Literature and Poetry
During Poetry Month, A Joan Cannon Poem and Math and Metaphor: Flashes of Inspiration Require for Universes to be Disclosed
Joan L. Cannon wrote:
Archetypes, mysteries, simple clues
that only fingers and toes, sticks and stones
and flashes of inspiration require
for universes to be disclosed ...
symbols for functions and formulae
for proof; logic so easy for some —
why am I innumerate? more »
Jo Freeman's Book Review of The Women’s Suffrage Movement by Sally Roesch Wagner
By the time the 19th Amendment was added to the US Constitution on August 26, 1920, there were only eight states in which no woman could vote for anything. Sally Roesch Wagner has devoted her life to understanding this "journey of courage and cowardice; of principles and capitulation; of allies and racists." In this collection of dozens of reports and statements from primary sources, she allows the participants to speak for themselves. Her first section shows how women lost the vote before they gained it. Her documents argue that "women had full suffrage in Massachusetts from 1691 to 1780." In many places, ownership of property was a sufficient qualification to vote, regardless of sex or race. more »
275 Rare Diminutive Texts and Bindings To Be Seen From Patricia Pistner's Collection
Thousands of years before books were contained within a hand-held technological tablet or phone, there were cuneiform tablets no bigger than the size of a quarter. On view through May 19, 2019 at the Grolier Club, New York City, are 275 rare diminutive texts and bindings. A collector of miniature books for over thirty years, Pistner’s love for very small tomes began at the age of seven when she began “publishing” tiny books for her first doll’s house. The exhibition represents the history of the book in miniature form. more »
A Jo Freeman Review of Won Over: Reflections of a Federal Judge from Jim Crow Mississippi
Jo Freeman Reviews: "William Alsup writes that I was wrong; that there were some young white men who heard the civil rights movement’s message that white supremacy and segregation were wrong. They may not have bought into all of its messages — at least not then — but they heard enough of it to knock cracks in the closed society of Mississippi. The author's memoir is not just about himself, but the small group of young white men who were his pals in his hometown of Jackson and on the campus of Mississippi State University (MSU). It’s about coming of age in the middle of a revolution and being "won over" to the other side." more »
