MUSCATINE, Iowa – Two Musser Public Library staff members, who are often digging through the library archives seeing out information, have joined forces to put together a new “Voices of the Past”. Jen Howell and Emma Stoffer will feature local women’s history during their presentation at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 21, in Room 301 of the Musser Public Library.
Howell and Stoffer have indicated that there are a total of about 20 women that will be featured in categories ranging from the “Women of Musser Public Library”, to “Movers and Shakers” (women who pushed boundaries), “Women in Business”, “Women in Sports,” and Women in Service” (public or military).
“With a lot of these women, we had already come across them in other research,” Stoffer said.
She noted that there will be some surprises during the presentation.
“There may be someone that yo have heard of, but have not heard the story that we are going to tell,” Stoffer said.
Stoffer said that a name and face you might not recognize is that of Bessie Farnsworth.
“Locally, she might have been a bit of a troublemaker,” Stoffer said while enticing you to attend the presentation.
“Come hear about her exploits and shenanigans,” Stoffer said. “She helped pave the way for women across Iowa to run for state legislature.”
Howell said they started talking about creating this program in January and thought Mach would be a good time to present the program because it is Women’s History Month. A question and answer session will follow the hour long program.
The “Voices of the Past” programming is offered a few times during the year by the Musser Public Library.