(12.6) A screening and presentation about two notable Rhode Island women — Sissieretta Jones and Annie Smith Peck — will be held Thursday evening at the Southside Cultural Center. This event is part of the nationwide UNLADYLIKE2020 project.
UNLADYLIKE2020 is an innovative multimedia series of short, animated documentary films featuring unsung American women from the early years of feminism, and the contemporary women who now follow in their footsteps.
Set to launch in 2020 in honor of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, the series will present 31 shorts for the 31 days of Women’s History Month, distributed through a high-profile digital platform, social media feeds, educational outreach campaigns in middle schools, high schools and universities, and civic engagement events across the United States.
The producers secured a grant through the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH) to aid in their research on these two Rhode Island women. Enter Christine Bevilacqua — always a good sign. Bevilacqua is the Programs & Exhibitions Director at the Providence Public Library and explained to me via email how Thursday’s event came about:
As part of the grant, they are asked to put on a public presentation on their research, so I was connected with the producers by the RICH staff last spring, and have been assisting them in creating this program on the RI women, Jones and Peck.
So you know the research has been rigorous, and any event Ms. Bevilacqua has a hand in entertains as it edifies. (I hope the producers don’t expect to find a Christina in every state.) Thursday’s schedule is as follows:
*Research presentation by series creator Charlotte Mangin on Sissieretta Jones and Annie Smith Peck, two remarkable women from Rhode Island history.
*Screening of the UNLADYLIKE2020 trailer and a sneak peek of the first episode in the series, which tells the story of aviator Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman pilot
*Panel discussion with Charlotte Mangin; Hannah Kimberley, author of A Woman’s Place Is at the Top, a biography of Annie Smith Peck; Morgan Grefe, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Society; Ray Rickman, Executive Director and Robb Dimmick, Programming Director at Stages of Freedom;moderator is Christina Bevilacqua, Programs & Exhibitions Director at the Providence Public Library
*Community conversation about women’s history, African American history, Rhode Island history, and women’s empowerment
Then refreshments! The event will be held in the SCCRI program space. Parking is in back where you will find the entrance and accessible ramp. The event is free but they ask that you register so they know how many cookies to order.
We have written about Sissieretta Jones before, but how have I never heard of Annie Smith Peck? Let’s fix that.
Free and open to the public, 5:30pm to 7:30pm, Thursday, December 6, Southside Cultural Center, 393 Broad Street, (directions)