Monday, September 28, 2015

American Saint



Elizabeth Seton

Canonized American Saint 

Elizabeth Bayley Seton was born in New York City on August 28, 1774. She was the second daughter of a prominent Anglican New York family. Elizabeth married William Seton in 1794 and, after his failing health, they moved to Italy.

A Protestant, in 1805 she joined the Catholic Church and  later started the first free Catholic school in America. By 1809, vows of chastity, obedience and poverty she became known as Mother Seton.

She continued to raise children even though she was afflicted with tuberculosis.  Following the ratification of The Rule of the Sisterhood in 1812, Elizabeth and her companions became sisters. Together they established one more school and two orphanages. 

She was considered to be one of the keystones of the Catholic Church in America as she founded the first religious community of the American Catholic Church - the Sisters of Charity.
 
She died at the age of 46 in 1821. In 1975, she became the first person who was born in the United States to be canonized.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Lydia Flood Jackson



Civil Rights Heroine  


Lydia Flood Jackson (1862-1963) was born in California’s East Bay, near Oakland. Her family was prominent among the earliest settled African American families in the state. Her father Isaac Flood was a tradesman and laborer and her mother Elizabeth Thorn Scott was a school teacher credited with starting the first public school for African American students in California. 


Alongside her father who was a member of the California Colored Convention Movement, she worked hard as a young woman to obtain civil rights and the right for education for African Americans. Her most noted efforts came through her involvement with various women’s organizations like Fanny Jackson Club and the Native Daughter’s Club. 


A businesswoman whose cosmetic business manufactured perfumes, creams and toiletries was successful, she was also a political activist. She traveled to South America, Mexico, and other places to talk about her call for democracy. She urged women to fight against stereo typed roles that stunted their opportunities.


Her work opened the doors for those who followed. With a strong sense of self-worth and respect, she inspired others to support the suffrage movement.  


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Monday, September 7, 2015

Russian Doll Folk Art




Matryoshka Russian Nesting Dolls

The Matryoshka Russian nesting dolls are considered folk art because they express a cultural identity. In this case, Russian.  These wooden dolls - a symbol of motherhood and family - come in a set of seven similarly painted wooden dolls, often resemble a young peasant woman with rosy cheeks dressed in a customary, colorful dress and traditional head scarf that, many say, denotes the coldness of Russian winters. 

Matryoshka means “little matron” in Russian and the dolls are made of decreasing sizes so that they can fit one into the other. The idea is to represent how important the mother is the family. She is the one who ‘holds’ them all.

Russian wood carver and doll maker Vasily Petrovich Zvyozdochkin is credited with carving the first set of dolls in 1890. His collegue Sergey Malyutin (architect and painter) painted them. Both folk artists worked under the patronage of a wealthy businessman who presented them at 190o Exposition Universelle world fair in Paris where they earned a bronze medal and global fame.

Over time, as is the case with most folk art, the themes do change to reflect more contemporary themes. In this case that included dolls made to look like fairytale characters and well-known political leaders, such as Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev. 

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