A New and Improved, THEY PERSISTED

I am delighted to announce that the arduous task of preparing the second edition of They Persisted for print is done! I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my soul sister, and editor, Laurie Martin. She sure did persist through this process and actually made it fun. I never thought I could call editing fun, but she pulled it off!

It will be going to print next week, we will receive our review copies, then within a few days, it will be back in circulation! This time without those pesky typos that were so irritating and distracting! I love the book again and I hope you will too.

The next book, They Roared, an introduction to some women test pilots, photo journalists, and cryptographers from WWII. It is going into the final edit now, and will be ready for print, hopefully by December. Stay tuned.

I will share with you today, just a few of the women that are showcased in They Persisted.

Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, MD. - Physician, Educator Social reformer, Author, Public Health Pioneer...

* Lost her father and brother of typhoid at an early age

* Determined to be a physician

* Bright, tender hearted, wanted to right the wrongs and hopeless situations

* Graduated 2nd in her class at medical school

* Interned in the poorest slums of both Boston and New York

* Established Visiting nurses thus, lowering infant mortality rates in those slums

* Established "milk stations: offering clean milk, baby check ups, and immunizations for infants in those slums, saving 1,000 infant lives in 1911

* Established trining for midwives

* Captured the infamous Typhoid Mary

* Lectured widely on child and family hygiene

Ellen "Nellie" Cashman - Immigrant, Miner, Philanthropist, Prospector and Business Woman

* Born in County Cork, Southern Ireland

* When she was 5, after the death of her father, she immigrated with her mother and younger sister to the United States

* At 10 she was a bellboy in a grand hotel in Washington D.C., soon promoted to elevator operator

(she dressed as a boy, and they thought she was!)

* Met Ulysses S. Grant, who advised her (him) to head west, there was much more opportunity there

* When she was 20, she took Grant's advice and the little family all went west

* Supported her family by opening boardinghouses, restaurants, and prospecting for gold

* Knew the Earp Brothers, and Wyatt Earp let her use his saloon, The Crystal Palace, on Sundays, for church services because there was not yet a church in Tombstone

* Prospected for gold in the Klondike

* At 78 completed the 17 day, 350 mile trek from Nolan Creek to Nenana, AK, by herself

Mary Ann Ball Bickerdyke - Front Line Nurse, during the Civil War, Hospital Administrator, Veteran's Advocate

* At 44 left her two sons, 12 and 14, behind in good care, to become a nurse in the Union Army

* Organized relief funds, cleaned up camps, cooked, and nursed injured men back to health

* Searched on 19 battlefields for fallen men, helped bury the dead, held the hands of the dying

* Organized a laundry and grew fresh vegetables for her soldiers

* Floated cows down a river on a barge to ensure fresh meat and dairy for the soldiers

* Organized more than 300 hospitals

* Followed General Sherman on the march through Georgia, caring for and feeding troops.

* General Sherman said of Mary, "She outranks me!"

*The men called her "Mother" and July 9th is Mother Bickerdyke Day

* Honored by the Kansas Historical Society for her work

* Mary Ann Bickerdyke taught the world a very valuable lesson; it only takes one person to bring about massive change

That is a brief overview of three of the amazing women in They Persisted. There are a total of 21. I hope you will want to know all of them in more detail.