Remarkable Creatures

     The book Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier didn't hold much appeal when I read the synopsis on the back cover since dinosaurs and fossils aren't a huge interest of mine.  However, the book turned out to be a pleasant surprise.


Remarkable Creatures
Art Journal Page

     This work of historical fiction tells of 2 English women who became friends in the early 1800s when the spinster Elizabeth Philpot and her 2 sisters moved to Lyme Regis where they could live in gentle poverty.  There Elizabeth met a genuinely impoverished young girl, Mary Anning and her family.  Even  with several years difference in their ages, they formed a bond that lasted for many years despite several ups and downs.

      Mary, a born "fossil hunter" who could locate dinosaur bones that others just overlooked, had to find bones to sell in a curio shop owned by her family.  Elizabeth wanted to search for fish fossils to display in a collection.  Mary taught Elizabeth a great deal about looking for "curies."  Together they worked to expose the first plesiosaurus and ichthyosaurus fossils ever seen in the world.

       One of the interesting aspects of this book is that it illustrates the view held by men toward women at that time..  Although they were interested in seeing the dinosaur bones found by Mary, since she was a female, she was given no credit for the work she did.  Some of the men tried to cheat her, and a few took credit for her accomplishments.

         Like The Girl with the Pearl Earring,  also by Tracy Chevalier, Remarkable Creatures has a gentle flow to it that makes for good reading.  In my opinion, the remarkable creatures aren't the fossils found by Mary and Elizabeth.  The really remarkable creatures are the two ladies themselves.

     So, remember the ladies.

                           Carol

Remember the Ladies

       Even though women make up over 50% of the world's population, men dominate much of the world and history.  Certainly women accomplished things, but so much of it was in the shadow of men and not recorded so it's easy to overlook how valuable our contributions have been.



Abigail Smith Adams
1744 - 1818

       One outspoken woman, who might have been considered a radical at the time, didn't  like the way things were going for women, so when Abigail Adams' husband, John, went to Philadelphia to 1776 to meet with the Continental Congress to write the Declaration of Independence, she wrote him a letter reminding him of her feelings.

      "Remember the ladies and be more generous & favorable to them than your ancesters."

      She warned him American women "are determined to forment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound to any laws in which we have no voice or representation."  (Sounds just like what the patriots told England, doesn't it?)

       Abigail remained at home to run the farm, raise their 4 children, and manage their finances while John was off doing the "important things of the world."  Even though she had so much responsibility, as a married woman, she couldn't own land or have  money of her own since everything became her husband's when a woman married.

       Abigail didn't ask for the right to vote, but she did want education for girls that rivaled what boys received.  She also wanted legal equality so women could own property and have some rights against abusive husbands.

Paper collage journal  page with embroidery

     It seems to me that the Founding Fathers didn't pay all that much attention to what Abigail or other American women might want.

     Or, did they?  Men were in a dominate position, and they intended to keep their place.  It was their opinion that women weren't as smart or capable as they considered themselves to be.  By not giving women any rights, men could treat women as they wished.  They certainly did "remember the ladies."

     As things turned out, when John Adams became our 2nd president, Abigail continued to be his chief political confident.  President Adams' enemies called her "Mrs. President" because she was able to influence him on many different issues.

     Sadly, Abigail didn't live to see her son, John Quincy Adams become the 6th president of the United States.  She didn't see the educational opportunities we now enjoy or our legal gains including the right to vote, but if she had, she might have felt that someone finally listed.

     So, remember the ladies.

                          Carol