All Great Things Must Come To An End
A bittersweet goodbye
Hello friends!
Happy, happy Wednesday! I’m back from vacation, but I have some bittersweet news. Although I’ve loved writing this newsletter and connecting with you all, I’ve decided it’s time to move on to a new project. It has been a joy to bring so many amazing women into your life. The support and love I’ve received from so many readers meant so much to me. Even though I won’t be sending you a weekly update any longer, I hope you continue to seek out the real stories of history and all the women who should be in our history books. I’ll leave you with one last “Women Wednesday” tidbit.
I’ve been reading “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor” by Kim Kelly (which I highly recommend!!). One chapter discusses the Bread and Roses Strike which was a 1912 strike involving mostly immigrant mill workers in Massachusetts. The strike began when many women finished their work day and received their paychecks only to learn they were being paid less for the same amount of work. As a result, a massive strike of textile workers ensued. According to many accounts, the women were some of the more fiery adversaries of the police and bosses during the strike. They would carry red pepper under their dresses to throw in the police officers’ faces (DIY pepper spray), cut off the straps of the police officers’ suspenders so they’d be running around with their pants around their ankles, and there are even reports they DANGLED a police officer by his feet over a bridge. The mob clearly learned a thing or two from these striking women. You can read more about the strike and women’s involvement here.
All that is to say, while I hope you don’t take these tactics literally, I hope you all can embody the spirit of these women. I’ve loved covering the stories of these amazing, badass, imperfect, messy, wonderful women. So many women we’ve never heard of deserve to have their stories told. I wish everyone knew people like Junko Tabei, Rose Valland, and Dorothy Porter Wesley as easily as they know George Washington or Martin Luther King, Jr. Only we can change that!
I hope you will keep learning and questioning! Take care of yourselves and thank you for sticking with me on this journey.
Love,
Kate