PULLMAN, Wash. — Several free, public programs are among the highlights of the Fifth Women’s West Conference, “Gender, Race, Class and Region,” planned for July 27-30 on Washington State University’s Pullman campus.
“Sacagawea Speaks,” an enactment of the famous Lemhi woman by Dakota historian and performer Jeanne Eder, is planned for 7 p.m. July 27 in Todd Auditorium as part of the conference’s opening activities.
In her performance, Eder examines the myths about Sacagawea’s life and presents an historical perspective of American Indian women.
On July 28, readings by regional women authors Mary Clearman Blew and Janet Campbell Hale begin at 7:30 p.m. in Todd Auditorium.
Two campus exhibits are underway in conjunction with the conference. The Anthropology Museum in College Hall will show “Still Singing,” works by Pacific Northwest Native American women artists. “Quilting Western Women’s History” is the topic of the exhibit organized by Mary Bywater Cross at the Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections area of Holland Library.
The conference theme reflects the fact that recent scholarship on women and racial and ethnic groups suggests the need for new understandings of the ways in which regional identity is created and maintained, explained conference spokesperson Sue Armitage, WSU history professor.
One special feature of the conference is a symposium on gender and race in the Pacific Northwest.
About 200 people, among them faculty, graduate students, secondary-school teachers and interested local people, are expected to attend the July conference, sponsored by the WSU History Department’s Pettyjohn Fund and the Coalition for Western Women’s History.
For registration questions, contact Conferences and Professional Programs at 509/335-3530, or WSUconf@wsu.edu .
