As part of Women’s History Month, the Women’s Resource Center and the College Panhellenic Council will be hosting a screening of the documentary, “Makers: Women Who Make America,” on March 16 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium.
Makers is an interactive digital and video storytelling platform founded by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Dyllan McGee, in partnership with PBS and AOL. It is the largest video collection of women’s stories.
Narrated by Meryl Streep, the three-part documentary explores how women transformed America over the last 150 years. Through an archive of interviews, it reveals the modern women’s movement and the struggle for women’s equality in political power and economic opportunity
After the success of "Makers: Women Who Make America" in 2013, PBS developed six new documentaries that shift to focus on more specific areas in Hollywood, war, space, comedy, business and politics that are usually closed off to women. These stories are those of women who contributed to important moments in U.S. history and the world.
The interviews feature Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, comedian Ellen DeGeneres, Mae Jemison and many inspirational women who share their stories and experiences regarding the movement for women's rights.
“It celebrates and recognizes accomplishments of women in traditional masculine fields and also the places women feel the ‘glass ceiling,’” said Ellen Collier, program coordinator from the Women's Resource Center.
President of College Panhellenic Council Eden Zimak, a women’s and gender studies and literature major, explained why Panhellenic wanted to be involved.
“As members of all-women organizations, we felt it was important to promote women’s history month by highlighting some really awesome women throughout history and here at EMU,” Zimak said. “We wanted it to be a relaxed event where students could come and learn about the contributions women have made in a number of areas. I think that we grow up hearing a lot about men throughout history, so it’s important that we focus on the achievements and accomplishments of women as well.”
“I really liked the short, thematic documentaries as an avenue to introduce viewers to women, past and present, who have made an impact in different career paths,” said Casey Krone, Greek Life and Leadership Coordinator. “It’s a low cost and hopefully high-impact event that is flexible in allowing attendees to come and go throughout the day.”
You can visit PBS.org or Makers.com for information and access to more videos on groundbreaking women and their stories. This event is LBC approved.
