Eleven women of historical importance will be having tea at the
YWCA a week from today.

Evangeline Booth, Amelia Earhart, Betty Friedan, Tullah Hanley,
Dorothea Lange, Juliette Gordon Low, Sandra Day O’Connor, Alice
Paul, Rosa Parks, Sally Ride and the Rev. Dr. Anna Shaw will all be
on hand to talk, laugh and answer questions starting at 1 p.m.
March 25.

The YWCA is celebrating March, National Women’s History Month,
with their second historical women tea party – this year’s event’s
theme being “Women: Builders of Communities and Dreams.”

Volunteers will portray influential women from various time
periods and professions. They will interact with guests and share
the stories of their lives.

Salvation Army Capt. Deborah Weigner will portray Evangeline
Booth, the fourth general of the Salvation Army born Dec. 25, 1865,
in London, England. Booth’s father founded an independent
evangelistic organization that became the Salvation Army. She was
an active minister herself, who also served with Salvation Army in
America.

Weigner told The Era she has portrayed Booth in a similar
program elsewhere, but noted the Booth family had actually been
through Bradford at one point.

She also talked about how ladies of the Salvation Army would
dress in ratty clothes and trudge into the worst sections of the
most dangerous communities to do their work and spread their
message, earning them the nickname “slum sisters.”

“It’s important for people of every economic status to leave
their comfort zone and give help to those who need it,” Weigner
said.

YWCA associate Linda Woodley, who will portray the Rev. Dr. Anna
Shaw, said that in her job, she encounters many girls and women who
“don’t have a clue how to be empowered.”

“There have been some hard times, yet so much has been
accomplished,” Woodley said. “The important thing is where we are
today.”

Woodley’s character, Shaw, was an English immigrant who grew up
in Mecosta County, Mich., and became a suffragist who had a part in
the passing of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Amy Pierce, program coordinator at the YWCA, will play Girl
Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low.

Pierce pointed out that while the women participating in next
week’s event cover more than 100 years of history and all that was
accomplished, “there is still work to be done.”

It is for that reason that she became interested in having the
teas, she said, adding she hopes the events will grow and change;
being held quarterly at the YWCA.

Also participating in the event, Heather Schultz will play
Amelia Earhart; Alexis Monroe, Betty Friedan; Mikele Irwin, Tullah
Hanley; Nancy Chestnut, Dorothea Lange; Stacy Sorokes Wallace,
Sandra Day O’Connor; Holly Bryant, Alice Paul; Breea Willingham,
Rosa Parks; and Terry Irwin, Sally Ride.

There is a cost for the tea party, and special prices are
available for troops, classes and families. Reservations are
encouraged and can be made by calling the YWCA or stopping in at 24
W. Corydon St.