HEATH — In a presentation titled “Cracks in the Ceiling: Heath and the ‘New Woman,’” on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., the stories of Heath women who pushed societal limits at the turn of the 20th century will take center stage.
“Heath is extremely fascinating in the complexity and variety of people who lived or have moved here,” said Christine Luis-Schultz, a curator at the Heath Historical Society and co-organizer of Saturday’s program with Kara Leistyna.
“As we started looking, we found all kinds of women from Heath … that were really innovators in their fields,” Luis-Schultz said of the research of the Heath Historical Society.
As a theme, the accomplishments of women have a historical link:
“This is the anniversary year of the (19th) amendment getting passed,” which granted voting rights to women, Luis-Schultz said. The 19th amendment was passed in 1919 and ratified in 1920.
Luis-Schultz said the program will combine informational presentation with performance, as some of the historic women will be acted out. The evening will focus on the themes of women’s suffrage, women in religion and the physical fitness revolution of the “New Woman” movement.
The “New Woman” movement “was basically a term given to the women’s movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s,” Luis-Schultz said, adding that these women would be considered feminists today.
One prominent Heath woman, Flora White, was born into a middle-class family that struggled financially after White’s father died, when she was 18 months old. As an adult, White taught in a number of places, including Westfield and in South Africa. White trained in an educational woodworking method in Sweden, a pursuit that she funded by publishing under the pen name “George Heath,” said Luis-Schultz.
The program will also feature Dr. Grace Wolcott, who had a house and sanatorium in Heath, and co-founded a hospital in Boston that served large populations of working women by providing after-hours medical services.
In April, the historical society received a donation of Wolcott’s personal possessions, sparking the idea to do a talk about women as part of the society’s “Dining with History” series, Luis-Schultz said.
Local women, like Ava Churchill, the first female sheriff of Charlemont, will also be featured. Churchill will be played by her granddaughter, who lives locally.
The program will highlight the courage of “regular” women, whose roles as housewives meant that they needed to be proficient in a variety of tasks, from cooking and sewing to animal husbandry.
For example, Abigail Smith married a missionary and left on a ship to Hawaii, a place that, at the time, didn’t have English as a common language and where its native people were considered primitive, Luis-Schultz said.
“Her courage was far greater than her husband’s courage because of the things she would be facing” like giving birth to children alone, Luis-Schultz said. “I just can’t believe that she got on that boat.”
Program attendees are encouraged to bring a dish for a potluck. The program is free, but donations are greatly appreciated and will go to projects of the Heath Historical Society, like restoring a two-wheeled carriage, improving storage methods for historical materials and paying insurance for the building.
Earlier in the day, the Heath Historical Society will also open the Old Town House and the Center School House from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Reach Maureen O’Reilly at moreilly@recorder.com or at 413-772-0261, ext. 280.