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November 18, 1995 - Episode 477 - Women of Achievement and Herstory

                    compiled by Irene Stuber

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      This is the official policy of the United Methodist Church, from the

_Book of Discipline, 1988_, the Social Principles Paragraph 71G.  This policy is

intact in the latest book, 1992.

      "Abortion - The beginning of life and the ending of life are the God-

given boundaries of human existence.  While Individuals have always had some

degree of control over when they would die, they now have the awesome

power to determine when and even whether new individuals will be born.  Our

belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve

abortion.  But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and

well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an

unacceptable pregnancy.  In continuity with past Christian teaching, we

recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in

such cases support the legal option of abortion under proper medical

procedures.  We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth

control, and we unconditionally reject it as means of gender selection.  We call

all Christians to a searching prayerful inquiry into the sorts of conditions

that may warrant abortion.  Governmental laws and regulations do not provide

all the guidance required by the informed Christian conscience.  Therefore, a

decision concerning abortion should be made only after thoughtful and

prayerful consideration by the parties involved, with medical, pastoral, and

other appropriate counsel."

11-18 Anniversaries ...........................................

      B. Nov. 18, 1825, Susan Lincoln Tolman Mills, educated at Mount Holyoke

College, used the training methods in a school in Hawaii where she taught with

her husband.  Back in California the couple opened a school that became Mills

College, again using the Mount Holyoke philosophy. At her husband's death in

1884, she was principal and for a time acting president.  She was finally

named president (after two male presidents) in 1890.  Mills was the first

women's college on the west coast and under her guidance it became one of

the major colleges of the nation.

      B. Nov. 18, 1857, Rose M. Knox, within seven years of taking over the

management of the Knox Gelatine Company, developed it into a multi-million-

dollar firm.  On the first day of her management following her husband's

death, she locked the back door and ordered everyone from president to

janitor to use the front door.  She managed the business for more than 40

years, changed its emphasis to nutrition, and made it a real money-maker. Her

management style was pro-worker and layoffs were unheard of.

      B. Nov. 18, 1870 (1861?), Dorothy Dix, (Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer),

called a "sob sister," which when translated into non-sexist language meant

she was a superlative reporter and writer of features and could get anyone to

give her an interview.  Later in her life she became an advice columnist

whose fame outranks even the Ann and Abbey duo of today.  Her column drew

2,000 letters a week. Raised to be an ornament in the upper classes, she had

to earn a living when her husband became seriously mentally ill. Her secretary

and close friend was Ella Bentley Arthur.

      B. Nov. 18, 1871, Jessie Bonstelle developed the Detroit Civic Theatre

during her noted career of directing, managing, and producing plays.

      B. Nov. 18, 1888, Frances Marion, screenwriter, novelist, director who at

her peak earned $17,000 a week as a Hollywood screen writer, writing the

original _Stella Dallas_ and winning academy awards for _The Big House_

(1930) and _The Champ_ (1931).  In all she wrote more than a hundred film

scripts. 

      Event Nov. 18, 1992, the growing schism in the U.S. Catholic Bishops'

ranks was evident when for the first time in history, a proposed pastoral

letter failed to receive the necessary votes.  The letter on the role of women

in the church had started off nine years before as favoring women as priests

but after Pope John Paul II's intervention, it was changed to an ultra-

conservative viewpoint.  It then underwent a number of additional changes

before falling short of ratification. 

Quotes du jour ................................................

      "Being a woman has always been the most arduous profession any human

being could follow." 

            -- Dorothy Dix, advice columnist.

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