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Ladies, what can we do to get even more women active in Appleseed?

Started by vic303, October 28, 2009, 06:18:05 PM

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NorCal22Gal

I've been looking for stories too...  A friend gave me a book by E.F. (Elizabeth Fries) Ellet called "the Women of the American Revolution"  says Vol 1. Might check on google or barnes and noble or  amazon for a used copy.  Also found "Liberty's Daughters" by Mary Beth Norton, "Muse of the Revolution, Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren" bye Nancy Rubin Stuart and a few more by going to barnesandnoble.com and searching for history or American Revolution. Haven't ordered them yet.  Trying to decide which one sounds the best....

We do Dangerous old Men and Determined Dames on Sunday.

Our club here in Northern CA, was interested in possibly doing an all Ladies shoot too.....Have to see how that develops. ;)


NorCal22Gal

vic303

Google up the following phrase:  women in the revolutionary war

It comes up with a lot of links and probably good hits for research into this topic. 

Here are a few names to search too.  http://www.historycentral.com/revolt/Americans/women.html
Molly Pitcher (Mary Ludwig Hayes)
Betty Zane
Deborah Sampson
Patience Lovell Wright

Whisker

I got this from a book called "Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America" by Laura Browder.

"The tensions surrounding women's armed patriotism are nicely contained by the fictional female soldier who remains the most famous of all armed women.  According to the legend, which was late in developing, Molly Pitcher was a Revolutionary War soldier's wife who took over her husband's artillery position when he fell in battle.  As historians have pointed out any number of times, Molly Pitcher was a composite of several Revolutionary-era women.  Thus, Linda Grant De Pauw writes, "The woman memorialized on posters, postage stamps, and a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike was not a real woman t all but a mythic figure constructed by artists an writers many years after the war."  Molly Pitcher had not been identified as anything more than "Captain Molly" until 1848, when Nathaniel Currier produced the first print of her; the first written mention of Molly Pitcher did not appear in a book until 1859.  But after 1876, when a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, man published a genealogy identifying a local woman as "the heroine of Monmouth," the Molly Pitcher cult grew and grew.  Molly Pitcher was never pictured as a cross-dresser; instead, she was portrayed as a properly feminine- though heroic- helpmate.  Margaret Corbin and Mary McCauley, the women on whom the character Molly Pitcher was purportedly based, were far from being models of feminine deportment: Corbin was known as "Dirty Kate" and "died a horrible death from the effects of a syphilitic disease" after the war, and McCauley was remembered as "a very masculine person . . . [who] could drink whiskey and swear." However, the idealized Molly Pitcher - who grew more perfect over the years - had none of the sexual ambiguity or unseemly independence of actual female Continental soldiers."

Interesting stuff... It's a challenge to get the bottom of these stories- to know the risks of these women (violent and cultural risks).   
What brings together men liberated from local and national limitations is also what keeps them apart. What pushes for greater rationality is also what nourishes the irrationality of hierarchical exploitation and repression.  What creates society's abstract power also creates its concrete unfreedom.

vic303

And some info regarding women in general and especially at the Battle of Cowpens, all from the Nat'l Parks Service.

   
Unit 7 activities follow the menu headings for the other units.

Parks as Classrooms logo
http://www.nps.gov/cowp/forteachers/unit-7-the-battle-the-human-element.htm
Cowpens National Battlefield Curriculum Guide Grades 3 - 8 South Carolina and North Carolina

Unsung Patriots: Women at the Battle

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Women made important contributions to the American Revolution. Stories abound of heroines and others associated with the events of war. Many were camp followers following their husbands, sons, and fathers as they fought. They cooked, sewed, and nursed the wounded, served as messengers and spies, and sometimes fought in battle. Often we are aware of such persons as Molly Pitcher and Sybil Ludington (the female Paul Revere), but there were other lesser-known and sometimes unnamed women who are of equal importance. A number of women are known for their involvement in the Revolutionary War in South Carolina.

Many stories of Revolutionary War heroines are blends of fact and fiction. Good researchers document their findings.

Other than those heroines connected to battles, there were those women on the home-front who took on the sole obligations of managing home and family. It is interesting to note those roles taken by various Native-American, African-American, Patriot, and Loyalist women.


6. Read selections from the book, Founding Mothers and contrast and compare the role of African-American women, Native-American women, Loyalist women and Patriot women. Discuss women's role in war.

SOME WOMEN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1. ___Catherine Moore Barry          a. Eighteen-year-old who rode through wild Carolina backcountry to deliver General Nathanael Greene's message to General Thomas Sumter.
2. ___Emily Geiger    b. Mother of a future president, she traveled to Charles-ton and died as she attended to relatives on a British prison ship.
3. ___Anne Kennedy Hamilton     c. Frontier Cherokee woman who warned settlers of impending attack. She helped introduce cattle into the Cherokee economy.
4. ___Nancy Hart    d. Sixteen-year-old who warned the New York militia of an impending British attack against a Danbury, Con-necticut, supply center. She is remembered as "the female Paul Revere."
5. ___Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson     e. Laurens County, SC, heroine whose nickname was short for Laodicea.
6. ___Sybil Ludington    f. African-American who wrote about freedom, she be-came a symbol for the abolition of slavery.
7. ___Molly Hays McCauley    g. Heroine from Walnut Grove Plantation, Spartanburg Co., SC
8. ___Rebecca Motte .    h. Patriot from Georgia for whom Hart County is named.
9. ___Dicey Langston Springfield    i. Pennsylvania camp follower who was nicknamed Molly Pitcher when she took pitchers of water to wounded soldiers.
10. ___Nancy Ward    j. She agreed that her own home be burned to drive out British invaders
11. ___Phillis Wheatley    k. According to legend, her father, brother and future husband fought at the Battle of Cowpens.

2. An epitaph for Mary Patton is printed below.

MARY PATTON

1751-1836

One of that heroic band who

established a civilization in the wilderness.

She made the powder used by

John Sevier's troops in the battle

of Kings Mountain.

Erected by her descendants, 1932

V

Re stories of women and children we don't need to stray too far from our current events of April 19th and our Dangerous Old Men.

Here in California SavageShootr started adding stories of the women of April 19th to our Dangerous Old Men on Sunday lunch.
We have always encouraged our women instructors to continue this "tradition" and if I'm on a shoot where there are no women instructors, even if there are no women shooters present, I make a point of presenting "Determined Dames"

I frame this by emphasizing the "hearts and minds of all the people" it wasn't just the testosterone guys running around shooting up the place cos they were dissed.

I usually start with Sarah Tarrant the young lady who told off Col Leslie in Salem and who faced down a soldier raising his musket to her with "Fire if you dare - I doubt you have the courage!"

Ruth Harrington and her 16 year old son, the Lexington Fifer. "Jonathan, Jonathan the Regulars are out. Something must be done, Get up and get out on the common!"

Hannah Davies... sick kids, sends off the Acton militia from her kitchen in the morning and receives three bodies in her drawing room in the evening, Issac Davies, Abner Hosmer and James Hayward.

Prudence Cummings Wright - suffering from post partum depression of her baby who'd just died and her 1 year old "Liberty" who'd just died, went home to her parent to recover and overheard her Tory brothers plotting. On return to her home and later on April 19th she acted on this information, dressing in men's clothes, gathering other women of undefended Pepperall to do the same and arresting a tory rider with intelligence at the bridge.

These and many more are already in Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fisher and tie in with the people and stories we are already telling...

I frame it with the hardship these women faced, "how many kids?" (had 12, raised 8, 4 still living), commonly died in childbirth, despite being denied (in todays terms) "freedom" they fought for it nonetheless - hearts and minds of all the people - we aren't like those people today - none of us - man, woman or child. I also end it with the 7th step plea, don't just bring your shooting buddies guys, bring your wife, your girlfriend, your mother, your daughter, everyone needs to learn to shoot a rifle and hear the story of April 19th.

Mark D

In answer to the original question: Try reaching out to the "Second Amendment Sisters" if they're active in your various home states.  

BeeFree

There are some fantastic ideas in this thread, so let's keep brainstorming...

I had one kneejerk reaction to the original question, and that is that if we want more women involved in AS, we need to do something about all those ladies who don't own their own guns and are (shall we be polite?) insufficiently kitted out by their husbands/SOs with  POS rifles w/o slings or even attachments for them, a towel for a pad, and crappy ammo.  This was a huge issue at a recent shoot I attended.  I learned how to attach slings with wireties (thank you TC!), and how to adjust those stupid stock Ruger sights with a hammer and a block of wood...  By the end of the day, 80% of the women on the line were using loaner rifles.  I cannot see a way to ensure that everyone show up with everything they will need, but if we are going to pursue having more women on the line, then we need to be prepared for the increased need in loaner rifles and other equipment that that will entail.  This is not to say anything bad about women  - I too started out  kitted out by my husband, and since he had never attended at an AS himself, what I had was not sufficient to the task and I had to borrow a sling, mags, etc (thank you Dragonwood and JuniorBirdman).  It is just how the majority of women get started shooting...

I don't particularly like the idea of getting away from 4/19 history in order to include more Dangerous Dames stories - there are enough on that date if you take the time to point them out - It smacks of political correctness to me to have to go elsewhen to provide another story "just for women."

If you do a women-only shoot anywhere I can drive to, I'd love to be part of the crew.  And the publicity for it should include all that state's DAR chapters (that's Daughters of the Am Rev., not designated AS Range here), the local colleges' Associations for Women Students (or whatever they are calling themselves these days),  etc... because women are often far more willing to try something new to them if they can do it with a friend or three, rather than showing up alone, even to a women-only event.  I have yet to meet another woman (besides me, and I REALLY needed a vacation) who has come to her first Appleseed ALONE.  They've ALL come with another family member or friend.

Another way to get more women involved would be to think into the future and hold "family Appleseeds" or Appleseeds for girls - an example would be having an AS at a range with good camping facilities that is marketed to families - My husband and I have stacked some of the tactical pistol courses we take every year full of his family, which is why this comes to mind  - homeschoolers would be a starter market for something like this.  Holding an Appleseed for Girl Scouts (or whatever the local equivalent is - i know there are a lot of folks who got disgusted with GS and have started other girls' scouting-type organizations) would a) get more girls/women shooting, b) let women (the scout leaders) see AS - and these are people who already recognize the importance of citizen involvement, generally speaking, and c) provide a future pool of Instructors...

BeeFree

Make Orwell Fiction Again!

siglite

Emphasize the "check your ego at the door" thing that's a running theme with AS.  I've been a proponent of getting women into shooting for a long time.  I've put a great deal of thought into this, and have tried to combine my thought with observation.  Long ago, my signature on another forum read something along these lines:

"The male chauvenist pig behind the gun counter and on the firing line does as much damage to the Second Amendment as Dianne Fienstien by alienating fully half the voting base.  I hold them in equal contempt."

It's all about perceptions and attitudes.  The perception is that shooting is a "guy thing."  The attitudes for so long have been that of a "good old boy's club."

I have seen this changing throughout gun culture.  But much work still needs done out in the macrocosm of gun culture nation-wide.  AS, what little of it I have worked with, has done a great job of this.  For the most part, people do indeed check their egos at the door.  I have seen exceptions, but they are just that.  Exceptions. 

Word of mouth is everything.  If you want more women in AS, continue to foster an ego-free instructor corps.   It's been my experience that women are about 3000 times more sensitive to ego than us men.  They spot ego a mile away.  Keep that out of the mix and off the firing line, and you'll continue to see more and more women involved.

--

Keith Morgan
President, West Virginia Citizen's Defense League
http://www.wvcdl.org
http://forums.wvcdl.org
Proud member of West Virginia's first "All Rifleman" family.

AdamSelene

Here is a pic of an AQT shoot in Pittsburg KS last FEB.  The two shooters closest to the camera are females.  Feel free to use on the website or in promotional material.

Thoughts on women shooters and appleseed in general:

1.  For some people two days of shooting is intense.  Additionally if you have a rifle/pistol club it eats up range space for a whole weekend.  So while I love the two day Appleseed format and it appeals to my Army mentality (I love hard training), For some people the best format may be weekly or twice a month AQT shoots at local clubs.  My wife gets shot out by about 1030 on Sunday.  With the baby and babysitting issues factored in the half day format is a great way to polish skills of that person who went to their first appleseed as a noob and still needs work to make Rifleman.  I personally prefer the weekend format since it eliminates distraction, but offering something different is a technique that may reach people with different stamina or schedules.

2.  Here in my town we had an "Appleseed" station as part of our NSSF sponsored "First Shots" program open range day.  I helped coach a 65 year old woman who never fired a weapon in her life.  She got down in the prone and fired thirty rounds.  Absolutely awesome.  Running that station (four lanes using .22 rifles) helped get the Appleseed name out and now the club is letting us close down the 25 yard range for two days for our first Appleseed it town this coming weekend.  So even where we dont have a two day appleseed, volunteering to help at a first shots event or Women on Target gives the organization exposure. 

3. Gun Shows?  Tables at gun shows near future Appleseeds to try to get people to sign up?

4.  Appleseed reps in local gun clubs?

5. Approach local ROTC BNs and offer to help instruct marksmanship?  I am an instructor in an ROTC BN and I am trying to sell the rest of the cadre on Appleseed.  Appleseed lets military shoot free anyway, perhaps we can cultivate it so RWVA instructors work the line and teach cadets Basic Rifle Marksmanship.  Considering the ultimate goals of Appleseed, it would be good to have hundreds of future LTs, CPTs, MAJs and so on in the army who are NOT shooters to view us as normal and helpful.  It may pay big dividends down the road.

My $.02
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.           -Plato

siglite

--

Keith Morgan
President, West Virginia Citizen's Defense League
http://www.wvcdl.org
http://forums.wvcdl.org
Proud member of West Virginia's first "All Rifleman" family.

vic303

Ladies, I am going to lock this thread since I split out the questions yesterday.  Please post your comments or suggestions etc in the most appropriate new threads.
Thank you all!

If I can sort out how to move all the earlier posts to the new threads simply, I will have that done also.  Thus far I have not found an easy way though.

--Vicky