Women's History Month intends to honor, inspire, educate, unite and promote women in the face of forces intent on subjugating and silencing them. It is about those who overcame overt and imbedded assumptions and prejudice to be their best selves. RGB said it well:
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
DAY 10: LAURA INGALLS WILDER
(Image from Wikipedia Common)
Laura Ingalls Wilder is a popular American writer whose eight Little House books have become favorites for children and adults. If it hadn’t been for her daughter Rose, these classics probably would have never been written.
Laura accepted a teaching position at age 16 to help support her family, and married at 18. Odd jobs and tough times followed, as the family barely scraped by. At age 44 she was hired to write articles for the Missouri Ruralist, which she did for 14 years. This experience developed her writing skills. Financial support from her daughter Rose, their increasingly famous and successful author daughter, enabled her to hone her craft as she helped her mother develop a more professional and appealing writing style. When she rewrote her rejected Pioneer Girl autobiography into children’s books at age 65, the first of the nine Little House on the Prairie books was published. They were all popular, and translated into 40 languages. This enabled Laura and her husband to live comfortably for the first time after almost 50 years of marriage.
Laura was a strong-willed woman throughout her life. She refused to include “obey” in her wedding vows, saying it was a promise she could not keep. Her husband’s response was, “I’d never expect you to.” They made decisions together, and he would defer to her if needed. She was the fifth cousin of President Franklin Roosevelt and a registered democrat, but did not agree with his New Deal program to lift the country out of the Great Depression, feeling that people had to use any and all available resources to get by on their own. These and other fundamental beliefs caused her to be viewed as one of America's first libertarians, a belief that holds freedom, personal sovereignty and liberty as primary values. They believe in non-aggression, but in no way link that to passivity.
AS someone who didn't get into creative writing until my 60's, I have high respect for her successes late in life, and the diligence to sustain it. Nine books! Wow.
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