Kean highlights New Jersey Women Leading change
Tiye Bracy | Published by April 28, 2021
Clara Kramer book cover, diary, photograph
Photo Credit: Tiye Bracy
A picture of Clara Kramer when she was 18 years old, her diary, and her book cover was shown while she spoke about her Holocaust experience during a Celebration of Diverse Achievements event which took place on March, 15 via zoom.
The event was sponsored by Kean University’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion .
The first influential woman that was talked about during the event was Clara Kramer. She is featured in the Holocaust Resource Center on campus.
“She co founded the Holocaust Resource Center, and it led to holocaust and genocide awareness to numerous teachers,” Spencer Martin, the Collection Coordinator at the Holocaust Resource Center said.
Martin manages the collection that consist of over 200 survivors of the Holocaust. The video is available to all Kean students and faculty that can watch from the comfort of their own homes on a computer.
Showcased in the event was Amanda Yoakum, presented by Christina Fittipaldi, Kean Gallery Program Manager.
“She pairs two dimensional paintings, with her unique perspective of the world with her playful elements of design,” Fittipaldi said.
Amanda Yoakum artwork – Photo Credit: Tiye Bracy
Her artwork is made out of sneakers, Vans. During the event, they showed three of her art pieces. One called Consumption made in 2015 consists of a mixed medium on leather sneakers. The others were named Sitting Bull and Wanbi created in 2015 as well.
“The face of Hitler he is consuming a heart and the shoe represents blood, evil, and power,” Fittipaldi said. “Each shoe represents a theme of various ancient and modern gender stereotypes.”
The woman presented in this event was Florence Dwyer, by Erin Alghandoor, Head Artist for the Special Collections Research Library and Archives. Dwyer was a Republican who was elected to serve seven consecutive terms.
“She was the second woman who was elected to the House of Representatives from New Jersey,” Alghandoor said.
Kean has over 400 Florence Dwyers Congressional papers. If any student would like to visit the Special Collections of Archives it is located in the Learning Commons.
Students can visit on Monday, Tuesday , Thursday, and Friday from noon to five in the evening. The topics in the collection includes campaigning, civil rights, education, local civic engagement, equal rights, transportation, and the Vietnam War.
The last woman talked about in the event was Antoinette Brown Blackwell. She was the first woman to be a mainstream Protestant minister in the United States.
Blackwell was a part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was a leader in the women’s rights movement.
Florence Dwyer holding letters – Photo Credit: Tiye Bracy
A librarian at Kean University showed us how to find biographies on the Kean database. Another librarian staff taught the audience how to navigate through the Kean database to find primary and secondary sources. There is a database called American Women History in Kean Database.
“This is definitely a database worth exploring,” said a Kean’s librarian.
Finding Your Renovation is an exhibition that will be coming to Kean University between April 26, 2021 to June 18, 2021 located at Karl and Helen Burger Gallery.
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