Monthly Archives: March 2019

Explore the past, inform the future at the Center for Sacramento History on March 30 By Cathy Locke

Sacramento AAUW members will be treated Saturday, March 30, to a behind-the-scenes look at archives dating back to the Gold Rush during an “An Introduction to the Center for Sacramento History.”

The center is home to Sacramento AAUW branch archives. Several members have spent hours poring through minutes, yearbooks, newsletters and artifacts housed at the center in preparation for the branch’s centennial celebration in 2020.

In addition to displaying some of our branch memorabilia, archivist Kim Hayden will lead a tour of the center and discuss its mission, resources, research opportunities and types of items accepted for archiving.

Branch members also will have an opportunity to share memories of their years in AAUW. Members are encouraged to bring photos, documents and memorabilia that might be donated to the branch archives or loaned to the branch for display at next year’s centennial celebration.

Operated as a Sacramento city/county agency, the Center for Sacramento History is the repository for city and county government public records. It also houses manuscripts and personal papers of individuals, families, businesses, organizations and community groups related to the Sacramento region. Among its collection are photos, artifacts and oral histories, including those compiled by Sacramento AAUW over the past 100 years.

Hayden, a certified archivist, is a Sacramento Valley native with a master’s degree in library and information science from San Jose State University. She worked at archives and libraries in the Bay Area before accepting the position in 2017 at the Center for Sacramento History, where she specializes in reference and government documents.

The March 30 meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the center, 551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd., north of downtown Sacramento off Richards Boulevard. Parking is available in the lot in front of the building and on the street.

The center does not charge for presentations or use of its facility, but it accepts donations and honorariums to help support its services. For the March 30 meeting, a $5 donation at the door is suggested.

Seating at the center is limited. Please register via Eventbrite (click link here), or email or call branch reservations coordinator Dawn Arnone Boyd.

Presidents’ Message by Liz Jordan and Donna Holmes

Liz Jordan

We started off the year with another great turnout for the IBC Luncheon. We had 100 attendees representing all eight branches. We raised money for Funds, got updated on Public Policy, and heard from two wonderful fellows. Donna and Marty were able to announce that the Alicia Hetman Research and Project Grant is complete! The money our branch raised went to the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL), and we are sending our first student this year. Her name is Billie Veerkamp and she is a sophomore at CSUS as well as a member of the CSUS AAUW chapter who wants to be the chapter president next year. You will be hearing more from and about Billie. Congratulations team on reaching another one of our branch goals!

Six days of great meetings – ours, IBC and Lodi Branch – are coming up this spring. More details will come by e-blast and newsletter. Here is the list to spark your interest:

Friday, March 8, 5-7:30 p.m. is the Sacramento for Women and Girls kick-off event. AAUW Sacramento is a sponsor of this group who is working to reestablish the Sacramento County Commission on the Status of Women.
Saturday, March 16 – independent film “Dark Money” followed by a discussion is offered by AAUW Lodi at Lodi Public Library, 201 W. Locust Street, Lodi.
Saturday, March 30 is the branch meeting at Center for Sacramento Archives from 10 a.m. to noon.
Monday, April 1 is Equal Pay Day event at the State Capitol, arranged by our Interbranch Council.
Saturday, April 27 is Author’s luncheon at Plates Café with Sacramento playwright Ginger Rutland. This is also our branch election meeting.
Congratulations to Public Policy Director Ashley Anglesey for raising awareness of AAUW with NOW California and more.

Donna Holmes

Lastly, I want to share an accomplishment of some young women I met last fall who came to our Fall Showcase event to see what we do and to interview me. Vivian Tran, Jessica Le and Natalyn Tran are all 11^th grade students at Franklin High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District. They made a documentary film on Women’s Rights for their digital media and filmmaking class that I want to share with you. Take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg1Iyr6mKj4

women’s rights doc

2019 Authors Luncheon Features Playwright Ginger Rutland By Deborah Dunn

The ever-popular Authors Luncheon, to be held on Saturday, April 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Plates Café, will feature Ginger Rutland, playwright and former editorial writer for The Sacramento Bee. Ms. Rutland’s play, “When We Were Colored, A Mother’s Story,” is adapted from her mother Eva’s memoir of the same title. Many of our Sacramento Branch members may remember that Eva Rutland was one of our Authors Luncheon speakers several years ago, and Ginger Rutland accompanied her mother to the Luncheon.

“When We Were Colored, A Mother’s Story,” tells the story of a black middle-class family, progressing from the Jim Crow South, through World War II, the civil rights movement, the black power era, and finally to the racially blended families of today. Not only will our Branch members be able to hear from Ms. Rutland at the luncheon about the process of adapting a novel to a play, they will have the opportunity to go see the play as it will be performed by the Sacramento Theatre Company March 20-April 28 in the intimate Pollock Theatre, 1419 H St. Tickets are available by contacting the Box Office at (916) 443-6722 or online at tickets.sactheatre.org.

Ginger Rutland moved to Sacramento in 1952 with her family. Her father was a civilian administrator at McClellan Air Force Base. Ms. Rutland attended McClatchy High School but graduated from high school in Germany after her father was transferred. After spending a year in Germany and a year in France, Ms. Rutland enrolled in and graduated from Howard University. She has worked for KCRA-TV in Sacramento as well as KRON-TV in San Francisco, where she earned an Emmy award for her documentary about the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. In 1988, Ms. Rutland joined The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board as an Associate Editor. She currently lives in Sacramento with her husband, Donald Fields. They have a daughter and a grandson.

Please plan to attend this special event and learn about the challenges of transforming a book into a play and getting it produced. Please note that the election of our Branch officers for the 2019-20 year will also take place at this meeting.

There are two ways to register for the Authors Luncheon:

Register on Eventbrite (via the orange Register button) and pay with a credit card
If you prefer to pay by check, download the registration form by clicking here and mailing it with your check to Dawn Boyd. See you there!

Board Briefs February Board Meeting, February 4, 2019 by Cherril Peabody

Here are the highlights of the February AAUW Sacramento Board Meeting:

Finance Director M. Lynch reported via email that the Branch will need a review of its 2017-18 financial records, and she is looking for two members to volunteer for this job.
Co-President L. Jordan reported that State AAUW may change its emphasis on STEM to STEAM, adding Arts to the acronym. Local branches are asked for feedback on the idea.
Jordan announced that the branch has a candidate for president of its CSUS affiliate who is interested in attending the NCCWSL leadership training workshop and asked for a motion to send her to the training. National AAUW also is expected to contribute to her expenses. Moved (A. Scarlett), seconded (S. Beck), carried. (In the absence of a quorum, the vote was ratified unanimously later by the full board via email.)
Program Co-Director D. Dunn announced that local journalist and playwright Ginger Rutland, whose mother was the Author’s Luncheon speaker some years ago, will be the speaker at this year’s event on Saturday, April 27. More details elsewhere in this issue.
Member C. Goehring updated the Board about a March 8 event the branch is co-sponsoring with CHAR and the United State of Women, 5:30 to 7:30 pm, at the Girl Scout headquarters. The principal host is Sacramento for Women and Girls, advocate for the establishment of a local Commission on the Status of Women. Speakers will discuss the status of women locally. Our branch has been asked to provide snacks for the event.
Jordan reported that the AAUW-CA lobbyist is asking for an Equal Pay Day resolution to be issued by the California Assembly on April 1. If that is approved, those who attend can arrange for a box lunch in the Eureka Room at the Capitol, the cost to be shared among participating branches. A. Scarlett moved that the branch participate in the luncheon, including a donation out of the branch Public Policy budget not to exceed $100 to the Interbranch Council (IBC) towards the luncheon fees. Seconded (D. Dunn), carried. (In the absence of a quorum, the vote was ratified unanimously later by the full board via email.)

Funds at Work by Kathleen Asay and Danielle Metzinger

Kaitlyn Murray is a Doctoral student in the UC Davis Department of Education. She is also one of a group of women who received a grant from AAUW for a project they conceived and put into effect. What follows are her words:

“In late 2017, I joined a team of UC Davis students, staff and postdocs to create a grassroots campaign to increase opportunities for underrepresented girls in the sciences. The results of this effort, Girls’ Outdoor Adventure in Leadership and Science (GOALS), was funded in part with an AAUW Community Action Grant that we are so thankful for. At the time we applied, our group had just formed. We were all at different points in our careers, and none of us had ever formed a group like this. We had no idea what we were getting into.

“Now, a year later, we can proudly say that we have accomplished so much more than we anticipated. Thanks in part to the AAUW Community Action Grant, we were able to take seven Sacramento area youth into the backcountry of Sequoia National Park, led by two UC Davis undergraduate trip leaders. The group hiked over 40 miles, spent 10 nights camping in the backcountry, participated in two community science projects identified as priorities by park scientists, and created and presented about their own scientific projects, all while engaging with science and leadership content – and all at no cost to the participants.

“This grant has had a profound impact on the lives of these seven young women, the two trip leaders, the 30+ graduate students and young professionals at UC Davis, and the National Park. This grant has helped GOALS build capacity for dozens of women – as leaders, as outdoorspeople, and as scientists.”

Community Action Grants are awarded for projects that improve the lives of women and girls. Kait is now a member of our branch. Welcome her when you get the chance!