[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 22 (Monday, February 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E195-E196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF MARY RUTHSDOTTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 22, 2010

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise with sadness today to honor my 
dear friend, Mary Ruthsdotter, who passed away January 8, 2010, at the 
age of 65. Mary was a sparkling personality and a community leader, 
friend to many, devoted family woman, and a prominent activist for 
women's issues. As one of four women who founded the National Women's 
History Project, NWHP, in 1980 in Santa Rosa, California, she 
profoundly influenced the Nation's understanding of women's roles in 
our lives.
  Born in Iowa in 1944 to a military family, Mary traveled widely while 
growing up. She attended UCLA and, while living in Los Angeles, married 
Dave Crawford. The couple moved to Sonoma County in 1977. Later, as the 
spirit of feminism informed her life, Mary changed her last name from 
Crawford to Ruthsdotter in honor of her mother Ruth.
  With a strong mother and grandmother as role models, Mary was always 
a feminist. The move to Sonoma County turned her into an activist. She 
learned about women's history from Molly MacGregor, Bette Morgan, and 
Paula Hammett, future co-founders with her of the NWHP. She also heeded 
the call from the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women for 
volunteers and eventually became its Chair.
  The founding of the NWHP, a national clearinghouse and curriculum 
development center, was the realization of a dream to promote and 
celebrate the diverse accomplishments of women. As Mary explained it, 
``Not knowing women's history and trying to understand the world is 
like not knowing odd numbers and trying to figure out math.''
  She served as a researcher and writer and traveled around the country 
making presentations, training teachers, and lobbying for the inclusion 
of women's accomplishments in the nation's history. She established a 
nationwide network to provide resource materials to schools; co-
produced a video series, Women in American Life, as well as the first 
video documenting the role of Latino women, Adelante, Mujeres; and 
coordinated reviews for thousands of books on women in history 
submitted by publishers across the Nation. She donated these selections 
to Sonoma State University.
  Thanks to the NWHP, March is now recognized as National Women's 
History Month. Mary, of course, was on the front lines spearheading the 
movement for National Women's History Week which became the full month 
of recognition in 1987. That is one reason I nominated her for the 
Women's History Month 2007 list of prominent women, a fitting tribute. 
She received the award at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in 
Washington, DC.
  Mary's community involvement included a stint as a field 
representative for former State Assemblymember Patricia Wiggins. Ten 
years ago, she and Dave were leaders in organizing a co-housing 
community, the Two Acre Wood, in Sebastopol, California, where they 
lived with people from varied backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. Mary 
enjoyed this extended family and working in the garden on the property.

[[Page E196]]

  A portrayal Alice wrote of her mother a few years ago truly sums up 
Mary's remarkable personality. While visiting at Alice's home in 
Australia, Mary was entranced by the description of a woman as a 
``truly remarkable rare bird.'' This phrase fits Mary well, Alice says, 
because ``there is so much about my mother that is remarkable and rare. 
In my mind, the mixture of exuberance and STICK TO-IT-iveness that she 
brings to her work in the garden has become a kind of shorthand for 
what I so admire in her approach to life. My mother is always 
cultivating something--in fact, she is constantly cultivating many 
things at once. With an abundance of creative energy, she starts more 
projects in a day than many of us do in a month, and--even more 
impressively--she has the patience and the persistence to see the 
majority of them through.''
  Alice describes how Mary brought the imaginative vision, inspiration, 
and verve of her gardening to everything she did, from the Women's 
History Project, to nurturing her relationship with Dave, throwing 
pots, cooking feasts, filling a neighborhood with trees, and ``raising 
a happy and appreciative daughter who turned out to be a real, live 
feminist herself.''
  In addition to Dave and Alice, Mary is survived by her mother Ruth 
Moyer, son-in-law Geoff, and two grandchildren, Marcus and Ian.
  Madam Speaker, Mary Ruthsdotter also looked forward to what women can 
accomplish. In her life she exemplified her own description of the path 
women's lives will take: ``Holding prominent public offices and winning 
Olympic downhill ski medals may be new to women, but not because those 
possibilities had held no interest for them in the past. As social 
conventions change and women are allowed to do even more with our 
lives, we will.'' Here's to Mary--a truly remarkable rare bird.

                          ____________________