Luncheon to focus on area elected women

The 5th Annual Louise Daniel Women’s History Luncheon and Women’s Equality Day Celebration will be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday, August 22, 2014, in the Great Hall of Polk Street United Methodist Church, 1401 S. Polk in Amarillo.

The occasion will honor women elected officials, past and present, of the Texas Panhandle. The luncheon is held annually near the end of August to coincide with Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote.

Several current and former elected women from Donley County are included on the organization’s records. The earliest ones they have a record of all served as Donley County clerk: Lottie E. Lane in 1923, Bessie (Mrs. B.G.) Smith, 1929; Helen Wiedman, 1940, and Helen W. Churchman, 1953. Those serving in county positions during the 1980s included Sandra Eads, Freida Gray, Wilma Lindley, Wanda Smith and Alice Fay Vargas.

Many more women have served in local positions through the years. Among the local women serving in county or city positions currently include Gail Leathers of Howardwick; Carrie Butler, Kathy Spier and Tonya Metcalf, all of Hedley; and Denise Bertrand, Beverly Burrow, Linda Crump, and Connie Havens, all of Clarendon.

Guest speaker at the day will be Nancy Baker Jones, Ph.D., of Austin, on the topic “Winning the Vote and Voting to Win: Texas Women and Politics.” Dr. Jones is president of the Ruthe Winegarten Foundation for Texas Women’s History and General Editor for the Women in Texas History Series of the Texas A&M University Press.

Baker and Winegarten wrote Capitol Women: Texas Female Legislators 1923-1999, published by the University of Texas Press and winner of the Liz Carpenter Award from the Texas State Historical Association. The two also wrote the script for the 7th grade video, From Gutsy Mavericks to Quiet Heroes: True Tales of Texas Women produced by the Foundation for Women’s Resources.

Dr. Paul Matney, retiring president of Amarillo College, will make a special presentation regarding the naming of a room at the college in honor of Louise Daniel, who had been a member and chairwoman of the AC Board of Regents.

The public is invited to attend. The ost is $25 for adults, $15 for students, and $200 for a table of eight. Reservations should be made by Monday, August 18, by calling Jane Harlan at (806) 355-4125 or sending a check to the Amarillo College Foundation in care of Harlan at 4015 S. Lipscomb, Amarillo, TX 79110, noting that it’s for the Louise Daniel luncheon.