Women of History

It’s difficult to know where to start. March is a big month for Caroline, Margaret and new discoveries.  How about starting with Caroline’s birthday, March 6, 1897? She knew little of her family history until she began communicating with her Aunt Caroline in 1918. As a young woman, Caroline modeled for prestigious illustrators and portrait painters. One in particular was Walter Biggs, whose painting, including her, was used as the cover for Ladies Home Journal in 1920.

As beautiful as she was, Caroline did not have much confidence in herself and in a letter to her aunt wrote:

“As for myself – well, as much as I would love to talk about myself, I’m not in the position to speak. Dear Dad mentioned that I was a sweet little girl, bless him.  Nobody ever accuses me of that nowadays. However, I have a redeeming characteristic – the inclination to work like a trench digger (thank goodness).

When being seen by persons other than myself, I am tall and thin and tall.  I appear to have large feet and orange tresses, which hang around most of the time and make me look like a beastly flamboyant poodle. My eyes are slightly crooked, one being up and the other down.  The profile passes sans violent consternation. That is all I look like – tall, noticeable feet and untraceable eyes and hair.”

Thanks to Mark Hancock, who helped with massive research prior to the film’s release, and brought me his binder full of content. Extremely grateful and even found an item I did not remember. It was a press release by Macmillan Company, which published Caroline’s first book, Headhunting in the Solomon Islands, in 1942.

“Miss Mytinger’s interest in Man as a subject began in her art school days. As a result she flunked all but the life class, and “got kicked out into the lovely world of human models” in her third year at the Cleveland School of Art.”

Caroline was a complicated young woman and did not fit the “norms” of the early 20th Century.

Caroline taking courses in anatomy at Stanford. She did not become a doctor but used this education to learn about the body to improve on her portraits. An interesting way to improve her art??? She WAS unconventional.

Although most of my creative side comes from photography, focused on marine life and culture, I know many of you understand my passion for Melanesia. This has been a difficult time and the first year I have not been able to travel to these magnificent places. The good news is that a live chat with Ocean Geographic Magazine was recently online and recorded. It’s Caroline and Margaret, who taught me the value of engaging with people and understanding their lives depend on the health of the ocean. Today’s contemporary Melanesian artists will be a feature story in April. If you wish to watch the live talk with Michael Aw and Alex Rose, just follow this link:

https://www.facebook.com/OceanGeographic/videos/423782505577390

Celebrating International Women’s Day, I salute Jayne Zanglein, author of The Girl Explorers. The book has just been published and is available on Amazon. It’s “The Untold Story of the Globetrotting Women Who Trekked, Flew, and Fought Their Way Around the World.”

I had the pleasure of meeting Jayne on a Zoom call for The Society of Woman Geographers last October. Link to purchase: https://amzn.to/38eHH44

Jayne also has an amazing website that includes stories of many more “Girl Explorers,” including Caroline and Margaret. Follow this link to learn more.  www.thegirlexplorers.com

Usually, a newsletter is only produced once a month since we all receive so many these days. All are valuable. But keep a watch for another very soon! It will truly be another time for celebration.