NEW PROFILES
Educator and community activist Jane C. Waters (1902-1983) was director of the West End Community Center and established the first pre-kindergarten school in New Bedford’s West End.
When 20,000 textile workers went on strike in the 1928 New Bedford Textile Workers Strike, 18-year-old factory worker Eulalia Mendes (1910-2004) became a leader in her mill and community by promoting Portuguese industrial migrant worker participation in the strike.
In the 100th anniversary year of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Rosemary S. Tierney (1932-2020), the first woman elected mayor of the City of New Bedford, became the 100th woman profiled in Lighting the Way: Historic Women of The SouthCoast.
A New Bedford City Councilor who represented Ward 4 for two terms, Mary Santos Barros (1923-2018) was a strong advocate for all, most notably Cape Verdeans. Recognizing that diversity is our strength, Mary taught us that we can build an inclusive community that treats all people with respect and dignity.
Accomplished historian and author Mary Ricketson Bullard (1926-2014) wrote scholarly articles, books and even a libretto as part of an opera based on the life of Elizabeth “Zabette” Bernardey, the biracial common law wife of Cumberland Island, Georgia plantation owner Robert Stafford.
Philanthropist Elizabeth Leonard (1823-1901) left an insightful legacy to the town of Rochester. In 1876, she donated money for the first Rochester Free Public Library.
Educator Alberta Mae Knox (1896-1991) was the first Black graduate from the newly built New Bedford High School in 1913, when she was elected class salutatorian by the faculty.
Pioneering modernist architect Suzanne Marjorie Stockard Underwood (1917-2001) was one of the first women to graduate from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.
Nineteenth-century New Bedford’s Sarah Rotch Arnold (1786-1860) was dedicated to her community, social reform, religious tolerance, and horticultural beauty.
SPOTLIGHT ON…
Lighting the Way – Historic Women of the South Coast tells the stories of commitment, determination and perseverance of women from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
“Women’s contributions have often been heard as whispers in history,” said Christina Bascom, the project’s designer. Spurred on by tales of a Petticoat Society, a group of women from throughout the community are bringing these stories to life on the SouthCoast. “We are unearthing remarkable stories of women’s personal callings that required grit, tenacity and enduring commitment to their families, community and country. These stories will inspire, motivate and inform generations to come.”
EXPLORE FURTHER
Lighting the Way – Historic Women of the South Coast tells the stories of commitment, determination and perseverance of women from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
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