Book Review: Kentucky Women: Two Centuries of Indomitable Spirit

by Eugenia Potter

Non-Fiction

Big Tree Press

Louisville. 1997.

For the last few years, author and editor Eugenia K. Potter has been scouring the state in search of Kentucky's missing history. The resulting book, Kentucky Women: Two Centuries of Indomitable Spirit and Vision, is an informative look at the lives and achievements of 95 Kentucky women whose lives helped shape our history.

Potter's book is engaging and accessible. Beautifully bound and printed, Kentucky Women is laid out like a scrapbook, with hundreds of photographs interspersed among short, informative essays written by Potter and 32 other authors. Potter says in the introduction, "Kentucky Women is not meant to be devoured in one sitting, but rather to be savored slowly, flipping back and forth through two hundred years of women's hopes and dreams, anecdotes, accomplishments, and disappointments."

Potter worked for many years as a elementary school librarian in Oldham County. During those years, she was often at a loss for information about famous women from Kentucky for classroom use. Her new book helps to fill that void. "Praising women in Kentucky is long overdue," she says. "When I was an elementary school librarian, fourth graders studied the 'Living in Kentucky' unit, and each year teachers and I agonized over the lack of materials about women. Kentucky Women is born of that frustration." While this new book is not intended to be comprehensive on the subject, Potter hopes that it will be a starting point for further books like it, to fully chronicle women's contribution to Kentucky's history and culture.

Some of the women in the book are politicians and famous artists, already well known in the state, if not yet recognized in history books for their contributions. Women such as Martha Layne Collins, Diane Sawyer, and Bobbie Ann Mason are all already household names, and it's not surprising to find them in a book such as Kentucky Women. However, Potter has included many other women who were never so famous, and whose contributions, while equally fascinating and important to Kentucky's history, have never been widely publicized.

Among the women included in Potter's book is Audrey Whitlock Peterson, who grew up in Campbellsville, Kentucky. She was one of the state's first and most successful female basketball coaches. She won the 1932 state championship with a team from the small community of Woodburn, and she probably would have won more, but the KHSAA decided to eliminate the state tournament for girls in 1932 (ostensibly for safety reasons).

That unfortunate decision wasn't overturned until legislative action forced its reversal in the 1970's, but members of Peterson's teams still recall the intense competition and dedication she inspired. As author Peggy Stanaland points out, "The qualities that coach Peterson stood for in the 1920's (training, academics, discipline, skill and confidence) were the same qualities upheld by women leaders of sports activities throughout the ensuing three decades."

Kentucky Women is full of stories like Peterson's, of women whose influence is still felt today, but who have not made it into traditional history texts. Potter has also included many women who are just beginning to have an impact on Kentucky culture, like Terri Cecil-Ramsey and Elizabeth Kizito.

At the age of 17, Terri Cecil-Ramsey was involved in an automobile accident that left her paralyzed. That accident wrecked her plans to play basketball in college, but it did not stop her athletic career. Through challenging physical therapy, hard work and a positive attitude, Cecil-Ramsey has proven that she is still a competitor. She won the fencing competition in Atlanta at the 1996 Paralympics, and since then she has gone on to win the 1997 Ms. Wheelchair America competition, which selects "the most accomplished and articulate female spokesperson for the disabled."

While Elizabeth Kizito didn't face physical limitations, she has nonetheless overcome long odds and unusual circumstances to become one of Kentucky's most unique success stories. Born in Uganda to a family of 36 brothers and sisters, Kizito came to America to study, and stayed to avoid civil unrest in her home country.

Before coming to Louisville, Kizito had never even tasted a chocolate chip cookie, but she liked them so much she started making her own and selling them to local businesses. As her popularity grew, Elizabeth Kizito was often seen downtown and at festivals carrying her signature cookies in a large basket on her head. More recently, she has opened a store on Bardstown Road. Her cookies are sold at restaurants and cafes around Louisville, and she has begun selling them to wholesalers in other states. Her hard work and determination, combined with strong word-of-mouth recommendations and some favorable press have helped turn Kizito cookies into a growing Kentucky enterprise.

Also of interest in Kentucky Women is the entry for local author Janice Holt Giles. Giles published 24 books, selling over 3 million copies worldwide, and is considered one of Kentucky's finest female writers.

However, for her the Giles article in the book, biographer Dianne Watkins chose not to focus solely on Janice Holt Giles' accomplishments. Instead, she provides quotes from journals and personal letters to give the reader insight into the relationships that helped shape Giles' career. These relationships with family members, including her mother, her own daughter, and her second husband, Henry Giles, all had a powerful influence on her work as a writer.

All of these women have helped shape Kentucky's culture, and all deserve to be role models for future generations. Thanks to author and editor Eugenia Potter, their stories and those of almost 90 other Kentucky women are now available for everyone to share in Kentucky Women: Two Centuries of Indomitable Spirit and Vision.