Members enjoy a delicious lunch and good conversation at the AAUW Funds Luncheon

The Hayward-Castro Valley and Fremont Branch met at the Acqua e Farina Restaurant in Hayward for the annual AAUW Fellowship Luncheon on Saturday, February 4, 2017. Members were welcomed and seated in a private dining room with long tables and lovely floral decorations. Guests were offered a menu selection of ravioli di spinaci, fettuccine pesto with chicken or eggplant parmigiana. This member can vouch that the fettuccine pesto with chicken was marvelous. Liz Bathgate of the Hayward-Castro Valley branch was our MC for the afternoon.

Liz introduced one of her fellows and our keynote speaker Connie Won. Connie spoke passionately about her research that includes racial and gender violence, school discipline, and critical prison studies. Connie Won has worked as a community-driven researcher, high school teacher, sexual assault counselor and activist on issues of violence against women of color. On November 4th she finished a paper titled: “Angered: Black and non-Black girls of color at intersections of violence and school discipline in the U.S.”

Connie Won

Ms. Won spoke of the anger and helplessness that women of color frequently experience. They “keep this stuff in.” When Connie was a teacher in a continuation school, she found one of her students lying on top of a desk! Her first reaction was to discipline the student. However, after talking to the young woman, she found that the student was suffering from anger and depression resulting from the violence and abuse the student had experienced. “She became one of my favorite students,” Connie Won recalls. Our speaker researched and wrote about the ways girls respond to violence and the ways adults respond to violence. Most importantly, she wrote about how we can help. She also studied the issue of poverty and the lack of resources to deal with it. Connie found that teachers don’t always understand the experience of poverty.

Connie Won used Maya Angelou’s quote from a 2006 episode of Iconoclast, on the Sundance Channel, to remind us all that we must do something with our anger and not just hold it in.

You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.

Connie Won – keynote speaker and Elaine Wong Eakin – AAUW Fremont Branch President

Connie Won’s goal is to teach girls how to deal with these issues of violence themselves. She works to help young women help themselves through organizations such as Girls For Gender Equity and United Asian Women.

During the discussion after the program, Mary Lynn Pelican talked about the importance of mentoring troubled young women and her experiences as a mentor. Thank you, Mary Lynn, for reminding us how important it is to give these girls hope.

THE AUDIENCE DISCOVERS AN UNKNOWN HEROINE OF THE LATE 1800s . . .
. . . AT THE AAUW WOMEN’S HISTORY TEA

Shirley Gilbert author of “The Story of Victoria!”

The 10th Annual Women’s History Tea took place on Saturday, March 5 at the Fremont Adult Center before a sold-out crowd of over 109 members and guests.

The sumptuous tea was lovely and beautifully served by cheerful young students. The Women’s History Tea team prepared a delicious luncheon with the help of many additional volunteers who helped create the feast. Co-president, Steve Cho, welcomed everyone and announced several upcoming AAUW events.

The star of this year’s Women’s History Tea was Victoria Woodhull — one of the most fascinating and controversial American women of the late 1800s. Yet, sad to say,
she is largely unknown today.

Narrators Shirley Gilbert, Jo Szeto, Pauline Weaver, and MaryLouise Bailey

Shirley Gilbert brought her story to life with her carefully researched and professionally written script. Narrators Pauline Weaver, Jo Szeto, MaryLouise Bailey and Shirley Gilbert told the story of Victoria Woodhull with the help of clips from the video America’s Victoria.

Shirley introduced the program by explaining that the audience was about to take a “wild and wonderful journey” into the life and times of an outrageous and courageous woman. Susan B. Anthony called Victoria a “bright glorious, young and strong spirit.” Gloria Steinem referred to her as “an example of human courage.”

Victoria Woodhull came from a very poor family. She and her family of 12 lived in a rundown shack and had only three years of formal education. In spite of these barriers, she became the first woman to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street; the first woman to address a Congressional Committee; the first woman to initiate and run her own broadly circulating newspaper for women and men; and, in 1872, the first woman to run for President of the United States.

Al and La Verne Minnard

Woodhull’s presidential election platform featured equal rights for women, regulation of monopolies, nationalization of railroads, an eight-hour work day, abolition of the death penalty, welfare for the poor — and free love!.

While she ran for president, she published her own newspaper that both women and men read. In it, she uncovered many shocking scandals in which men took unfair advantage of women. At the time of the election in November, 1872, Victoria published a story about an adulterous Protestant preacher, Henry Ward Beecher. Because of this article she was unfairly jailed and was actually behind bars on election day! Because she was controversial, Victoria has not had her rightful place in history. However, her story is beginning to be told.

Women’s History Tea co-chairs Liz Poe and Janice Longo with the hardworking crew

At the end of the presentation, Shirley Gilbert thanked Victoria for all her work on behalf of women. She also thanked the narrators and the Women’s History team led by Liz Poe and Janice Longo. Co-president, Kathy Bray, thanked everyone for attending this informative program during Women’s History Month.

Attendees are greeted by an unexpected surprise in the street . . .

. . . and amazed by a powerful and passionate speaker!!

by Kathy Garfinkle

Attendees enjoy a lovely lunch at the Acqua e Farina Restaurant

The AAUW Fellowship Luncheon on February 6th at the Acqua é Farina Restaurant in Hayward was an enriching and enjoyable event for the 37 members and guests that attended. Attendees were greeted by an unexpected surprise when they encountered a lively Beer Fest being held out on the street! The lovely Italian Restaurant was a pleasant surprise that offered a private room and allowed us to be seated in a rectangular formation giving everyone an opportunity to be heard and seen.

Liz Bathgate was our distinguished MC. She led the event with ease and efficiency. Liz welcomed everyone before a delicious lunch was served that included a choice of Ravioli de Spinaci, Linguini Gamberoni or Pollo Piccata. Because she is a Fellow Sponsor, Liz was delighted to introduce our speaker AAUW Fellow recipient Kristin De Nesnera.

Liz Bathgate presents the Legacy Circle pin to Erica Campisi and Ruth Rymer

Genevieve Angelides and Mary Lynn Pelican share a happy moment

Kristin is a PhD candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz. She studies rocky shore habitats in California-the area of rocky coastline that lies between high and low tide. Kristin began by explaining that her passion for this study began at a very young age and was nurtured by her grandmother. As a young adult, Kristin discovered that her passion could become a career. Kristin is motivated by the desire to protect, manage and restore habitats that are vulnerable to threats from human activity. She is also very passionate about and involved in science education. Kristin teaches and mentors at UC Santa Cruz. Her enthusiasm is evident in the beautiful images she shared of her students from the Watsonville Inquiry Based Learning in Environmental Sciences program that incorporates active learning in marine ecology. Kristin’s power point presentation was both very professional and personal. She is committed to pursuing a career in research and education.

Liz Bathgate with our speaker Kristin DeNesnera

The Legacy Circle pin was presented to Erica Campisi and Ruth Rymer. Members of the Legacy Circle make a planned gift to AAUW in their long-term estate or financial plan. Members are encouraged to consider remembering AAUW in their financial plans. Six lucky attendees won the beautiful raffle baskets. Attendees left motivated and inspired by the power of women in action!