Troy's History Club celebrates women of history at an event

Troy’s History Club held a Great Women of History roundtable to shine more light on, specifically, women of history that do not get enough recognition. 

“Up until the last century or so, we’ve really been telling history in the ‘great man’ sort of view, focusing on the men who held power and thus changed the world,” said Madison Whiddon, a junior history education major from Headland, Alabama. “Really, behind those great men, there were great women as well, and we really wanted to highlight that.” 

During the roundtable, four presentations were shown to honor and discuss four members’ favorite women of history, but in between and after the presentations, the rest of the club talked about some of the women they thought were most impactful as well. Among the women discussed were Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Rachel Carson, Julia Tutweiler and Ella Baker. 

“It’s a good inspiration to women today, but also of course it’s important to know now, regardless of who you are,” said Mark Carroll, a senior history major from Monroeville, Alabama. “All these famous men; at the end of the day, they stood on the shoulders of women.” 

This year is a significant milestone for the club, one that inspired the creation of the roundtable event.  

“This is the very first year that we have had an all-female staff in the history club, and I believe that means something” said Keira Tessalone, a junior European history major from Dothan Alabama. “It’s always been the male is the dominant. 

“The man is the forefront of society, and the woman is just supposed to support them, and now that is becoming not the norm anymore; women can be the forefront of history, and they should be.” 

Though the event was an acknowledgement of unappreciated women and a celebration of the progress that has been made for women in both history books and modern society, the club also highlighted they believe there is still more to be done. 

“We definitely have a long way to go just because it is still happening to where women are being undervalued and underappreciated in different fields, but I think compared to past centuries, we are making a lot of progress in that area,” Tessalone said. 

Some mentioned the strives women have made toward equality. “When you compare a lot of the women that we talked about tonight to how it is now, since then, women have come leaps and bounds, but there’s still more that could be done” Whiddon said. 

More information on the Troy History Club can be found on their Instagram, @troyhistoryclub.