Today is International Women's Day, and I wanted to focus on women in history, specifically women who have come before whose contributions have been overlooked, misattributed, or minimized. The New York Times has started a project called "Overlooked" to recognize women who should have been included in the obituary section. It's the brainchild of the digital editor of the obituaries desk, Amisha Padnani, who decided she wanted to address historic issues of representation in the obituaries section. They've started with 15 women. Here are a few of the women memorialized:
Charlotte Brontë wrote “Jane Eyre”; Emily Warren Roeblingoversaw construction of the Brooklyn Bridge when her husband fell ill; Madhubala transfixed Bollywood; Ida B. Wells campaigned against lynching. Yet all of their deaths went unremarked in our pages, until now.
The entry for Ida B. Wells acknowledges that she was one of the most well-known women of her time, which highlights the prejudicial attitudes that have dictated who has been included historically.
Do you have a woman who should included? This is going to be an ongoing project, so you can submit your ideas here. (I know I have some ideas.)
And, just for fun, I really enjoyed this video Lego put together depicting the stories of the Lego NASA women, whose stories have been brought to wider attention by their Lego-creator, Maia Weinstock.
