Washington’s Undiscovered Feminists with Mayumi Tsutakawa

November 30, 2020

On Dec. 5^th, the Seattle Public Library presents a virtual program, Washington’s Undiscovered Feminists with Mayumi Tsutakawa, to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of women’s suffrage. It is about five woman warriors of the Pacific Northwest: pioneering photographer Imogen Cunningham; Black American jazz musician Ruby Bishop; Chinese American artist Priscilla Chong Jue; Leftist journalist Anna Louise Strong; and Native American linguist Vi Hilbert. Here are some books from the library to learn and explore about each warrior or the field where the warriors pioneered.

Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) specialized in plant photography. Richard Lorenz’s book Imogen Cunningham: Flora presents a selection of her botanical images, from simple flower arrangements to elaborate compositions of ferns and lilies.

The Blue Note by David Keller focused on Seattle’s black American Federation of Musicians’ Local 493. It is an upbeat story of race, jazz, gender, and union culture spanning the years from the 1880’s to the mid-1950’s. Ruby Bishop’s brother was an agent for Local 493, the black musicians’ union. Jackson Street After Hours by Paul De Barros provides a detailed description of the vibrant Central District music scene that led up to the funk and soul clubs described in the documentary Wheedle’s Groove.

In Elders Dialog, Davis and Vi Hilbert discuss Native Puget Sound Language in a range of topics dealing with family, events, language, ritual, and heritage near Seattle and around Native Puget Sound.

In commemoration of the women’s suffrage movement, the Seattle Room collection is filled with historic jewels, including our favorite, the Washington Women’s Cook Book. Published in late 1908 by Washington Equal Suffrage Association, the book contains recipes donated from suffragists from around the state, and was a part of a fundraising effort as well as a subversive appeal for support of the women’s suffrage. Appearing on the title page is: “Give us the vote and we will cook. The better for a wide outlook.” It was a calculated demonstration of domesticity meant to contradict the picture opponents of suffrage tried to paint of suffragists as neglectful mothers and un-domestic harridans. This book and others like it, as many other suffrage associations across the country published these kinds of cook books, has been digitized. You can read it in full on HathiTrust.