February 2, 2005
Diary tale page turner
Women's History Project book group discusses midwife
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Sixteen area women kicked off the Women's History Project Book Discussion Group Friday afternoon at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center.
The women gathered for lunch and to discuss the Pulitzer-prize winning book "A Midwife's Tale: the Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary 1785-1812." This book, written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, weaves Ballard's writings among her narrative of social commentary and analysis of women's lives during that era.
The participants discussed the lives and challenges of women living in an era where everything one ate, wore or lived in were grown or created by hand. The book and excerpts of Ballard's diary discuss in depth the daily, repetitive tasks typically in women's domain. Her diary and Ulrich's narrative also provided insights into the social, economic and sexual mores of the times.
Ballard differed from many colonial women in that she avoided housework wherever possible, despite rearing nine children of her own. Though the 'dailyness' of her work in the home and garden is woven in her entries, she had an outside life - and income - as a midwife.
"When she talked about housework it was clear that she was glad she had a job where she could get out and 'gad,'" said Ann Swaney, the coordinator for the Book Discussion Group, using the colonial term for socializing.
The participants felt that "A Midwife's Tale" reflects the root of centuries of disinterest in women's history - the undramatic, repetitive, never-ending nature of women's work.
"Women's history was unimportant because everything they did throughout the day was impermanent," said Liz Messing, a member of the Women's History Project. "A cursory look at her diary is really uninteresting, it focuses on that dailyness, that unyielding and unswerving recording of the day that gave us a history that wasn't presented elsewhere."
The group also welcomed Kathi Mulder, a local midwife whose practice is focused on home births. Mulder brought a display of midwifery in Michigan and also shared stories from her practice.
She said that, despite the 200-year gap between herself and Ballard, there were many similarities between their practices: transportation challenges, being on-call 24/7 and occasional bartering for fees.
"She had a treacherous mode of getting to births and when you're called to a birth, you had to go," Mulder said, noting that the book came out when she was studying midwifery. "I've been in some pretty severe snowstorms or when the roads are ice, but you have to go -there are no snow days when you're a midwife."
While some things have changed and some have stayed the same, Mulder added that the angle of being interrupted at any place, any time for a birth is the same - although her summons come via telephone or pager instead of a runner.
"Our lives get interrupted any time of day or night and we get the call and go," said Mulder, who has been a midwife for ten years, seven in the Grand Traverse region.
The Book Discussion Group participants also determined that the group would meet quarterly, alternating sessions between fiction and non-fiction titles. All present wanted to keep the focus on celebrating women in history and numerous books were suggested for future meetings.
Overall, organizers termed the inaugural Book Discussion Group a success.
"I've gotten four nice emails saying how much they've enjoyed the discussion, so I think we might be on the right track," Swaney said.
The next book on tap for the Women's History Project Book Discussion Group is "Fireweed" by Mildred Walker. The group will meet to have lunch and discuss this book at noon on Friday, April 29, at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center. For more information on the Book Discussion Group, call Ann Swaney at 995-1065.