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QUOTE OF THE DAY On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams urges her husband to "Remember the Ladies"

"I long to hear that you have declared an independency -- and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation. That your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical is a Truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute, but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend. Why then, not put it out of the power of the vicious and the Lawless to use us with cruelty and indignity with impunity. Men of Sense in all Ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the vassals of your Sex. Regard us then as Beings placed by providence under your protection and in immitation of the Supreem Being make use of that power only for our happiness." - Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, dated March 31, 1776

PROGRAM TIPS & TRICKS Apply to graduate-level women's and gender studies courses through GCWS

Through the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality (GCWS), Boston College students can enroll in graduate-level courses from participating institutions in the Boston area. Visit the GCWS website at gcwgs.mit.edu to learn more about cross-registration, seminar courses, micro-seminars, and more.

COURSE OF THE WEEK Explore the relationship between gender and race in "Contemporary American Women Writers"

"Focusing on literature written by American women from 1980 to the present, this course will explore issues of space, family dynamics, immigration, power, race, violence, grief, and embodiment, as well as gender. Students will ask questions such as: How do these writers define space, and use literature to claim a space of their own? What is the relationship between gender and race or ethnicity, in a given text and in contemporary American culture? How do women writers represent the intangible dynamics of emotional connection and loss? How does fiction represent changing experiences of embodiment, including pregnancy, obesity, illness, and aging." Contemporary American Women Writers (ENGL5510) will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. in Stokes Hall 103N. Dr. Laura Tanner teaches the course.

View our undergraduate and graduate course fall catalog

INDEPENDENT LEARNING What women were doing during in the Revolutionary era and why it matters today

In this 20-minute clip, Dr. Carol Berkin discusses the ways in which the female ideal and women's role in society changed during and after the American Revolution. Further videos by Dr. Berkin illustrate the role of Native American women and Black women in the American revolution.

Dr. Marla Miller, Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and author of Betsy Ross and the Making of America, speaks about Betsy Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole, the woman we remember as sewing the first flag of the United States.

In " Remembering the Ladies of the American Revolution," American historian Dr. Arica L. Coleman writes on the diversity of women's experiences during the Revolutionary era, noting the contributions of Native American women and women of African descent in American politics.

Our Summer Series aims to educate, inspire, and connect you on issues of intersectionality & feminism every Friday. Summer Series courtesy of Boston College Women's and Gender Studies. If you want to support the program, please consider following us on social media and inviting friends and family to join our mailing list.