Day 8, Archivisting

The good news: Letha and I mailed 4 big beautiful boxes to the Archives for Women in Theological Scholarship at Burke Library, Union Seminary/Columbia University in New York City.

Contents:

1) Files on EEWC conferences, 1975-2012,

2) Issues of Christian Feminism Today (previously called EEWC Update) 1976-2012, with correspondence and info on writers, books reviewed, etc., 

3) Reports from annual (national) Council meetings, 

4) Financial records and miscellaneous files on the logo, EEWC brochures 1978-2012, etc.

5) Media reports on EWC/EEWC-CFT.  

We also mailed a box to me of extra Updates/CFTs--anyone who wants a year or two of them or specific issues, let me know.

The bad news: we went to bed at 3 am and got up by 8 am.  

We both plan to sleep this afternoon—Letha in her cocoon, me on the plane to New York to visit my mother-in-law, who has been hospitalized with pneumonia and then with sepsis.  She’s 90 yrs. old with another birthday coming up in September.

I’m hoping Letha and I will both be able to recover from our exhaustion within a day or two.  Thanks for your support, prayers and good wishes!

Letha packed me a nice lunch for the plane: a cinnamon-raisin bagel with strawberry cream cheese, peach, banana, and a huge piece of cold chicken.

But the plane is delayed by weather--it's 3:30 pm (when the flight was going to arrive in New York), and we haven't even left Norfolk.

Day 7, Archivisting

It's the Sabbath.  

As I lie in bed repeating my morning prayer "One thing have I asked of YHWH, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of YHWH..." (Psalm 27:4), I realize that I am already in God's house.  

I'm surrounded by seven bookcases of Bibles, Bible commentary, church history, Christian biography, and social commentary--and the apartment above Letha's is an Orthodox Jewish household, as are many in her complex of two-story colonial style buildings.  I feel blessed and holy just to be here.

Last night Letha and I were struck by the contrast in communication resources between 1975 and 2013.  We looked at the first Evangelical Women's Caucus newsletter (summer 1977), eight pages typed with one drawing and the EWC logo, copied onto 11 x 17 paper, folded and collated, mailed out to a few hundred people.  

In 2013 articles, news, and blogs are posted with color photos, art, and rolling banners on EEWC's website www.eewc.com--immediately available to thousands.  Letha's article ten days ago "There's More than One Christian View on Homosexuality" has now been viewed by over 987 people who spent an average of 8 minutes reading it.

Meanwhile, Letha keeps me posted on national and world news almost faster than my husband John does.  Texas abortion battles--Ohio--SF plane crash, where a passenger (@eunner) immediately tweeted to the world, "I just crash landed at SFO.  Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine.  I'm ok. Surreal."

Last night while we were sorting papers, Letha played from YouTube the Bill Moyers Frontline interviews in February with  Sandyhook parents.and also the concert with Francine Wheeler, Dar Williams, and Peter Yarrow singing.  Very tough to watch.  At 2 am we ate more German chocolate ice cream and went to bed.

Today we persevere and have much material in boxes, neatly filed and labeled--almost ready to go.  But Letha will have more to do after I leave, so family and friends will no doubt help her with the boxing and mailing

Day 5, Archivisting

No light at the end of the tunnel... There are more boxes of Christian feminist history in Letha's apartment than we can sort and mail in this one week.  

I trust someone else will have the pleasure of helping Letha to carry on at some later date.  

Today's treat in Letha's Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk, Virginia: fried catfish and hush puppies at a place called A.W. Shucks.  Delicious!

We were both ready for a nap after that big lunch, but we worked all afternoon.  At 5 pm Letha (who had stayed up past 2 am) got tired and had to lie down--too much reaching and lifting.  But she got up and carried on.

At 10 pm after a light supper of La Brea bread (flown all the way from Los Angeles) and cheese and Edy's German chocolate ice cream at 10 pm, we decided to turn in around midnight--after checking email which took another 45 minutes for Letha and two hours for me.  

Resolution: up and at 'em early in the morning--8 am.

Day 1, Archivisting

A slow day.  

We moved several boxes out of Letha's storage closet and started looking through them, but what exactly to do with the various items was not clear.

* Newspaper clippings about two of our speakers at the 1980 conference: the niece of Susan B. Anthony and the granddaughter of Catherine Booth.  

* A list of political resolutions from the 1984 conference at Wellesley College.

* A 3-foot by 2-foot poster of Letha posing for the centerfold of The Wittenburg Door in the early eighties.

* Letters and emails from EWC founders and members who are now deceased.

* Minutes of Council meetings in which we debated things like the name, the logo, the statement of faith.

After a day of trying to get a method going, we went out to eat at the No Frills Grill, a favorite of many of Letha's guests. The meat loaf she ordered turned out to be indeed a loaf, and the baby back ribs I chose were twice the size I've seen in other restaurants.  

I began with the cornbread and systematically chowed down through the messy but delicious baby back ribs.

We were both surprised when the waitress came afterward--not to ask if we wanted dessert but to congratulate me on my eating prowess: "You finished the ribs--most men can't do that!"

Chalking up victories for women...