Tag: women’s history

bell hooks Honored in New York Times Column

Last modified: March 4, 2019
bell hooks speaking at a podium

bell hooks speaking during the formal presentation of her papers to Berea College on April 10, 2017.
(Photo: Bethany Posey ’18)

bell hooks, Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies, was recently highlighted in a New York Times column by award-winning novelist and former student, Min Jin Lee. In the article, Lee looks back on her time as a student at Yale University in hooks’ “Introduction to African-American Literature” class. The writer reflects on how hooks’ writing helped shape the perception Lee initially had of her place in the feminist movement as a Korean woman. Continue reading bell hooks Honored in New York Times Column →

Berea’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program Marks its 25th Anniversary

Last modified: May 23, 2018

Women are an integral part of Berea College and have been since its founding in 1855. Berea’s coeducational and interracial aspects have been distinctive features for more than a century and a half. As Berea’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program marks its 25th anniversary in 2016, we share a bit of its history and development. Continue reading Berea’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program Marks its 25th Anniversary →

Berea’s Fearless Female Founders

Last modified: May 23, 2018

Women were equal partners in the founding of Berea College community. Shoulder to shoulder with their husbands, Matilda Fee and Elizabeth Rogers were integral players in the challenging drama of Berea’s earliest years.

Establishing any community in an untamed wilderness that had to be cleared of dense thickets was a notable accomplishment, one that required perseverance and lots of hard work. Yet, an even greater accomplishment was establishing a community here based on the equality of all people. In Kentucky during the pre-Civil War era, mainstream society considered it radical – almost unimaginable – to acknowledge blacks and whites, and women and men, as social equals. Continue reading Berea’s Fearless Female Founders →