’s movement into
living, breathing experiences that people could feel and relate to.
“I loved
when Zoe Nicholson described her childhood desire to become a priest, and her
subsequent denial from this position,” Szal said. “Her story really stuck with
me because it forced me to look at different arenas in today's world where
women are oppressed, like in the Catholic Church. This panel really reiterated
the belief I hold that people of all ages, especially women, need to question
things around them and those in power and use their critical thinking skills to
demand equality and fairness.”
Although
the weekend’s events reflected an air of pride, celebration, and optimism, the
underlying tone conveyed a belief that many battles remain.
“We have
come a long way, but it can all be undone,” said former Congresswoman Patricia
Schroeder ’01H, who participated in a panel discussion with Steinem. “As a
young attorney in 1964, I volunteered to be Planned Parenthood's attorney in
Denver. I would never have believed people would be trying to destroy
Planned Parenthood in 2012. So we need to be sure we don't lose ground and
continue to work together to make more progress.”
This
sentiment was not lost on Pennington, who, thanks in part to Nicholson’s written
recommendation, will attend grad school at Florida Atlantic University in
the fall. “This conference and the work leading up to it solidified my
dedication to feminism. There are still so many issues to address. This
movement is just as alive and just as important today as it was in the 1960s.”
As for
Fox, she left campus prouder than ever of her alma mater and the graduates it
is launching into the world. “My memory of Rollins was that it was always a
progressive school, one that believed in the individual, one that was always
breaking the mold and working to change the world,” Fox said. “I left feeling
that it is still on this course.”