October 20, 2011

October 20, 2011

Jan Cleere

Speaking On

LEVI’S AND LACE; ARIZONA WOMEN WHO MADE HISTORY.

Jan Cleere is an Arizonian. She loves the West and the
strength of the women who populated it, and it shows in her
writing. The 35-plus women in this book are among the most
interesting and intriguing of Arizona's past women; each
written about briefly and concisely, and each enriching the life
of the reader.
Cleere's book covers several defined categories of "pioneer
women." The six sections of the book are: Women of the
Land, Women Who Healed and Saved, Women Entrepreneurs,
Women Who Educated, Women of the Arts, and Women of the
Law.
Cleere is inclusive, for she brings to us vignettes of the lives
of Lozen, an Apache Warrior woman; Catherine Hookey
Drexel, who spent her life dedicated to the education and
health of Blacks and Indians (sainted by the Catholic Church
in 1988 as St. Katharine); Angela Hutchinson Hammer, a
woman determined to make a difference as a Western
publisher and printer; Elizabeth White, nee Polingaysi
Qouawayma, a Hopi woman who entered the world of the
Whites and yet taught Hopi and Navajo children for over three
decades; Nampeyo, a remarkable woman whose artistic talent
brought forth beautifully original Indian pottery; and Annie
Dodge Wauneka, a dedicated arbitrator and advocate for the
Navajo people.
Throughout the book are photos of the women, giving the
reader a chance to not only read their stories but gaze upon
their faces; some weather-worn and tired, some aged and
wrinkled, but all of them with the light of learning and love of
the West in their eyes. They were dedicated at first to Arizona
Territory, then to the state of Arizona, determined to make a
life for themselves and their families while bettering the
economy and the personal lives of the natives and residents of
the wide open desert lands. Cleere even includes women
whose jobs may have not been seen as reputable, such as
boarding house mavens and camp followers who cooked and
comforted the men defending the Western Frontier.
Tucked between the stories are one-page overviews of other
women not included in the main sections of the book. These
brief "Another Notable Woman" inserts remind the reader that
the 35-plus women who are focused upon are not the only
contributors to creating lives in Arizona; there are hundreds,
nay thousands, of women whose daily lives were often
devastatingly hard, but their spirits and hopes were always
strong and looking to the future.
Remarkable women are not the exception to the rule, but the
backbone of the West, and it was both enjoyable and
encouraging to read about so many women, most unknown,
that created homes, towns, churches and schools to help
Arizona and the West grow.
From: STORY CIRCLE BOOK REVIEWS