7 Questions With Debra Ann Pawlak, Author and Screenwriter

 

Debra Ann Pawlak has been writing professionally since 2000. Most recently, she has co-written three

historical fiction novels with her writing partner, Cheryl Bartlam Du Bois. Together, they have also

completed a screenplay based on the life of Civil War legend Sarah Emma Edmonds and were named

finalists in the Filmmatic Screenplay Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. The screenplay was also featured at the Beverly Hills Film Festival that same year. In addition, Debra has written a non-fiction book called Bringing Up Oscar, The Men and Women Who Founded the Academy about the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Bringing Up Oscar was named runner-up in the nonfiction category of the 2011 Hollywood Book Festival and took first place in the History: Media/Entertainment category of the USA Best Books 2011 Awards. In the past, Debra was a regular contributor to two on-line entertainment magazines based in Los Angeles. She profiled a variety of personalities, including French entertainer Mistinguet, legendary outlaw Belle Starr,  and Hollywood’s original It Girl, Clara Bow. She also covered such intriguing events as the 1914 sinking of the Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence Seaway, the 1927 Bath School massacre in Michigan and the rum-running antics of Detroit’s own mobsters, The Purple Gang, during Prohibition.

She has also written multiple Hollywood history articles about the fascinating world of silent film and the nearly forgotten personalities who, at one time, held the world spellbound. Among those early Hollywood figures were flapper Colleen Moore, who ushered in the Jazz Age, rotund Fatty Arbuckle, the blacklisted funny man accused of murder, as well as Tinseltown’s first super couple, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and his wife, Mary Pickford, who defined Hollywood royalty.  Debra also authored a book, Farmington and Farmington Hills, for Arcadia Publishing’s ‘Making of

America’ series. In addition, she contributed to three Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Her work has also appeared in various magazines such as The Writer, Aviation History, Pennsylvania Heritage, and

Michigan History. Her many articles for Michigan History Magazine include a cover story on Danny

Thomas and most recently, a profile of Earle Graser, radio’s original Lone Ranger. She has written an in-depth profile on John Philip Sousa, which was released on CD by Allegro Music. Additionally, she

completed a middle school book profiling the legendary Bruce Lee and was also a regular contributor to

Scoliosis Quarterly Magazine.

1. How and when did you get hooked on history?

I have been a history buff ever since I can remember. Always interested in what came before, I

love reading about historical events and the daring people who found themselves challenged by

circumstances beyond their control. Men and women often make decisions based on social,

political, and/or catastrophic conditions—for example, fleeing their native country, an abrupt name

change, or a sudden switch in careers. There is always a reason, whether it’s apparent or not,

why people do what they do. I have always believed that we can learn from what came before us

if we take the time to discover our past. History is always dull when you are forced to memorize

dates and places without understanding the impacts behind them. Extraordinary times call for

extraordinary people and this is what history is all about.

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

On a personal level, I am putting together a family history and, in some cases, I have been able

to go back at least 10 generations and I’ve discovered some noteworthy ancestors. For example,

on my dad’s side (French Canadian), I’ve found two women (both of them my 8 th great

grandmothers) who were considered ‘Daughters of the King’—a group of more than 800 French

girls who volunteered to sail to Canada from France in the 1600s in order to help settle the area.

It’s a fascinating story and I am proud to claim both of these ladies as part of my heritage. I’ve

also found that families are messy and just when you think you have them figured out, something

turns up to surprise you. If you’re lucky, you may even find a wonderful cousin you never knew

you had. I’ve had the pleasure of finding two who share my interest in researching the family

history!

3. How does history play a part of your professional life/career?

As an author, I like writing about history. When you really take a look at it, the past is filled with

sudden twists and unexpected U-turns. There is rarely a dull moment. In addition to entertaining

my readers, I also like to teach them something they might not have known before. If I can spur

them on to do a little research of their own—even better! Often times, when writing a book, the

research will lead you to your next book. Something will stick in your head and you just know

what the upcoming topic will be. For example, my writing partner, Cheryl Bartlam Du Bois, and I

first collaborated on a Civil War novel (Soldier, Spy, Heroine) based on the life of Michigan’s own

Sarah Emma Edmonds who disguised herself as a man and served heroically in the Union Army.

Her inspiration was based on a fictional character—Fanny Campbell. Fanny Campbell became

the focus of our second book (Captain, Pirate, Heroine), and in turn, one of Fanny’s mentors was

Moll Pitcher. Moll was a real person known as the Psychic of Lynn, (Massachusetts) and our

third book (Seer, Spy, Heroine) is based on her.

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?

I firmly believe that knowing what came before us, should keep us from making the same

mistakes that our ancestors made. Today’s cancel culture saddens me. It tells me that what

came before us is insignificant and the fact that we are holding people, who lived during an

entirely different era, accountable to our current standards seems unfair. Many flawed men and

women made good decisions to improve their living conditions and/or fight back against evil.

Were they perfect? Absolutely not, but regardless, they made a positive difference. No one is

perfect and unless you are, you shouldn’t throw stones. The talented actress Hattie McDaniel

comes to mind. She worked hard under the constraints society handed her and was the first

black person to win an Oscar for her role as Mammy in Gone With the Wind (1939). Upon her

acceptance of the award she said she hoped that she was a credit to her race. Now, she has

been criticized for saying that. Why? Hattie McDaniel worked tirelessly to make the world a

better place both professionally and personally. She was also a highly-respected member of the

Hollywood community. Was she short-changed—yes! Did she deserve it—no! But instead of

criticizing her, we should be thanking her. The world could surely use more caring people like

Hattie McDaniel.

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

My very favorite period to read and write about is pre-1950 Hollywood. It is a fascinating era filled

with unique characters both on and off the screen. The movie industry evolved at the beginning

of the twentieth century and the men and women who built this business and molded this art form

had no playbook to follow. As a matter of fact, they all came from other walks of life, ranging from

Alaskan gold miners to cowpokes to college professors; there was even an amateur

anesthesiologist in the bunch. Through their dedication and hard work, they shaped what we see

on the silver screen today and they did it through trial and error along with a sense of the future.

All the while, they contended with illnesses, unhappy marriages, aging parents, and difficult

children. They survived two world wars, a depression, and prohibition, but they endured and their

stories are unique.

Pawlak with writing partner Cheryl Bartlam Du Bois with Moll Pitcher's table in the Lee Mansion in Marblehead Massachusetts

6. Your most recent books, with co-author Cheryl Bartlam Du Bois, are the

  titles in the Secret Heroine Series. Who are the stories about ?

There are actually three books in the series. The first book is titled Soldier, Spy, Heroine and is

based on the Civil War adventures of Sarah Emma Edmonds. She left her Canadian home to

escape an abusive father and ended up in Flint, Michigan disguised as a man she called Franklin

Thompson. When the war broke out, she joined the Union Army and courageously served as a

nurse, mail carrier, and then a spy who infiltrated rebel camps. Edmonds is the only woman who

was admitted to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a powerful veteran’s group for the Union

Army. She also collected a soldier’s pension from the U.S. government.

The second book in our Secret Heroine series is Captain, Pirate, Heroine, a retelling of the Fanny

Campbell story, which was originally published in the 1840s. It was the first novel to feature a

woman who took charge of her life. That original book was a best seller and inspired Sarah

Emma Edmonds as well as many other women during that time, to challenge themselves. Set in

the early days of the Revolutionary War, Fanny took to the sea, disguising herself as a man in

order to save her lover, William Lovell, who was held captive in Cuba’s infamous prison, La

Cabana. Fanny instigated a mutiny, battled with pirates and high seas, before bringing back

William and three well-stocked ships to Beverly Harbor where the new Continental Navy was

being formed.

Our latest book, Seer, Spy, Heroine, is also set during the Revolutionary War. It is centered on

Moll Pitcher, the great Psychic of Lynn who was world-famous for her ability to see the future.

The granddaughter of the Wizard of Marblehead, she inherited her talents and used them to trick

British Officers, who often came to her for readings, into revealing their secrets. Who would ever

suspect a simple woman to report back to the Sons of Liberty with the intelligence she learned?

A contemporary of General George Washington and Brigadier General John Glover, she not only

acted as a spy for the colonies, but also hid guns along with ammunition deep in the Wolf Pits of

Lynn Woods directly behind her house. Many a sailor and fisherman refused to board their ships

without first consulting Moll about their safety and the success of their voyages. Moll is a

fascinating lady who never once hesitated to step up and help the cause, but sadly she has been

forgotten.

7. Are there more Secret Heroine stories to come?

Right now, we are concentrating on the marketing aspect of our books. We have found it is much

easier to write the books than promote them. Both Cheryl and I are also working independently

on other historical fiction books. If enough people are interested, however, we will continue our

series and showcase more Secret Heroines. I am sure there is an endless supply of ladies who qualify!

7 Questions With Laura Rocklyn, Writer, Actress, and Historical Interpreter

 

Laura Rocklyn is an acting troupe member with History At Play, a museum interpreter at The Paul Revere House Museum, and an Associate Company Member at The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. As a freelance living history performer, she writes and performs historic character portrayals for educational groups up and down the East Coast, such as the Jane Austen Society of North America, The New York Society Library, and the North American Friends of Chawton House. Laura has published articles in Brontë Studies and The Revere Express, and her short stories have appeared in the literary journals Stork, New Square, and LitMag. You can follow her work on Instagram and Twitter @Laura_Lost_in_Time

1.          How and when did you get  hooked on history?

My love of history started early.  My mother was a teacher and, in addition to exploring the rich history of our hometown Charlottesville, Virginia, she planned all of our vacations when I was growing up around history and literature.  This made the historical stories and characters I was studying feel very real and near to me, not like tales of a far off or unimportant time.  I remember the particular magic of a trip to England when I was around seven or eight and deep into an obsession with the musical Camelot, where we went in search of the historical King Arthur.  We visited sites with Arthurian connections, from Tintagel Castle to Stonehenge to Glastonbury Abbey.  My mother guided me on how to separate fact from legend as we read and researched different accounts of King Arthur along the way.

Then, when I was in sixth grade, my mother got a job teaching in Salisbury, England, and I went with her and attended the Salisbury Cathedral School.  The school had been founded in 1091 by St. Osmund, and is housed in the old Bishops' Palace, parts of which date back to the 13th century. Being immersed in that depth of history on a daily basis fascinated me, and I loved living in a place where tangible evidence of historical events was all around.  There is nothing quite like walking every day up a stone staircase where each step is worn down in the center from all the people that have walked the staircase before you over the last 800-odd years.

2.          What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

History is very much a part of my daily life.  Since my childhood experiences, I have always been drawn to live in places that have a strong sense of history, from Old Town Alexandria, Virginia to Boston, Massachusetts.  As an actor, writer, and first person historical interpreter, I find that historical stories are my greatest inspiration -- there are so many good ones that have yet to be uncovered -- and I love to be in a place where I can stumble across new stories and historical figures around every corner.

My work on Marian "Clover" Adams actively changed my life because she is the reason that I now live in Boston.  When the play that Ty Hallmark and I wrote about Clover was produced by Ally Theatre Company in Washington, DC in 2017, Clover's biographer, Dr. Natalie Dykstra, very graciously came to see a performance and join us for a Q&A.  When we were talking after the show, I told her how much I admired her work and asked what she would recommend for an aspiring young biographer.  Without hesitation, she said that I should go to Emerson College in Boston and study with a specific professor there who had also been an extraordinary mentor to her.  I was in the midst of applying to graduate schools for Creative Writing MFAs and added Emerson to the list.  I was accepted, fell in love with Boston and all of the extraordinary stories that are held in its stones.  The rest, as they say, is history!

3.          How does history play  a part of your professional life/career?

History has come to be the main focus of all of my work.  Growing up, I always knew that I loved telling stories, both writing them and bringing them to life on stage as an actor, and most of the stories that truly captivated me were about historical women.  Like many young girls of my generation, my two best friends and I had the American Girl dolls, and our first plays as very young children were about the adventures of Kirsten in 1854, Samantha in 1904, or Felicity in 1774.  I didn't know quite how I could make writing and performing historical dramas into a practical job when I was an adult in the real world, but I felt something like a vocation to inspire others to be fascinated by history in the way that I had been inspired.  Then, in the summer after my junior year of college, I had the extraordinary opportunity to do an internship at Colonial Williamsburg in what at that time was called the Theatrical Interpretation Department.  Performing four educational shows a day at the Playbooth Stage, I discovered that writing and performing historical stories was a real job that I could do very well!

My main focus for many years was working as a freelance actress, performing mostly in Shakespeare and other period dramas, but my "day jobs" always had a historical focus, too.  I worked as a first person historical interpreter for Mount Vernon, I portrayed various characters for Natalie Zanin's Historic Strolls, I gave tours at Gadsby's Tavern Museum, and, increasingly, I began to develop programs of my own on historical women who intrigued me.  Now, a couple of master's degrees later, I tour with portrayals of Jane Austen, Dolley Madison, Louisa Catherine Adams, Clover Adams, and Charlotte Brontë, and I have a long list of new programs that I want to develop.  I have also published a number of historical fiction short stories, some nonfiction articles on my research, and I am currently working to finish the historical fiction novel I began as my MFA thesis at Emerson.  I also perform in several of the ensemble programs offered by History At Play and, by day, I work as a museum interpreter at the Paul Revere House Museum.

4.          Why is studying/knowing history important?

I have always admired the mission statement that John D. Rockefeller Jr. gave on the founding of Colonial Williamsburg: "That the future may learn from the past."  I don't think it's possible to overstate the importance of trying to understand and learn from the past as we move forward, especially in such turbulent times as these.  History can give us extraordinary examples that we can follow, and by which we can be inspired.  Just as importantly, history can also give excellent examples of what not to do and what should be avoided.

The laudable National History Day program highlights another reason that the study of history is so vital: teaching children how to read primary sources thoughtfully and critically in the study of history can enable them to apply those same critical skills in reading current articles and news stories.  If students learn to question, "Who wrote this historical document?" " What were their biases?"  "Were they writing this piece for a specific audience?"  then those students will know how to ask similar questions about the current news articles and other pieces of information that pop up in their social media feeds.

History can also be a great source of encouragement and even comfort.  I navigated the early months of the pandemic in 2020 by reading about the series of smallpox epidemics that swept through Boston in the 18th century and about the 1918 flu epidemic.  There was reassurance to be found in the fact that humanity has been through similarly terrifying times before and come out on the other side.

5.          What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

My first serious historical love was 19th century England because I spent most of my teenage years obsessed with the novels of the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, and Anthony Trollope.  I wrote numerous papers in high school with titles along the lines of:  "Charlotte Brontë's Shirley and Dickens' Hard Times as Windows into Life During the Industrial Revolution," and my undergraduate thesis was on spirituality in Charlotte Brontë's novels and the politics of religion in Victorian England.

As an adult, I've found that the historical period on which I focus at any given time is strongly influenced by where I'm living.  When I was based just outside of Washington, DC, I was completely absorbed by the Federal Era.  Reading Catherine Allgor's book Parlor Politics as a young woman in DC was a revelation to me because it introduced me to all of these fascinating, powerhouse women -- Louisa Catherine Adams, Dolley Madisosn, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte -- who made incredible contributions to the development of our young country, but are all too often overlooked by the history books.  My first ever visit to do research in an archive was to the Maryland Historical Society to look at Betsy Bonaparte's papers, and I was blown away by the sweeping view of American and European politics that came through in the letters, invitations, and scrapbooks of this woman from Baltimore.

Now that I am in Boston I am still fascinated by the incredible women shaping society here in the Federal Era -- a lot of my work these days is swirling around Hepzibah Swan and Sarah Wentworth Morton -- but I am also looking closely at the experiences of women during the American Revolution that formed these creative women of the Federal Era.  I love that, in all of these time periods that one might think we study in such detail in school, there are so many stories -- especially about women and people of color -- that have been overlooked and still need to be brought into the light.

I guess, looking over what I've written, the short answer would be that I tend to focus on women's history in the United States and Britain between about 1770 and 1870.

6.        How do you select the characters you portray? Is there a common theme among the characters you portray?

The characters I choose to portray are all women whose stories inspire me, and to whom I have felt a strong personal connection.  When I was younger and just starting out as a living history performer, my first two portrayals were my two favorite authors, Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë.  I still think there is a value in portraying those two well-known women because fans of their novels are drawn to the programs.  Then, in talking about the broader lives of these authors, I can share stories about their involvement in historical events with which they aren't often associated, such as the experiences of Jane Austen's naval brothers during the Napoleonic Wars, or Charlotte Brontë's experiences in Brussels.

Now that I have more experience and more years of research under my belt, I like to find women whose stories and work deserve a wider audience.  This is why I portray Louisa Catherine Adams and Clover Adams.  Abigail Smith Adams is such a towering figure in history that the remarkable women who married into the Adams family in the subsequent generations are often overshadowed.  One thing I particularly enjoy is that, when I mention my program on Louisa, I generally get one of two responses: people are either curious because they've never heard of her, or they get really excited because they adore her.  There is rarely a middle ground.  I am so glad that I can now be the means of showing more people why they should, not only know who Louisa is, but adore her, too.  Because Louisa did such an exquisite job of documenting her experiences all over Europe while her husband, John Quincy Adams, held various diplomatic posts, that program is also an exciting way to explore a wide view of culture and politics from Massachusetts to Russia in the late 18th/early 19th century.

7.      What do you do in order to prepare for your portrayal in terms of research and creation?

Once I've pinpointed a woman I want to portray, I always read as many different biographies of the person as are available so that I can get a good overview of the figure's life and world.  Then, the most important part of my process is going back and immersing myself in the historical figure's own writings and papers, so I can draw my own conclusions and form my own picture of them from their own words.  I want to portray the person, not the legend.  (In a couple of cases, for programs I'm working on now, going to the person's papers in the archives has had to be the first step because there isn't yet a biography.)  I like to get as close to the person and their thoughts as possible -- I have spent many wonderful hours with Louisa Adams' papers on microfilm at the Massachusetts Historical Society -- but, if possible, I also always get the published collections of their papers to have in my study so I can refer to them at any time as I'm writing, like Margaret Smith's extraordinary three volume Letters of Charlotte Brontë.

To ensure that every aspect of my portrayal is as accurate as possible, I like to visit any places connected with the figures, see any of their possessions that still exist in museums, look at portraits, read any books that they mention reading in their papers, listen to the composers I know they admired, look at paintings they mention having seen.  I do my best to immerse myself in the historical figure's life and world as much as possible.  From this research, I like to add little details in my dress and setting as little treats in each program that scholars or real fans of the character will notice, even if I never refer to them in the performance.  For example, my Jane Austen always wears a replica of the topaz cross that was given to her by her brother Charles, and the dress I commissioned for my Charlotte is based on her "Thackery dress" in the collection of the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

I have a playlist for each of the characters I portray of music they mention in their letters, other music of the era, and any songs that remind me of them.  I listen to that collection of music before each performance, and that helps me be taken back to that headspace and into their world.

To start writing, I choose a dramatic moment in the life of the person so that something active is calling them to look back over their life.  I want the humanity of the character to come through in my portrayals, in addition to the facts of their life.  I think it's important to convey that these were living, breathing, fallible, caring, inspiring real people.  In my programs, I want history to come off the page and into people's lives.

7 Questions with Clare Mulley, Author

 

Clare Mulley is an award-winning author and broadcaster. Her first book, The Woman Who Saved the Children, won the Daily Mail Biographers’ Club Prize, and The Spy Who Loved led to Clare being decorated with Poland’s national honour, the Bene Merito. Clare’s third book, The Women Who Flew for Hitler, tells the extraordinary story of two women at the heart of Nazi Germany, whose choices put them on opposite sides of history, and was long-listed for the Historic Writers Association Non-Fiction Crown. Clare reviews non-fiction for the Spectator and Telegraph. Learn more at https://claremulley.com/

1. How and when did you get hooked on history?

Since I saw the worn stone steps outside a farmhouse as a child, and learnt that this was caused by the women and men, children and probably animals, walking through the same doorway for centuries. That threshold still has its grip on me. 

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

My first book was a biography of Eglantyne Jebb, the remarkable founder of Save the Children and champion of children's human rights, who was not fond of individual children yet permanently changed the way the world both regards and treats the younger generations. I was working for Save the Children as a fundraiser when I came across her inspiring story, heard about her public arrest, her passion and compassion. The book, called The Woman Who Saved the Children, later won the Daily Mail Biographers Club prize, and turned me into an author. All royalties from that book go to Save the Children, but I now make my living from writing… and my eldest daughter is called Eglantyne after this great woman - although only as her middle name! So even just this particular history alone has had a huge impact on my life!

3. How does history play a part of your professional life/career?

I am not exactly sure what qualifies someone to be a historian. When I started researching my book on Eglantyne Jebb I took a history Masters degree, writing almost every essay on my subject! Although I have not gone on to get a Doctorate, I have now published three non-fiction history books. After The Woman Who Saved the Children, came my biography of Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville, The Spy Who Loved. Granville was the first woman to serve Britain as a special agent in the Second World War. She worked in three different theatres of the conflict, escaping arrest in Nazi-occupied Poland before being parachuted behind enemy lines in France, were she secured the defection of an entire German garrison and saved the lives of several of her male colleagues among other achievements. Awarded the OBE, George Medal and French Croix de Guerre, she was reportedly also Churchill’s ‘favourite spy’. Researching this book dominated my life for two years, and Granville has never left me - I unveiled an English Heritage Blue Plaque for her last year. 

Deciding to take a different perspective on the war, my last book, The Women Who Flew for Hitler, looked at the intertwined lives of the only to women to serve the Third Reich as test pilots, one of whom was a fanatical Nazi, while the other secretly had Jewish ancestry and became involved in the most famous attempt on Hitler's life. I am now working on my next book - but this is still under wraps. Needless to say, history has not only been core to my professional life for the last decade or more, it also seeps into much of the rest of my life too, be it the stories I share with my daughters, the places I choose to holiday, and even, sometimes, the narratives of my dreams! 

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

The obvious answer to this is the history of women engaging with and responding to the First and Second World Wars. However, in truth I am fascinated by all recorded history, from handprints on cave walls onwards. I love to learn from experts in other periods and areas, and am often inspired by both the evident similarities and differences that distinguish human history across time and place.

6. Your work, books, articles, and reviews, mostly revolves around women during World War II, extraordinary women who are pretty much left out of general history. What attracts you to their stories and how much more difficult is it to research their stories?

There is still a rich seam of untold women’s stories across history, including what is sometimes called 'military history'. The First and Second World Wars both to some extent subverted usual gender norms, enabling British women not only to serve on the Home Front but also to take roles at the frontline or even behind enemy lines. The expediency of war is a great leveller, and it is always fascinating looking at such moments of great social change. For Polish women, the Home Front quickly was the frontline, and many served within their military as pilots, drivers and soldiers. Soviet women were also recruited into frontline service as fighter and bomber pilots, tank drivers, snipers and machine gunners. Yet stories such as these have received relatively little attention, or are still told through a glamourising lens: the women discussed in terms of their beauty and courage, rather than their achievements. It has been a privilege, as well as a great adventure, to research and write some of this history from a fresh perspective. This is not just 'women’s history', it is shared history, and sheds light not only on female endeavour but on diversity in terms of nationality, race, faith, age and physical ability, and also on the 'male experience' of war! 

Regarding researching women’s stories, there tends to be less material on the women who served in the archives, even proportionally, although there is now an increasing will to capture and retain more of this. Conversely however, I have sometimes found more material on the women kept with families, such as personal diaries, letters and other documents. I once found a document on a servicewoman marked ‘file as domestic’, which is pretty telling in itself! 

7. You also review books for numerous publications. From your point of view as a reviewer, what makes for a successful history book?

I enjoy reviewing, and this year I am also Chair of the judges for the Historical Writers Association Non-Fiction Crown prize, which has been like being part of the best - and most intense - book club ever. Different book prizes may look for different qualities, such as how accessible a book is, or how deep the research or fresh the perspective. I am interested in all these things, as well as the the basics such as fine, fluent writing, but I think it is also important to judge each book on its own terms. At the end of the day, what is really needed is multiple perspectives on the various subjects. I am always suspicious of any book that claims to be the definitive authority on any subject!  

7 Questions With Barbara Ortiz Howard, Women on 20s

Most days start out for Barbara Ortiz Howard on a scaffold, inspecting building facades, balconies and roofs or overseeing operations for the exterior restoration company she started almost 30 years ago in the New York City area. Undeterred by the challenges of being a woman executive in a male-dominated field, Barbara enjoys her mission of taking care of people and their buildings. She is the founder of the women on 20s campaign, a campaign to put a women on the twenty dollar bill. With the Women On 20s campaign, she aims, again, to literally raise the profile of a woman in a male-dominated field.


1. How and/or when did you get you hooked on history?  

I was a good history student in school. My understanding of history at that time, particularly in the context of the transformational late sixties did create a desire in me to support many causes. The problem was that after JHS and HS, I think I had one World History class in a seminar with 300 students in college and of course vowed never to do that again. I could not understand the professor at all!  Then I went off into a specialized area of study that excluded history.  

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?  

History provides the context of our lives. Without this context we are seriously hamstrung in understanding where we are and how to unravel some of the greatest challenges facing us today on the planet.  We are also all part of history and are making it along with our generation and cultural beliefs. Perhaps the greatest sense of empowerment might come from the idea that we each have an opportunity to change the course of history and at the same time the most disempowering sense is that we have no power to affect history at all. I am thinking hey, we all have the former right here in Women On 20s.  Lately with the challenge of this campaign and my everyday life, I do think about our candidates and the obstacles they overcame on the road to victory.  Over this past winter, I so thought of Susan B Anthony going door to door on purpose in the dead of winter with her message of the need for reform.

3. How is/How was history a part of your professional life/career?

I am in building construction restoration...though I dabbled in some historical/landmark restoration, almost all of my work is in buildings where everyday people live and work now.  It is hard to be both... but understanding the history of the buildings that I work in is central to my success.  What has happened here? What materials were available when it was constructed, what was the fad then, and how do we get it to function the way it was designed?  Are the original plans available?  What laws were in place when it was constructed?  All that relatively short term history affects effective solutions. 

In my career as a parent, it was useful to have role models for my children.  For my daughter I would have liked to have more available, something like Mighty Girl back then.  Still I am proud that she so loves Alice Paul today from the Alice Paul birthday parties we had.

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?

I think what I said earlier about context is the most relevant-said another way, how do you know what might be a good way to go without knowing where you have been?  While most of the responses we get are positive, it is apparent many basic history facts are not known, or poorly understood.  Worse than not knowing however is inaccurate history information that permeates our consciousness and drives bad behavior.  Much hatred is based on wrong information, propaganda intentionally passed along to further someone or some group's personal agenda.  When the true facts are laid out, most good people, and most people are good, will agree on courses of action.

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

Visiting Seneca Falls I relearned history.  So much more meaningful for me to have the opportunity for hands on.  I am fascinated by the steadfastness of the abolitionists, suffragists and temperance leaders(who in large part  banded together to fight what we now consider domestic violence) and how these era progressives banded together, were true friends for decades and initiated huge positive change in this country.  This idea of friendship of these different people across groups informs me of what it takes to get there to be change.  Imagine had they not supported one another how much longer we would have had slavery and women would languish  without many basic rights...no different than in so many countries today that reek of human rights violations.

6. How did “Women on 20s” begin?  

A longish story but I have to say a number of things were brewing in my soul to have an aha moment.  First I had felt rather shocked and angered that I was not familiar with the Alice Paul story until I saw Iron Jawed Angels a few years after it came out.  I felt how could I, a pretty smart, successful woman with advanced degrees not know this part of history?  I didn't even really know the Stanton-Anthony story very well.  Meanwhile, I had been incubating the awareness that we were about to have our national Centennial right of Suffrage in 2020 back in 2012 and thought gosh what are we doing for this huge event?  And then I had my aha moment- there are no women on our currency. I immediately shared this epiphany with others in line with me at a very famous coffee shop. I got a few smiles as I often do as I strike up conversations with strangers in NY.   But seems others really hadn't known this, or why this was the case, so I started asking friends via email who on a list I had did they think would be a good candidate.  I asked other groups to take it on as I have a more than full time business, but I became aware that I was stuck with it.  Fortunately Susan Ades Stone, a longtime friend, saw the same need to change things and offered her life 200% pretty much over the past year to shape Women On 20s into the national movement I had envisioned. 

7. How can people get involved in the process?   

Glad you asked

1. Share widely with all your social media for sure but personal emails are the most effective.  Send an email to all family, friends and co workers with a link to the site and urge them to vote: www.womenon20s.org/primaries   Assure them most people do not know all candidates but that they should(why we need the campaign really)...and there are bios on the site so they can become more familiar.  You can also ask them to send donations- we are a 501c3 organization, so all donations are tax deductible. Though we do almost all the work ourselves, we are not paid of course, but we pay people for lots of stuff and buy anything the campaign needs. 

2. Write a letter to your local and city newspapers saying why you support Women On 20s and how it has impacted you. In your article, provide the website link often and urge readers to go to vote.   

3. Send us pictures, selfies or with family and friends with a sign  that you voted on #womenon20s for --------- or 3 amazing women

4. Tell us you are in- by writing us at volunteer@womenon20s.org and giving us permission to share your name and contact info with other volunteers  Please give your home addressing city, state,  tel#, a little about what you do, student or teacher etc., or what you are really good at or love to do or how you want to help   

5. Go to your website and print out a flyer - we think it looks best on blue pastel paper and post in your gym, school, deli, supermarket, yoga studio, doctor’s office, office - you know anywhere you won't get arrested.  We have no bail program available sorry

6. Send us feedback on all else that will help the campaign.  Fact check for us you history buffs.  Do any of you know the truth about AJ birthplace in Waxhaw NC/SC?    Continue to speak up on our social media with your support and put the facts out there as misinformation forms bad ideas and behavior.   This is not an us vs them.  This is a win-win for America and possibly the world to have all people count as one.  W20 is about how we value each other and recognize we all have incredible worth and value and its time to recognize it!!!!!!  When we value ourselves, and one another, a lot of bad behavior goes away.

Working Women in History Chat

Words the Changed the World Chat