Preface
I created this web site because I wanted to make a contribution to Black
History Month and I chose to repurpose a section of Judy Chicago's book,
The
Dinner Party, because it focuses specifically on women's contributions
to culture. It is my belief that women's and African American's historical
involvement in the United States is too often ignored, and therefore, I
put forth this site as an educational tool for all those on-line who are
interested in herstory. It is my hope that this information can reach people
who may have not heard of this book or Ms. Chicago's artwork before. I
chose to present the section on significant women of the 19th and early
20th century in the United States because this is a time in history that
is incredibly interesting since it concerns the very beginnings of our
modern-day civil rights movement. This text benefits from being repurposed
into hypertext for several reasons: many more people can now access this
important information on-line, the pages will have external links to more
information about some of the women, and the visitor will be able to easily
connect to any of the women's biographical pages from anywhere within the
site. This medium is also perfect for the display of Sojourner Truth's
artistic place setting, which was created by Judy Chicago in the 1970s.