July 17, 2002
History project heralds unsung heroes
Exhibits honors 12 area women
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A new exhibit entitled Celebrating Local Women is debuting this summer in the Grand Traverse Heritage Center.
Compiled and presented by the Northwest Michigan Women's History Project, Celebrating Local Women highlights the extraordinary accomplishments of 12 ordinary women in Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau counties. This exhibit is the first of multiple exhibits planned by members of the Project.
The lives of the women chosen reflect the development of the region over the past 150 years. From the area's first female physician to the first woman appointed as a legal advisor to the United States Treasury department to a homemaker and craftswoman, these dozen women represent countless unsung heroes of the area.
Activists, artists, writers and leaders are also included in the exhibit. All the women share a common bond of courage, determination and perseverance.
"Often men are more recognized in history," said Ruth Rague of Traverse City, the exhibit coordinator and a board member of the Northwest Michigan Women's History Project. "This is an effort on our part not to exclude men but to further the effort of recognizing women."
Rague said that a search committee sifted through the five-county area looking for notable women.
"We tried to get women who haven't been recognized in the community before or who are not as well-known," she noted.
Quiet and unassuming, Amy Carmien of Lake Ann fits the bill, both in her extraordinary accomplishments and low profile. The youngest member of the display, Carmien is an accomplished pilot and aviation mechanic as well as being the third generation postmaster in Lake Ann.
Being included in the Celebrating Local Women display took Carmien by surprise. She had been involved with the Benzie Area Women's History Project, helping the group get organized and put on special events. But getting tapped to have a photo and brief biographical sketch included in the Grand Traverse Heritage Center is another matter.
"It is amazing, a real honor," said Carmien. "It is also a wonderful statement that the area is providing this type of exhibit in this type of space."
Carmien believes that women's history is getting more attention in recent times.
"The materials, books, school supplies and all the things that are available now on a nationwide basis are very different compared to when I was a child," she said. "It's amazing to see the variety of materials available about women's history."
Betty Beeby of Eastport has made a name for herself over the years as an artist, author and preservationist. Her efforts range from painting a 50-foot mural at Fort Michilimackinac to giving out scholarships to art students to writing a historical book.
For Beeby, being unstoppable is key. When she heard of a building about to be torn down in Eastport, she quickly contacted the township to determine who owned it. Then she wrote the owners because she thought the old farm homestead would make a nice museum.
Within a week the owners contacted Beeby and one week later she had the keys in hand. She and some friends hurried out in the snow to explore the building, which had been closed and unoccupied for more than four decades.
"It was dark as a pocket in there, we looked around with our flashlights," Beeby recalled. "It was a time capsule that hadn't been opened in 40 years. There were clothes still hanging and pictures of movie stars on the walls."
Thanks to Beeby's vision and efforts, the Wilkinson Homestead Historical Museum is in the process of being restored. More than 70 members of the museum are committed to its success.
Beeby also is the author of "Breath Escaping Envelope," a collection of letters from area pioneering women that was published last year.
"Women coped by writing letters," noted Beeby, who culled through thousands of letters for the book. "They had as many hardships and met as many challenges as the men. The men were in logging camps and on the boats and on the railroads and the women faced so much alone."
Beeby is pleased to keep company with other pioneering women in the Celebrating Local Women exhibit at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center.
"It is an honor to be included," she said.