Global history through heroic profiles
Lilian Bland was the first woman in Ireland to design, build, and fly her own engine-powered airplane. She was possibly even the first woman in the world to do so. With a work history which included Journalism under her belt, Bland wrote about her plane, "The Mayfly," for Flight International Magazine 1910-12-17 (pages 3-5): Lilian... Continue Reading →
It was a great opportunity to create a guest post for the Voyager of History Blog. An excerpt is pasted below, follow the link to read more on the fascinating pages of Voyager of History. The scramble for Africa took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Every European nation foisted itself onto... Continue Reading →
Anabel Hernandez A recent headline: 2 Americans kidnapped in Mexico found dead, 2 found alive The group crossed into Mexico on Friday. One of the two found alive is injured. (https://abcnews.go.com/International/2-americans-kidnapped-mexico-found-dead-2-found/story?id=97681554) And even more recently we have the Evan Gershkovich situation in Russia: WSJ Reporter Detained in Russia on Espionage Allegations These headlines and more like... Continue Reading →
Xinran Xue was born in Beijing, China in 1958, a time of great suffering, separation, and starvation. Xinran was fortunate in that it was her grandmother who cared for her, as 1958-1961 was possibly the worst famine in world history in China. Though Xinran herself did have food enough to eat and a grandmother to... Continue Reading →
Nancy Wake was born in Wellington New Zealand on August 30, 1912, the youngest of seven children. Two years later her family moved to Sydney Australia, where she would live until the age of 16, when she would run away from home to become a nurse. Even though Nancy was raised in a poor household,... Continue Reading →
In 1912 Milunka Savic joined the Serbian Army. She was twenty-four years old and the Balkan League (an alliance between Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Bulgaria) declared war against the Ottoman Empire. Milunka’s brother Milun was called to service against the Ottomans, but his declining health inspired Milunka to cut her hair short and join in... Continue Reading →
Lin Siniang 1629-1644 (approx.) In 1629 china was entangled in a war with nature and men. Between fighting with Mongolia, Korea, and Japan, the military stretched the country's budget to bursting. When China was hit with the longer, colder winters caused by falling average temperatures of the coming "little ice age", famine exploded all over... Continue Reading →
Within a year of earning her pilot's license, the Russian aviatrix Marina Raskova, took part in two record-breaking flights. Raskova was content to continue breaking flight records until, in 1941, Hitler's army was just 19 miles away from Moscow and Raskova managed to convince Stalin to enlist women aviators in the fight against Hitler. With... Continue Reading →
As terrifying as the situation was, once Elizabeth got a handle on the reality - she was not the only sane woman in the asylum - she began to fight back.
It was one tenet of the Confucian structure of the Han Dynasty that each and every female was subordinate to a male, be it her father, brother, husband, or uncle. Any female alive would have a male master. Females in Confucius theory were considered as property, to be laborers for their male masters.
King Nadega was furious at his daughter’s impertinence and had Yennenga locked away in prison. With a history of fighting many battles beside the king’s warriors and developing a comradeship with them, Yennenga had many friends among the king’s forces. One night, one such friend helped her escape. He brought her some men’s clothing for disguise her stallion to ride, and they sped away. The Malinke tribe north of the Dagomba region attacked Yennanga and her fellow rider. Although she managed to get away, her companion was killed in the skirmish.
In researching my current WIP I've come across a name associated with Oregon which rather surprised me. Years ago, way back in junior high (middle school in contemporary language), I found my first writing niche --- in poetry! More often than not, it was an endeavor in word wrestling - an obsession with counting, rhyming,... Continue Reading →
My husband and I recently drove to the abandoned townsite known as Valsetz, Oregon, about an hour and a half westerly drive from our house in Salem. Valsetz got it's name by combining the two words Siletz and Valley, the name of the railroad which ran through it when the town was established around 1919.... Continue Reading →
Without ever receiving a single rejection, Mrs. Cleary became the writer children all over the world loved to read.
34 years is a long time to camp in the Australian bush and would require a colossal commitment to one's belief in one's work.
Not long after the independence struggle against Spain began in 1810, Azurduy and Padilla joined the revolutionary forces, often fighting side by side.
Eyes Toward Heaven Sometimes a person has so much confidence, grace, and poise, that it comes through in even something as static as a photograph. Nien Cheng (Kneen Chen) was just such a person. Some of the other adjectives used to describe her in older magazine articles, on various blogs and in the comments section... Continue Reading →
Between 1,600 B.C. and 1,050 B.C., long before the production of the Terracotta Army, the teachings of Confucius, and the importation of Buddhist thought, parts of modern day China were living among divided Kingdoms. They held religious ceremonies, and were well versed in literary application with a dictionary of over 4,000 characters. Some tribes painted... Continue Reading →
One of the most heroic attributes of a citizenry is their ability to reclaim their history after the treasures, artifacts, and all things sacred have long been hauled away to fill the coffers and landfills of those who would enslave them. Subverting attempts of thievery at the onset can be considered an equally epic act.... Continue Reading →
Here is a review of a very inspirational book by Nava Atlas, The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life from which grew an inspiring and informative website that gets better and better every day; The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life. The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life is a beautiful work... Continue Reading →
An observation of Dorothea Lynde Dix and Nellie Bly concluding that a society neglecting it’s most vulnerable population is indeed wholly poor in virtue.
Literary Ladies Guide has been kind enough to reprint my piece on Hazel Hall in its entirety. (February 7, 1886 – May 11, 1924) THREE GIRLS Three school girls pass this way each day, Two of them go in the fluttery way Of girls, with all that girlhood buys: But one goes with a dream... Continue Reading →
Guest Blog Post at Amazing Women in History In 1629, China was entangled in a war with nature and men. Between fighting with Mongolia, Korea, and Japan, the military stretched the country’s budget to bursting. When China was hit with the longer, colder winters caused by falling average temperatures, famine exploded all over the north.... Continue Reading →
Globally Inspired 