Helen Holt and Historical Perspective on our Legacy

I have two posts to share with you that speak to the same topic: our legacy as Pen Women. One is an obituary for Helen Holt, whose biography by Patricia Daly-Lipe was published this year by the Pen Women Press, and whose life story is an inspiration. As April Myers, Pen Woman Magazine editor put it, “We should have a national day of mourning” for this remarkable Pen Woman. The second post is an extensively researched article by Jacksonville Pen Woman Siggy Buckley on the NLAPW’s history. Quoting from a 1970s special centennial issue of the Pen Woman magazine, Siggy paints a beautiful portrait of some of the women who overcame adversity to give future generations (that would be US now!) a reason to be Pen Women. –Treanor Baring (editor)

Helen Holt, 1913-2015

“When it comes to doing things for others,
some people stop at nothing.”
These words are not just a frequent aphorism of Helen Holt. They are a true reflection of her 23 dedicated years as a public servant. Helen’s list of accolades is nothing less than remarkable. Yet the 101-year-old icon and first woman to hold a statewide-office in West Virginia was not at all shy to admit she became “a professional woman by necessity.”
Helen Holt unwittingly became a trailblazer for women in the political arena. The real irony is that she never gave politics a second thought until she married the youngest U.S. senator (1935-1941) from West Virginia, Rush D. Holt, Jr. in 1941. Helen was immediately involved in her husband’s work, and Rush was quick to teach Helen “how to work with men and to feel comfortable working with them,” since she was a lone woman in a man’s world. Sadly, Rush was only 49 at the time of his death. But, despite no income (unlike today’s members of Congress), Helen was able to provide for her family when she took over Rush’s position in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Two years later, Helen was sworn in as the first female Secretary of State of West Virginia. In 1960, President Eisenhower commissioned Helen with “the task of creating a program to fix the nation’s ailing network of nursing homes” because, as Helen wrote, “they had to get a woman—no man was sufficiently interested.” Tirelessly, she carried out this job under seven consecutive United States Presidents.

Patricia Daly-Lipe
District of Columbia Branch 

This post was published first on our national Website on August 5,2015.

Continue reading; Siggy's post comes next. (published ibd.)

 

Landscape Gardening with CARE

Landscape Gardening is no longer simply a job of creating a well planned garden, grading the terrain, and then executing a plan of what to plant where. The 21st century brought about its own environmental necessities and eco-demands that have to be taken into account.

Through combining workshop style assignments with research and ‘hands-on’ experience, the Wright Scoop takes readers through a process that uses site plats to create landscape/gardens which respect an existing vista, preserving and enhancing its eco health. For any style landscape should not simply be a result of traditional design but be the right plant, installed in the right place at the right (optimal) planting season - creating eco-legacies of landscape green, sustainable urban/suburban communities which enhance green space for today and future generations.

Project Back Ground

The challenge for present-day homeowners, gardeners or Industry professionals is to be naturalists with a "waste not, want not" ecological commitment: become stewards of the land, caretakers for their environmental communities. Through ‘hands on’ research, Wright identified tips and strategies which enable the who, why, where, what, how and when of landscape gardening -

     Who: Understand the factors which influence a landscape gardening perspective; and then, describe it in terms of someone who presently does and/or desires to 'dig in the dirt'.

     Why: Define landscape gardens more in terms of a mission, a lofty perspective such as 'green' - 'providing for present-day needs without sacrificing the future'.

     Where: Location, location, location – conduct a site analysis which identifies climate and physical constraints.

     What: Combing the 'who, why and where' influence a landscape garden plan, develop goal statements which describe a proposed site.

     How: List activities that accomplish the identified goals.

     When: Using the 'what and how' activities, identify recommended installation time-frame as well as recommended maintenance time-frame; and then, create a landscape gardening schedule.

Enable readers of her research to become known as a person who enables an eco-legacy of CARE - conservation, accountability, recovery and eco-efficiency.

 

Sylvia Hoehns Wright is a nationally recognized eco-advocate, contributing writer and communications specialist; in her spare time  she is a passionate historian and member of the American League of Pen Women.(www.NLAPW.org).  As founder of the ‘Plants of CARE’ plant recognition program and recipient of the Turning America from Eco-weak to Eco-chic award , the Wright Scoop – Sylvia Hoehns Wright seeks to inspire people to create an eco-legacy of CARE, a perspective of conservation, accountability, recovery and eco-efficiency – ‘green’ America’s landscape! To review and/or acquire copy, link to Sylvia's store http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/syhwright or for details of Wright's eco advocacy, visit web site www.TheWrightScoop.com 

 

In his review Den Gardner, executive director of Project EverGreen, says:"Wright’s eco-chic advocacy embodies every aspect of the consumer education campaign we hoped to inspire. For, our vision is to become a global organization that empowers people within communities to change society through the responsible creation and preservation of sustainable green spaces, such that the ever-increasing impacts of global warming in the world are measurably reduced; because Green Matters!

 

From the Heart of my Heartland

JoAnna O'Keefe
joanna@joannaokeefe.com


"Live the life you've imagined"  -  Thoreau

Holiday Prayer, a safe place to live

Richmond, VA… December 2012 …
Across the Nation, communities question “Is there a safe place to live?” A few years ago, U.S.A Today newspaper posed this question when it published a full-page insert. The newspaper reported bad weather as brewing from blizzards to heat waves and across the nation, the prospect of ongoing natural disasters fueled by unhealthy shifts in the environment. Reviewing the report, readers saw a map depict region by region increases in blizzards, snowstorms, earthquakes, flash floods, monsoons, tornadoes, hailstorms, heat waves, hurricanes, typhoons, ice storms, thunderstorms, lightning, tsunamis, nor’easters, river valley flooding, volcanic eruptions and wildfires.

    More recently, communities asked this question when our Nation experienced loss through global civil unrest. For on the anniversary of September 11th, an incident occurred which was described by Hillary Clinton as ‘there will never be peace on earth when there are those who use their religion as an excuse to terrorize others.” And, this week yet another senseless mass murder – students and staff of Sandy Hook school – occur reminding all of us of the frailty of personal safety. So, how under these circumstances do we reconcile its loss, regain a sense of peaceful existence?

     When solicited to creatively define the concept of peace, a Tapestry for Peace was unveiled during a National League of American Pen Women conference held in Denver. Inspired by a Denver Branch Pen Woman, the late Eve Mackintosh and comprised of panels that reflect the diverse nature of common desire for a peaceful world – a safe place in which to live, this tapestry is an expansive work. Measuring more than 250 feet in length, it features 64 panels hand-made by hundreds of people and organizations from across the U.S.A. For those interested, the exhibit is available for showings around the U.S.A. and internationally.

     On the other hand, those who ‘dig in the dirt’ acquire their sense of safety – solace –through another option, renewal of season or planting living green. While not to lessen the impact on any one of the 32 affected families, in a way, Virginia’s green – horticulture – community so-to-speak experienced loss during the Virginia Tech shootings of one of its own, Jocelyne Couture-Nowak. Described by the media as an ‘Adjunct Professor of Foreign Languages that joined Virginia Tech on August 10, 2001 - Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, French Canadian, beloved mother, wife, and a member of the Blacksburg community, in which she and her family have lived since 2001, passed away on April 16, 2007, while engaged in her passion, teaching Intermediate French at Virginia Tech.’ To honor Jocelyne and her family, the state of Virginia’s Green Industry fund a Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Memorial Garden, a terrace at the Hahn Horticulture Garden.

    Perhaps less creative but most certainly essential, regulatory activities occur, too. In early 2013, members of the Global and National Climate Change Academies are scheduled to release eco research compiled by member national and global scientists. Then, our Nation’s elected representatives are legislatively required to review this research and enable eco regulation. In other words, our Nation’s regulatory communities find a way to make sense of loss due to the impact of ongoing natural disasters fueled by unhealthy shifts in the environment. And, hopefully, there will likewise be amongst us those who can make sense of the senseless act of mass murder, find a way to restore our Nation’s sense of public-at-large safety.

      So, whether it is for those who recover from the havoc of natural disasters or impact of global civil unrest or loss through the act of senseless mass murder, in the spirit of the holiday season, let us seek to protect the safety of our communities – business, civic and environmental. For, together, we can make a difference: be seen as people who CARE – set a Climate, not merely adjust to a preexisting one; create an encouraging Attitude, not practice ambivalence; are Receptive to people without losing sight of personal needs; and demonstrate Empathy for others while keeping problems in perspective.

      Regardless of cultural diversity, let’s join in a prayer for “a safe place in which to live, peace on earth and specifically request that it begin with me!”

pix caption - Tapestry of Peace exhibit sponsored by NLAPW

About Wright -
    Identified as an Industry 'mover and shaker' by Landscape Architect magazine, Sylvia Hoehns Wright urges all, during the holiday season, to join in a prayer for “a safe place in which to live, peace on earth and specifically request that it begin with me - become people who CARE!” Details of her activities are available at web site www.TheWrightScoop.com  or facebook group The Wright Scoop or twitter ID WrightScoop.