Saturday, December 14th at 11am: Jennie Powers: The Woman Who Dares presented by Jennifer Carroll
Jennie Powers took a stand against social vices in New Hampshire and Vermont in the early twentieth century. She was a humane society agent in Keene from 1903-1936 and one of the first humane society agents to become a deputy sheriff in New Hampshire. Jennie was known across the country as "The Woman Who Dares" cited by the Boston Post newspaper in 1906 as having arrested more men than any other woman in America. As a photographic activist, she used her camera to document animal cruelty, family violence, and wide-spread poverty in New Hampshire's Monadnock region and beyond. This one-hour illustrated presentation from Jenna Carroll introduces us to Jennie's life story, the work of humane societies at the turn of the twentieth century, and the politics of the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s) from a local perspective.
Jennifer Carroll has been managing historical societies and museums in New England for 25 years. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Historical Administration from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Women's Studies from the University of New Hampshire. Carroll has worked as both a curator and executive director of museums, and currently serves as the director of education at the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene, where she coordinates over 150 public programs per year. She is also an adjunct professor at Antioch University New England where she teaches place-based social studies, and serves on advisory/planning committees for the Keene International Festival Committee, the Monadnock Historical Societies Forum, and the Little Sisters Fund. She is the 2019 recipient of Keene State College's Presidents' Community Partner award as well as the Keene Sentinel's Extraordinary Women of the Monadnock Region award in 2017. Jennifer lives in West Swanzey with her husband and two daughters.
