Politics, law, and history all caught my eye this week, including some cool "firsts."
1) News out of Harvard Law School: the Law Review elected Imelme Umana as its first female African-American president last week. Law Review alums have gone onto some great things, like joine the U.S. Supreme Court, or, you know, become the President of the United States like Barack Obama, who was the first African-American man elected President back in 1990.
2) Speaking of Harvard Law Review alumnae, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's tips for raising a "Trail-Blazing Daughter" from a while back is a piece I've gone back to several times over the past few months. It has some solid tips including reading a lot and seeking out great teachers, which I think can work even for an adult (ahem, like me).
3) Pramila Jayapal is now the first Indian-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Washington state. She talks about why she ran for office, what drives her, and being an immigrant.
4) I majored in history in college, with a focus on 19th century American History. Quite a bit of my coursework focused on the anti-slavery movement and I read most of the best known slave narratives, including Harriet Jacobs' and Frederick Douglass'. But I had never heard of Ona Judge until a few days ago. In 1796, Ona Judge ran away from George Washington's household in Philadelphia, and made her way to New Hampshire, where she lived another fifty years. The Washingtons pursued her pretty doggedly, and now, Mount Vernon is telling her story. They've also reframed some of the visitor experience to focus more on the lives and actions of the people who were enslaved by the Washingtons. Did you know that Martha Washington owned 153 slaves? And that they weren't emancipated upon her husband's death, as his famously were? I had no idea. I probably talk more about my thoughts on this another time, but I hope this is part of a trend (and I think it is) to create a fuller, richer picture of our past.
5) The quilt exhibit I saw at the DuSable Museum earlier this week included a documentary about the Gee's Bend quilters. We watched about 15 minutes of it, and I wanted to see if I could find the whole video. And I did! (That's it below.)
