The Captain Henry Sweetser Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has invited me to speak at their meeting on March 16th. In honor of Women’s History Month, the women in my husband’s family will be the topic of my talk.
Rosa Sparks Porter was a fascinating woman with a strong sense of self. She inherited part of a Mexican land grant rancho from her father, Isaac Sparks, and because of her management most of the Porter Ranch is still in the family today.
Her lineage can be traced back to Tahiti and the Bounty mutiny. Barbara Juarez Wilson published a book, From Mission to Majesty, with tons of information about the women in Rosa's ancestry. The London Missionary Society kept an account of their time on Tahiti, and the Catholic Church has documents and baptismal records.The Bounty mutiny was famous, and ship logs were kept. To my amazement, The Mutiny on Board the H.M.S. Bounty by William Bligh, and The Mutiny of the Bounty by Sir John Barrow, first published in the late 1700s and early 1800s, are still sold on Amazon.
For 2013, the National Women’s History Project selected the theme, "Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics."
For the list of their 2013 Honorees & Nominee go to:http://www.nwhp.org/whm/honorees2012.php