My late wife Jurate, who passed away on February 20 after a six year fight with Parkinson's, the final three completely bedbound, came to this country with her family as war refugees from Lithuania. The first thing in America she saw was the Statue of Liberty when she was 3; she looked out the porthole of the troopship that brought them here. She grew up in Chicago, and when she went to the University of Chicago, she became part of the Friends of Jane, who worked to help women obtain abortions before Roe v Wade recognized that right. She came to Los Angeles in the 1970s. In the 1990s, she was active in clinic defense in opposition to the assault on Planned Parenthood clinics by the fundiescum of Operation Rescue. Unfortunately she lived long enough to see the terrible Dobbs decision, which I think had an effect on her. Soon after that, she lapsed into the increasing failing state of fnal stage Parkinson's. She was a brave patriot who fought for her adopted country as tenaciously as any soldier, and defended women's rights.
I'd like to honor Francis Perkins who was Secretary of Labor for FDR's entire Presidency and the driving force behind the New Deal including establishing Social Security. The only thing on her agenda that she didn't accomplish was universal healthcare! Please read her incredible biography. She is definitely on my list of Women I most admire. https://francesperkinscenter.org/learn/her-life/
It’s important to remember the origin of Mother’s Day. This holiday had its origins in the heart and pen of Juliet Ward Howe the famous lyricist of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" written during the Civil War. While an ardent supporter of the fight to end slavery and keep the country together, she was sickened by the carnage of the Civil war. In 1870, appalled by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War and the clamoring of young men to go fight overseas, she declared a Mothers’ Day Proclamation for Peace and had it translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German and Swedish and disseminated internationally. Hear her words:
"Arise arise .....great congress of women of all nationalities who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears… We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies... and our children shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience…'We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.” She continued, " Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his time the sacred impress not of Caesar but of God.”
She ended her proclamation by declaring, …
”In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.
Two years later, in 1872, JWH went to London to spread her message, and when an established peace organization there would not let her speak to them because of her gender, she hired a hall and conducted her own meetings.
My mother had a career in science. She was a microbiologist. She worked full time when very few married women with kids did. Although there were times I was miffed because she could not come pick me up from school when it was raining like other kids moms, her example was life changing for me. I assumed from a young age that I was going to college and would have a career. I worked hard in school to make it so. She gave me a love of knowledge and the permission to indulge my curiosity. From an early age, she read to me. As I got older she held the flash cards so I could learn the multiplication tables. I went on to study microbiology like her. I loved it. And then I became a physician. Thank you mom. I love you. Rest in peace.
I want to honor my mother who raised four children on her own. My dad left when I was four. My siblings were eight, six and 4 months. He left us to be with his newly acquired girlfriend. My mom did everything she could to take care of and protect us. She worked two jobs, a medical secretary during the day, and a waitress at the CPO Club at Moffett Field in the evening. My dad rarely paid child support so she had to work that many hours to support our family. Although she was gone a lot working, her unconditional love and faith in who we were was the best gift we could have received. We all grew up to be responsible and kind people. And we owe it all to our Mother.
I’d like to mention my dear friend Roberta, who has stood by me through many, many years of activism together. When I chose voting rights as “my issue” during the weekend of the 1st Womens’ March in DC after Trump won the presidency in Jan of 2017, I worked hard to develop a project in southern Wisconsin to find potential Dem voters and share information and offer help in acquiring Voter ID for people who needed them. Voter ID was a new thing in WI at that time, and many people, especially in minority communities, were not aware of the new requirement or were just not registered to vote. My friend Roberta was by my side throughout the project, from the first meeting, co sponsored by INdivisible Evanston, where we brought an ACLU Voter ID activist from WI to Evanston, Il to offer training re Voter ID issues in WI, through actually driving up and down the streets of Kenosha to put together walk lists for our first knock every door canvass, to knocking on doors with me every few weeks, when I led groups of volunteers from IL who would come up to Kenosha to knock on doors and help people get what they needed to get registered to vote, Roberta was my partner and biggest support.
We have a long history of activism together that goes back many years, at least to 2004 when we canvassed in Kenosha and Racine for John Kerry for president. We also knocked doors together in a few states during both Obama campaigns. And we organized a group of about 20 women, mothers and daughters and friends, to attend the huge March for Choice in DC in April of 2004. What a fabulous weekend that was!
Roberta has done quite a bit of activism in her own right over the years and I have deeply appreciated her partnership with me in knocking doors together. On the last weekend before presidential elections, we would pick a city to go to, find a B and B, and stay for a couple nights so that we could do long days of GOTV.
Ironically, in 2016, we actually were convinced that Hillary had WI in the bag, as the polls had her up by about 7% (!!!), so we went to Cincinnatti and canvassed for her there, thinking we would help bring in Ohio for the Hillary! Oy vey!
It has been my pleasure to share this passion for democracy with my dear friend Roberta. And she’s a great mom of a fine young man, Max, as well!
In 1979 my mother and Dan Ellsberg, of Pentagon Papers fame, were two of ten defendants chosen to represent 300 arrested in the nonviolent direct action campaign to shut down the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant near Denver. In federal court they provided all the needed evidence -- public health and international law experts testified -- for a "Nuremberg Defense" aka Lesser Evils Defense. The judge disallowed the jury from considering the evidence, and all were found guilty and ordered to pay fines -- which no one did, using noncooperation to increase pressure on the government to abandon its illegal preparations for genocide.
Over six years later, after the Feds had put a lien on our family's north Boulder home, my mother helped organize an action at the Federal courthouse in Denver where fined activists brought items the US military had overpaid for, including a toilet seat with a price tag of $680, and a bolt for $200, and turned in those items as payment of their fines. What fun! (And somehow we didn't lose the house.)
In my family of four there are some 75 nonviolent direct action arrests. Thanks for leading the way, Mom!
Francis Perkins, Rachel Carson, Jane Adams, Helen Keller, these women were not able to be mothers in their time and place. Susan B Anthony, the list goes on and on of brilliant women who had to choose whether to be part of the world or to be home raising children. I salute all women who have contributed to human progress whether they have children or not. The passionate advocacy of women to save our democracy, should not go unnoticed by historians of the future, if there is one.
Women have a long history of volunteerism- at least in this country. They fill essential roles in schools, lead youth organizations, advocate for human rights. It is not surprising to see that women are well represented in current efforts to save democracy.
From my suffragette grandmother, to my League of Women Voters mother, I have seen what we can do when we join forces!
her with every breath I take. I talk to her at nite sometimes and hope I m hearing an answer. My love for her was indefinite. She was perfection and that is not hyperbole.if there is some way to post the song she wanted at her memorial that my daughter sung, I would do that now. Here’s to the mothers that make the world go round.
Thank you, Robert, for your tribute to women everywhere. We are a deserving group, if I do say so myself. I have lost 5 friends in the last 3 years, one being my best friend of 48 years. I would like to pay it forward to her. She was raised in a family of 8 kids, three sets of twins (of which she was one) and 2 singulars. She was always attracted to gorgeous black men and in 1975, she married and then gave birth to two beautiful children. She and the husband later divorced but it was she who brought those kids up. Two years ago, she and I were to turn 70 and plan a trip but that didn’t happen. She was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and passed away. I mourn her all of the time but there is good news as her daughter, age 43, is having her first baby, due anyway now. I will be Granauntie and I am thrilled!
I also want to honor my mother, who was a immigrant from Berlin, escaping the Nazis by taking circuitous routes to get to the US. She landed in London first and worked for the first woman lawyer on the case of Anastasia. This lawyer’s name was Fanny Holtzman, who apparently still owns the record for passing the NY State Bar at the age of 17. Anyway, she arranged for my mother’s passage to Ellis Island. My mother had an uncanny mind for numbers. She could add or subtract the most complex numbers in her head and come up with the right answer. As she aged, she revealed to me that she had had 2 abortions in Germany and arranged one for my aunt too! My sister and I thought she had been so Puritanical when we were growing up so finding out that she was a hussy, was quite a revelation! :) Loved her dearly. She gave the best kisses and hugs. Miss her with all of my heart.
I want to give you, Robert Hubbell, a shout out for always recognizing the value of grassroots organizations and, as you point out, most of their membership is female. We need our champions and promoters, and you are certainly one of them. Your sincere respect for moms and all women always shine through. All the women in your primary family, are lucky to have you.
What a lovely way of celebrating Mothers Day. Thank you Robert. Women also make up most of the people doing what I call the housework of university administration: sitting on committees, organising, taking notes; doing the the work that keeps institutions running and moving forward. Given what you say, it seems to me that women also are doing the housework of democracy and governance. And of course, this is why their work is often ignored in so many ways—it is unglamorous but necessary work, and because women do most of it, it gets doubly devalued! Thank you for recognising this labor.
I'm taking time this Mother's Day to remember my daughter, my firstborn, who died last July unexpectedly at age 58. She was a superb mother, whose love and care--and outlandish humor--helped raise a remarkable son, who is the light of my life. As her brother said of her, Anne's wit lived in the absurd and her heart resided in the tenderest places. She was a rescuer, taking in strays both wild and domestic, always providing a home. Both animals and humans felt uniquely loved, and when they left her, all were covered in gratefulness. She had a toughness and persistence through all of life’s struggles and joys that was unmatched by most. She was also enormous fun. Her spirit remains with me.
I think of my mother who was 49 when she passed - she married young to a man who wasn't kind to her. She had six children with this man as she was catholic and those were the times. She showed us children her love while my dad her husband showed her abuse. Many around her knew of this abuse - the responses were "You made your bed , now lie in it". We as children tried to protect her as much as we could but that just ended up in late night family brawls with dad . My father was a policeman so it wasn't like we could call the police on him......though I thought about calling often. So when the A.hole finally left her 23 years into her marriage - she was devastated . Within 5 years after he bankrupted her emotionally and physically, she was finally climbing out of her depression. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died within the year. Guess who is still living 39 years later- yep A.Hole. Life is indeed sometimes unfair. I think of Mom every Mother's Day - I think how her life was spent with so much sadness and abuse and he is still breathing. I have forgiven him but I will never forget. And Please Ladies get your mammograms....
Remember Florence Kelly who fought tirelessly for women and children, especially around child labor laws. She was one of the first to promote the concept of childhood as a phase of development requiring nurturing, not factory or tenement sweat shop work. In a time when child labor laws are being loosened, mothers like Kelly serve as reminders that women’s work is never done.
My late wife Jurate, who passed away on February 20 after a six year fight with Parkinson's, the final three completely bedbound, came to this country with her family as war refugees from Lithuania. The first thing in America she saw was the Statue of Liberty when she was 3; she looked out the porthole of the troopship that brought them here. She grew up in Chicago, and when she went to the University of Chicago, she became part of the Friends of Jane, who worked to help women obtain abortions before Roe v Wade recognized that right. She came to Los Angeles in the 1970s. In the 1990s, she was active in clinic defense in opposition to the assault on Planned Parenthood clinics by the fundiescum of Operation Rescue. Unfortunately she lived long enough to see the terrible Dobbs decision, which I think had an effect on her. Soon after that, she lapsed into the increasing failing state of fnal stage Parkinson's. She was a brave patriot who fought for her adopted country as tenaciously as any soldier, and defended women's rights.
I'd like to honor Francis Perkins who was Secretary of Labor for FDR's entire Presidency and the driving force behind the New Deal including establishing Social Security. The only thing on her agenda that she didn't accomplish was universal healthcare! Please read her incredible biography. She is definitely on my list of Women I most admire. https://francesperkinscenter.org/learn/her-life/
It’s important to remember the origin of Mother’s Day. This holiday had its origins in the heart and pen of Juliet Ward Howe the famous lyricist of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" written during the Civil War. While an ardent supporter of the fight to end slavery and keep the country together, she was sickened by the carnage of the Civil war. In 1870, appalled by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War and the clamoring of young men to go fight overseas, she declared a Mothers’ Day Proclamation for Peace and had it translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German and Swedish and disseminated internationally. Hear her words:
"Arise arise .....great congress of women of all nationalities who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears… We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies... and our children shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience…'We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.” She continued, " Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his time the sacred impress not of Caesar but of God.”
She ended her proclamation by declaring, …
”In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.
Two years later, in 1872, JWH went to London to spread her message, and when an established peace organization there would not let her speak to them because of her gender, she hired a hall and conducted her own meetings.
My mother had a career in science. She was a microbiologist. She worked full time when very few married women with kids did. Although there were times I was miffed because she could not come pick me up from school when it was raining like other kids moms, her example was life changing for me. I assumed from a young age that I was going to college and would have a career. I worked hard in school to make it so. She gave me a love of knowledge and the permission to indulge my curiosity. From an early age, she read to me. As I got older she held the flash cards so I could learn the multiplication tables. I went on to study microbiology like her. I loved it. And then I became a physician. Thank you mom. I love you. Rest in peace.
I want to honor my mother who raised four children on her own. My dad left when I was four. My siblings were eight, six and 4 months. He left us to be with his newly acquired girlfriend. My mom did everything she could to take care of and protect us. She worked two jobs, a medical secretary during the day, and a waitress at the CPO Club at Moffett Field in the evening. My dad rarely paid child support so she had to work that many hours to support our family. Although she was gone a lot working, her unconditional love and faith in who we were was the best gift we could have received. We all grew up to be responsible and kind people. And we owe it all to our Mother.
I’d like to mention my dear friend Roberta, who has stood by me through many, many years of activism together. When I chose voting rights as “my issue” during the weekend of the 1st Womens’ March in DC after Trump won the presidency in Jan of 2017, I worked hard to develop a project in southern Wisconsin to find potential Dem voters and share information and offer help in acquiring Voter ID for people who needed them. Voter ID was a new thing in WI at that time, and many people, especially in minority communities, were not aware of the new requirement or were just not registered to vote. My friend Roberta was by my side throughout the project, from the first meeting, co sponsored by INdivisible Evanston, where we brought an ACLU Voter ID activist from WI to Evanston, Il to offer training re Voter ID issues in WI, through actually driving up and down the streets of Kenosha to put together walk lists for our first knock every door canvass, to knocking on doors with me every few weeks, when I led groups of volunteers from IL who would come up to Kenosha to knock on doors and help people get what they needed to get registered to vote, Roberta was my partner and biggest support.
We have a long history of activism together that goes back many years, at least to 2004 when we canvassed in Kenosha and Racine for John Kerry for president. We also knocked doors together in a few states during both Obama campaigns. And we organized a group of about 20 women, mothers and daughters and friends, to attend the huge March for Choice in DC in April of 2004. What a fabulous weekend that was!
Roberta has done quite a bit of activism in her own right over the years and I have deeply appreciated her partnership with me in knocking doors together. On the last weekend before presidential elections, we would pick a city to go to, find a B and B, and stay for a couple nights so that we could do long days of GOTV.
Ironically, in 2016, we actually were convinced that Hillary had WI in the bag, as the polls had her up by about 7% (!!!), so we went to Cincinnatti and canvassed for her there, thinking we would help bring in Ohio for the Hillary! Oy vey!
It has been my pleasure to share this passion for democracy with my dear friend Roberta. And she’s a great mom of a fine young man, Max, as well!
In 1979 my mother and Dan Ellsberg, of Pentagon Papers fame, were two of ten defendants chosen to represent 300 arrested in the nonviolent direct action campaign to shut down the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant near Denver. In federal court they provided all the needed evidence -- public health and international law experts testified -- for a "Nuremberg Defense" aka Lesser Evils Defense. The judge disallowed the jury from considering the evidence, and all were found guilty and ordered to pay fines -- which no one did, using noncooperation to increase pressure on the government to abandon its illegal preparations for genocide.
Over six years later, after the Feds had put a lien on our family's north Boulder home, my mother helped organize an action at the Federal courthouse in Denver where fined activists brought items the US military had overpaid for, including a toilet seat with a price tag of $680, and a bolt for $200, and turned in those items as payment of their fines. What fun! (And somehow we didn't lose the house.)
In my family of four there are some 75 nonviolent direct action arrests. Thanks for leading the way, Mom!
Francis Perkins, Rachel Carson, Jane Adams, Helen Keller, these women were not able to be mothers in their time and place. Susan B Anthony, the list goes on and on of brilliant women who had to choose whether to be part of the world or to be home raising children. I salute all women who have contributed to human progress whether they have children or not. The passionate advocacy of women to save our democracy, should not go unnoticed by historians of the future, if there is one.
Women have a long history of volunteerism- at least in this country. They fill essential roles in schools, lead youth organizations, advocate for human rights. It is not surprising to see that women are well represented in current efforts to save democracy.
From my suffragette grandmother, to my League of Women Voters mother, I have seen what we can do when we join forces!
My mother was everything to me. I miss
her with every breath I take. I talk to her at nite sometimes and hope I m hearing an answer. My love for her was indefinite. She was perfection and that is not hyperbole.if there is some way to post the song she wanted at her memorial that my daughter sung, I would do that now. Here’s to the mothers that make the world go round.
Thank you, Robert, for your tribute to women everywhere. We are a deserving group, if I do say so myself. I have lost 5 friends in the last 3 years, one being my best friend of 48 years. I would like to pay it forward to her. She was raised in a family of 8 kids, three sets of twins (of which she was one) and 2 singulars. She was always attracted to gorgeous black men and in 1975, she married and then gave birth to two beautiful children. She and the husband later divorced but it was she who brought those kids up. Two years ago, she and I were to turn 70 and plan a trip but that didn’t happen. She was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and passed away. I mourn her all of the time but there is good news as her daughter, age 43, is having her first baby, due anyway now. I will be Granauntie and I am thrilled!
I also want to honor my mother, who was a immigrant from Berlin, escaping the Nazis by taking circuitous routes to get to the US. She landed in London first and worked for the first woman lawyer on the case of Anastasia. This lawyer’s name was Fanny Holtzman, who apparently still owns the record for passing the NY State Bar at the age of 17. Anyway, she arranged for my mother’s passage to Ellis Island. My mother had an uncanny mind for numbers. She could add or subtract the most complex numbers in her head and come up with the right answer. As she aged, she revealed to me that she had had 2 abortions in Germany and arranged one for my aunt too! My sister and I thought she had been so Puritanical when we were growing up so finding out that she was a hussy, was quite a revelation! :) Loved her dearly. She gave the best kisses and hugs. Miss her with all of my heart.
I want to give you, Robert Hubbell, a shout out for always recognizing the value of grassroots organizations and, as you point out, most of their membership is female. We need our champions and promoters, and you are certainly one of them. Your sincere respect for moms and all women always shine through. All the women in your primary family, are lucky to have you.
What a lovely way of celebrating Mothers Day. Thank you Robert. Women also make up most of the people doing what I call the housework of university administration: sitting on committees, organising, taking notes; doing the the work that keeps institutions running and moving forward. Given what you say, it seems to me that women also are doing the housework of democracy and governance. And of course, this is why their work is often ignored in so many ways—it is unglamorous but necessary work, and because women do most of it, it gets doubly devalued! Thank you for recognising this labor.
I'm taking time this Mother's Day to remember my daughter, my firstborn, who died last July unexpectedly at age 58. She was a superb mother, whose love and care--and outlandish humor--helped raise a remarkable son, who is the light of my life. As her brother said of her, Anne's wit lived in the absurd and her heart resided in the tenderest places. She was a rescuer, taking in strays both wild and domestic, always providing a home. Both animals and humans felt uniquely loved, and when they left her, all were covered in gratefulness. She had a toughness and persistence through all of life’s struggles and joys that was unmatched by most. She was also enormous fun. Her spirit remains with me.
I think of my mother who was 49 when she passed - she married young to a man who wasn't kind to her. She had six children with this man as she was catholic and those were the times. She showed us children her love while my dad her husband showed her abuse. Many around her knew of this abuse - the responses were "You made your bed , now lie in it". We as children tried to protect her as much as we could but that just ended up in late night family brawls with dad . My father was a policeman so it wasn't like we could call the police on him......though I thought about calling often. So when the A.hole finally left her 23 years into her marriage - she was devastated . Within 5 years after he bankrupted her emotionally and physically, she was finally climbing out of her depression. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died within the year. Guess who is still living 39 years later- yep A.Hole. Life is indeed sometimes unfair. I think of Mom every Mother's Day - I think how her life was spent with so much sadness and abuse and he is still breathing. I have forgiven him but I will never forget. And Please Ladies get your mammograms....
Remember Florence Kelly who fought tirelessly for women and children, especially around child labor laws. She was one of the first to promote the concept of childhood as a phase of development requiring nurturing, not factory or tenement sweat shop work. In a time when child labor laws are being loosened, mothers like Kelly serve as reminders that women’s work is never done.