Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-29
The HQskin Letter 9 1 : Rs:sas
AMERICAS FAMOUS WOMEN.

|. Washington, D. C. June 26.-It is
ladies'. day in the halls of fame.
The League of, Women Voters is
earnestly trying to compile a list OF
the IL greatest living American wom-
en- for the benefit of a waiting Chilean
At the same time the Woman's Uni
versai Alliance is busily engaged in
scoutlng out the famous feminine dead.
Inc Alliance wants to know the %
greatest women of world history. Sta
tues OF them are to be erected in the
Women's Hall Of Fame that the ALI
ance is to build in this city. This or
ganlzation is also trying to find out
the 70 greatest women of each state
SO that columns about the hall of
fame can bear their names. These
women must be dead too. Aside from
that any American m is eligible
for the list.
Both organizations have invited the
public to help them make a wise selec-
ton OF names for their particular pur-
poses. n answers have begun to pour
At the headquarters of the League
OF Women Voters they admit that they
are not much nearer a solution of their
problem than when the question was
first %propounded. The Chilean SEN
orita. Graciola Mandujano. certainly
started something when she casually
asked Mrs. Maui Wood Park. presi-
dent of the League, for a dozen names
of the greatest American women. She
wanted to write magazine stories about
them for her people, the senorita ex-
planned. Mrs. Park decided that she
needed help. Her casual selection
might leave out women who would be
of greatest interest to South America.
SO the public was informed of the
situation and the excitement started.
Wanted as Examples
You can see that the purpose for
which the list is to be used must guide
the selection of the names. Our IL
greatest women of today are to be
introduced to the South American
women as inspiring examples. They
are to indicate what American women
are achieving by character, service, and
talent.
The name of HELEN Keller. which has
been mentioned in a number of lists
sent to the league. probably will not
I.be included in the final selection. Miss
Keller has been an inspiration TO thou
sands of the handicapped, but in so
brief a list the appeal of each name
should preferably be to a wider range
of people. Miss Keller's teacher. Mrs.
Sullivan. might be a more helpful ex-
ample for the women of Chile. The
patience, resourcefulness, and deter
mination of the teacher brought Miss
Keller back into the everyday world.
1t is interesting to note the personal
bias that enters into the lists submit
ted. Most of the letters are written
by educated women with every desire
to be impartial. Yet it is possible to
tell with reasonable certainty whether
a set of names was chosen by a club
woman, social worker, or one of an
artistic type.
This is inevitable to a certain ex-
tent. and the league ia interested in all
of the angles on the fame question.
Scarcely any one person is sufficiently
familiar with all occupations to know
and compare the greatness of the lead
ers. A woman doctor or scientist
could name at once half a dozen WON
en- who rank high in her own line of
work. But could you, off hand, out of
your store of general knowledge. rec
off the names of a great woman doc
tor. politician, lawyer. poet, scientist.
artist, business woman, mother, and
musician? If you did, would another
person of your own education agree
| with the list? Yet out of a large num-
Der of names. written as broadmindedly
| as possible. the League Of Women
Voters thinks it will finally be able to
arrive at an intelligent summary of
! American womanhood.
The first to respond to the league