I enjoyed the time in Bozeman and thought I made a difference, but I was ready for a new challenge. One of my co-founders from the Pittsburgh Caucus had risen to a senior position in the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce. She let me know that the Department of Natural Resources needed someone with economic development experience to manage a state heritage area in southeastern Pennsylvania. Once again, a new opportunity to be my mother's daughter.
Heritage areas are multi-county economic development initiatives. This particular one is located in five historic counties along the Schuylkill River, from the anthracite coal fields at the headwaters to rich agricultural lands to the city of Philadelphia. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania-designated Heritage Park was managed by a non-profit, with funding provided by the State and charitable foundations.
The non-profit, created in the 1970s, had a goal to build a trail from Philadelphia to Pottsville. After nearly 30 years, it was time for a management transition. My job was to preserve the goodwill and relationships the organization had established over the years and move it forward to meet new challenges.
Coal mining was part of the area's heritage. Generations of dumping coal silt into the river damaged the river environmentally and aesthetically. A federal cleanup operation in the 1950s helped, but there was still much work to do. Many long-time residents believed that you shouldn't go near that dirty river. Our job was to help people see the river as a cultural and recreation resource that could stimulate their local economies. Doing that would also celebrate the heritage that made each community and region special.
Starting with a one-year contract, we needed to get the organization on a sound footing, hire new staff, and bring new life to the area. We attracted an incredible team who worked with local community leaders, state staff, non-profits, and charitable foundations. We developed new projects to link the region together, with a water trail and a land trail. We applied for funding to close many of the gaps in the land trail. To gain focus and attention on the water trail, we initiated the Schuylkill River Sojourn – an annual 6-day paddling trip from the headwaters to Philadelphia. (This year, the 24th yearly Sojourn starts on June 18, 2022. )
In 2000, working with our congressional delegation and statewide partners, the Schuylkill was designated a National Heritage Area. These areas work in partnership with the National Park Service on projects and activities. Valley Forge and Hopewell Furnace National Parks are both within the boundaries of the Schuylkill Heritage Area, providing even more rich stories.
It was a capstone career opportunity, and I am grateful for it. But it was time to go back to the western U.S. again. So we made another leap - to Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, where we could live just four doors away from our two small grandsons. But once again, there was the urge to work with women to make progress toward equality.
I was involved in Bozeman's Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) program in the past. EYH is a program for junior and senior high girls to encourage them to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) careers. I located the local AAUW (American Association of University Women) branch in Bellevue that sponsored an EYH program, so I called and volunteered.
AAUW was officially founded in 1881 to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. At my first meeting with the local branch, the state president asked about my interests. When I said politics and public policy, she asked me to join the state board as one of the public policy chairs. AAUW is nonpartisan, so working with candidates was not part of the picture. However, the national organization's research on issues of women's equality is nationally recognized. It has a significant lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., and state organizations work with local partners to influence state governments.
I visited more than 20 of the State's local branches to learn what issues were most important to them and what issues should shape our legislative agenda. Education was always at the top of the list, followed by equal treatment in the workplace. Despite the barriers they faced, these women had been successful, and we wanted to make life better for our daughters.
Subsequently, I was elected to two terms as state president and appointed to the National Public Policy Committee. It was exciting to be working with women who were doing the hard work of advancing equality and equity every day.
We have three daughters who carry on the family tradition of strong women making a difference. Our eldest is an excellent businesswoman with an award-winning real estate practice and a retail shop at the center of her small town. Our middle daughter is a tenured history professor and director of a research library at an Ivy League university. Her research focused on women in the 18th century. She is a founder of "Women Also Know History" and a strong mentor for young academic women. Our youngest daughter is an extraordinarily gifted pre-school and elementary teacher. She is currently working on a master's program and tutoring young children with dyslexia. Each is very different, but all have an undeniable strength of character that they pass along to our grandchildren.
The road to equality for women has been a long and torturous one in this country. The path toward women's suffrage started in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. It took 72 years before women got the right to vote with the ratification of the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on August 26, 1920. The original Equal Rights Amendment, first introduced in 1923, failed. Reintroduced in 1972, 49 years later, it took another 49 years (98 years in total) to be effective, with Virginia the last State to ratify it in 2021.
It has been almost 175 years since women's suffrage began. Look at how far we have come. There are women in the Senate and House of Representatives now, a woman Speaker of the House and a woman Vice President. Women lead major corporations, are prominent scientists, achieve global recognition in sports, and are major philanthropists. Female astronauts have shown us that literally, the sky is the limit. In celebrating these women, we must also appreciate the men in our lives who have supported us, cheered us on, and said, "you can do that."
Each generation of women blazes a trail for future generations to follow. My success today would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of the women who came before me. There is still so much work to do. It is incumbent upon every woman to understand they are part of a rich legacy, proudly claim it, lead from our place, and cultivate the next generation of women to carry that legacy further toward equality for women everywhere.
Written by Dixie Swenson.
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