Commun ty Matters Salina Presbyterian Manor
March 2018
Mary’s musings By Mary Bridges, chaplain Salina Presbyterian Manor
When I turned 65, I changed my hair color, and for a number of years my dark hair was highlighted with a variety of colors. Over the years, I have been a redhead, and once even tried some purple. This year, I decided to go back to my natural hair color. I knew that my natural hair had begun to have a few white or grey strands in it, but I must say that I was shocked when I looked in the mirror today and saw my mother looking back at me. March is “Women’s History Month.”You will be hearing many stories of famous women who have changed history. The woman who changed history for me was a quiet woman: a first-generation American with an eighth-grade education. My mother, Theresa Dorthea Ehrlich Bender, was the youngest of eight children born in 1901 to Alex and Maria Ehrlich, who came to Kansas from Russia. One of the earliest stories I remember her telling was about her first day of school. Like most children, she was nervous as she sat at her desk. The teacher was going around the room getting acquainted and when she MUSINGS, continued on page 5
Peg Britton on Pi Day.
Indomitable spirit Peg Britton achieved many firsts as a mid-century feminist on the prairie It seems incredible now to hear how Peg Britton was treated in college. Professors threatened to flunk her. She was denied basic privileges that men enjoyed. She worked twice as hard to be considered half as good. All because she’s a woman. It was the 1950s and the law and society had not yet caught up to the women’s movement. Every year, March is celebrated as Women’s History Month, so we asked Peg to revisit her challenges and celebrate what she accomplished nonetheless. Peg enrolled at the University of Kansas as a geology major in 1946, but soon was drawn to architecture. She switched majors her sophomore year, and from then on she said it was “a battle from start to finish.” SPIRIT, continued on page 2