UNLADYLIKE2020 awarded production grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities!

We are thrilled to announce that UNLADYLIKE2020 has been awarded a production grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities!

We are honored to be supported by such an incredible and important institution that helps to strengthen and sustain American cultural life in communities across the country, and to be among this year’s “cutting edge research and public programs in the humanities.” The National Endowment for the Humanities is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the country. They aim to promote excellence in the humanities and convey the lessons of history to all Americans.

You can read more about the National Endowment for the Humanities and the 215 fantastic humanities projects they are supporting here on their own website, where you can see them by geographic location, and here for the New York Times article on this year’s grants!

Huge thanks to our partnering organization Futuro Media Group, our amazing academic advisory board, our fantastic team and the many incredible individuals, organizations and institutions who have shown the project their enthusiasm and support! We can’t wait to share the series with you all in 2020!

Screening of UNLADYLIKE2020 Trailer at the Women Deliver Conference!

We are excited to announce that UNLADYLIKE2020 will be screening our trailer at the 2019 Women Deliver Film Festival! The film festival is part of the 2019 Women Deliver Conference, the world’s largest conference on gender equality and women’s rights, which will be held in Vancouver, Canada from June 3-6. The conference features incredible speakers like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, gender equality advocate Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, and Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde. Check out their website to learn more about this awesome event!

UNLADYLIKE2020 Received an Art Works Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts!

UNLADYLIKE2020 and Futuro Media are thrilled to announce that we have received an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts! The grant will be used for production of the series. The Arts Endowment is the only arts funder reaching the entire country, with the Art Works grants supporting a diverse range of artistic projects across disciplines and in every corner of our country. Read more about the grant and other projects they’re supporting this year here!

UNLADYLIKE2020 Creator Charlotte Mangin Speaks at Sayers & Doers!

Last week, UNLADYLIKE2020’s series creator, director and producer Charlotte Mangin spoke at a wonderful event at The Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem: Sayers & Doers, a “live magazine” talk series featuring experts – authors, artists, academics, adventurers, comics, musicians, journalists, filmmakers, chefs and designers – who are passionate about their work. This event on May 6th had a wonderful line up of speakers: Kerry Brodie, who founded Emma’s Torch, a restaurant-with-a-mission: to transform refugees into skilled chefs and connecting them to New York restaurants for full-time jobs, Vivian Kurutz, founder of Harlem Wellness, and BBC journalist Yousef Bashir, who read from his new memoir The Words of My Father. Charlotte spoke about how the UNLADYLIKE2020 project came to be and why now is the time for these unknown and empowering stories to be told, and shared the series trailer. It was very special to present UNLADYLIKE2020 to this intimate and engaged audience within the historic cinema, and amongst such amazing sayers and doers! Be sure to check out their future events!

UNLADYLIKE2020 Received Funding From the Wyncote Foundation!

The UNLADYLIKE2020 team is excited to announce that we received funding from the Wyncote Foundation! The foundation supports efforts that strengthen and enrich culture, community, and the natural environment, You can read more about them and their work here.

UNLADYLIKE2020 Received Funding From the Economic Hardship Reporting Project!

UNLADYLIKE2020 is pleased to announce that we have received funding from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project (EHRP). The aim of the EHRP is to alter the national conversation about poverty and economic insecurity, commissioning journalism—from narrative features to documentary films—that puts a human face on financial instability. Check out their website to learn more.

UNLADYLIKE2020 is Awarded Major Grant from Rhode Island Humanities!

We are excited to announce that we received a Major Grant from Rhode Island Humanities! The grant will support production of our episodes on two Rhode Islanders, the acclaimed vocalist Sissieretta Jones and renowned mountaineer Annie Smith Peck. Check out their news release about the project and the rest of the featured projects here.

Two Successful UNLADYLIKE2020 Events in Utah!

"Zitkala-Ša’s writing shows her persistence to survive, the importance of preserving our heritage." - Jane Hafen, Zitkala-Sa Scholar⁣

The UNLADYLIKE2020 team hosted two events in partnership with our local partner Better Days 2020, supported by a fellowship award from the Utah Humanities Council, at the Salt Lake City Public Library and the Uintah County Library.

In addition to presenting our research and screening our first episode, we hosted two panels on Zitkala-Sa and Martha Hughes Cannon, two accomplished Utah women, and heard from scholar Jane Hafen, senator Holly Richardson, Better Days 2020 Neylan McBaine, Ute beadworker Cheryl Lone Bear, first female Vernal mayor Sonja Norton, and our series Charlotte Mangin. Kristine Curry, whose great grandfather was adopted by Zitkala-Sa after his own mother died, was also in attendance. ⁣

To read more about these events, check out this article in the Uintah Basin Standard! Thank you to Better Days 2020 for your support and to all the accomplished women who shared their insights at each event.

Two Upcoming Events in Utah, Featuring Women Who Had a Tremendous Impact on UT History

All artwork by Amelie Chabannes

We are very excited for two special events we’re hosting next week in Utah, in partnership with our local partner Better Days 2020, and supported by a fellowship award from the Utah Humanities Council- at the Salt Lake City Public Library on April 22, and the Uintah County Library in Vernal, UT, on April 23.

In addition to screening the UNLADYLIKE2020 trailer and a sneak peek of the first film of the series about Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman pilot, UNLADYLIKE2020’s series creator and director Charlotte Mangin be giving a presentation on two amazing women featured in the series: Native American civil rights activist, author and musician Zitkala-Ša, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, whose Sun Dance opera was first performed in Vernal, UT, and the first female state senator, Martha Hughes Cannon. Charlotte Mangin will not only share her research on these women, but also speak about the creative process behind creating animated documentary films about them for the series.

Following the presentation, each event will have a fantastic panel of women who will bring Cannon’s and Zitkala-Ša’s stories into the present through sharing their own experiences and perspective on these two women’s work.

In Salt Lake City, the panel will include:

• Charlotte Mangin, UNLADYLIKE2020’s series creator, director, and producer

• Jane Hafen, Professor Emerita of English, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and editor of a collection of Zitkala-Ša’s writings Dreams and Thunder

• Holly Richardson, former member of Utah’s House of Representatives, Communications Director for Hope Humanitarian, a columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, and an award-winning blogger

In Vernal, the panel will include:

• Charlotte Mangin, UNLADYLIKE2020's series creator, director, and producer

• Jane Hafen, Professor Emerita of English, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and editor of a collection of Zitkala-Ša’s writings Dreams and Thunder, and other special guests

• Cheryl Lone Bear, Ute beadworker and historic preservationist

• Sonja Norton, the first female mayor of Vernal and entrepreneur

Check out the facebook events for the SLC event here, and Vernal’s here, and spread the word to your friends in Utah! And stay tuned for more info on the films about these two incredible women in 2020!

First UNLADYLIKE2020 Radio Interview!

On International Women’s Day, our creator Charlotte Mangin spoke with KBOO Community Radio about the "treasure trove of stories of women in U.S history who didn't make it into our textbooks" that she discovered, and that motivated her to make the project.

Listen to this short interview to learn more about the story behind our series—and our creative advisory board for youth—by clicking on the image above!

UNLADYLIKE2020 is Awarded 'Made in NY' Women's Film, TV & Theatre Fund Grant!

UNLADYLIKE2020’s series creator, director, and producer Charlotte Mangin with Kathy Leichter, UNLADYLIKE2020’s development and impact producer at the Made in NY awards reception.

We are honored that UNLADYLIKE2020 has been awarded the competitive "Made In NY" Women's Film, TV & Theatre Fund grant from the City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), the centerpiece of a groundbreaking series of initiatives by MOME to address the underrepresentation of women in film, television, and theatre, administered by New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). This is the inaugural year for the program, and it is the very first municipal grant program of its kind in the U.S. You can learn more about the fund from the press release here.

Congratulations to our fellow grantees! Our series creator, Charlotte Mangin, and our development and impact producer, Kathy Leichter, had a wonderful time at the Made in NY awards reception meeting the other grantees, a talented group of women film and theater makers, and learning about their projects. Anne del Castillo, Media and Entertainment Acting Commissioner said, this year’s projects “portray the complexity and variety of human experience as told by an incredibly diverse group of women.”

See here for the full list of projects!

This grant will support production of our film about Rose Schneiderman (1882-1972), a passionate labor organizer from New York's Lower East Side. Thank you, MOME and NYFA!

The 2019 recipients of the “Made in NY” Women’s Film, TV & Theatre FUnd

Athena Film Festival Has Announced its 2019 Lineup!

We are thrilled to be partnering with the Athena Film Festival, which returns at the end of February for its ninth year of celebrating women and leadership!

The Athena Film Festival is an engaging weekend of feature films, documentaries and shorts that highlight powerful stories about courageous and audacious women leaders. The four-day festival includes inspiring films; conversations with directors, actors, and activists; and workshops for filmmakers and film fans.

The festival will be held February 28- March 3 at Barnard College in New York City, and they are generously offering a 15% discount on tickets! To get your discount, visit www.athenafilmfestival.com and use the code 19AFF15 at checkout.

UNLADYLIKE2020 Received Planning Grant from South Carolina Humanities!

We are excited to announce that UNLADYLIKE2020 has received a Planning Grant from South Carolina Humanities, a not-for-profit organization inspiring, engaging and enriching South Carolinians with programs on literature, history, culture and heritage. The grant will support the research and development phase of our short about Charlotta Spears Bass, one of the first African American women to own and operate a newspaper in the United States.

Bass followed earlier decades of ‘muckracking’ or reform-minded journalism, publishing the California Eagle in Los Angeles from 1912 until 1951, at a time when newsrooms were male-dominated and few white journalists focused on issues of importance to African Americans. In its pages, she addressed the racism of D.W. Griffith's film The Birth of A Nation, the Ku Klux Klan, LA’s discriminatory hiring practices, police brutality, and restrictive housing covenants. Her uncompromising stance against racial injustice resulted in numerous death threats. After retiring from the newspaper industry, Bass went into politics and was the first African American woman to run for Vice President of the U.S., on the Progressive party ticket in 1952.

We’re excited to develop this short on Bass’ story. Thank you, South Carolina Humanities, for supporting this important work!

UNLADYLIKE2020 Events at Lower Eastside Girls Club and City College Documentary Forum!

We had two amazing events last week, where we shared a sneak peek of the first short in our series, about aviator Bessie Coleman- the first African American woman pilot, in celebration of National Aviation History Month of November. 

At the Lower Eastside Girls Club (LESGC), we screened the UNLADYLIKE2020 trailer, the Bessie Coleman video, as well as a wonderful short made by one of the girls at the Club. We were thrilled to screen for the general public, as well as the girls and staff of the Club in their planetarium, and to have an incredible team of women from Jet Blue there as special guests. 

Three pilots - Kim McCommon, Chandra Steiner, and Keiko Piccollela - participated in a panel with series creator Charlotte Mangin, and artist and animator Amelie Chabannes, and shared their stories of persevering to become pilots, despite facing many obstacles as women and women of color in the industry. We were all moved by their experiences, and their words of encouragement for the girls. It was very meaningful to see how relevant Bessie's story is today, and how much her life and achievements have meant to these women pilots.

The girls asked great questions, about aviation and animation, and the Club provided a reception where the conversations continued. We are honored to have collaborated with The Lower Eastside Girls Club and the Jet Blue Foundation on this very special event. 

The following night, we screened our trailer and Bessie Coleman video at City College's Documentary Forum for a packed theater of students and community members. After our screening, there was a Q&A with Charlotte Mangin. Many people were interested in where they can see the series in 2020,  and what other stories it will tell.

That event also included a screening of the new documentary by Adele Pham, "Nailed It: Women and Vietnamese in the Nail Industry," which told the story of how 20 Vietnamese refugee women sparked the multi-billion dollar nail industry in the United States. It was a perfect pairing for UNLADYLIKE2020 to screen with a modern day story of women overcoming obstacles to make a huge impact on the country- and tied in amazingly with Bessie’s story, as she worked as a manicurist in a barbershop, where she got the idea of becoming a pilot!

Both of these events were made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement / Creative Learning, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Thank you, LMCC! We are so grateful!

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council empowers artists by providing them with networks, resources, and support, to create vibrant, sustainable communities in Lower Manhattan and beyond.

Series creator, director, and producer Charlotte Mangin, artist and animator Amelie Chabannes, and pilots from Jet Blue Chandra Steiner, Kim McCommon, and Keiko Piccollela take questions from the girls.

Upcoming UNLADYLIKE2020 Event at Lower Eastside Girls Club!

UNLADYLIKE2020 is excited to announce that we will be hosting a public screening event at the Lower Eastside Girls Club. In the club's amazing planetarium, we'll be screening the UNLADYLIKE2020 trailer, and a sneak peek of first episode in the series, about Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman pilot.

The event will kick off with a short film by a girl from the Lower Eastside Girls Club, and the screening of UNLADYLIKE2020 will be followed by a Q&A with series creator, director, and producer Charlotte Mangin and the artist and animator Amelie Chabannes, as well as a reception.

Join us on Tuesday, November 27 at 6:15PM at the Lower Eastside Girls Club at 402 East 8th Street.

This is a free event and all are welcome, but we ask that you please register on the Eventbrite here.

This event is made possible by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, and occurs in partnership with The Futuro Media Group and the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Artwork by Amelie Chabannes.

UNLADYLIKE2020 Received Funding from Ohio Humanities!

The UNLADYLIKE2020 team is thrilled to announce that we have received a Media Planning Grant from Ohio Humanities, an organization committed to using grants and public humanities programs to create vibrant communities throughout Ohio. The Media Planning grant will support the research and impact partnerships behind films we’ll be making about three women with close ties to Ohio: actor Theda Bara, sculptor Evelyn Beatrice Longman, and activist and educator Mary Church Terrell. Below are brief bios on each of these incredible women:

Theda Bara (1890-1955) born Theodosia Goodman, began work on the New York stage under her own name before she was cast as a vampire seductress in her first film, “A Fool There Was,” in 1914. Bara’s magnetic performance made her an overnight success, and between 1915 and 1919, she starred in over forty films, becoming a major draw for audiences as well as for the criticism of censors. While a 1937 fire at the Fox Film vaults destroyed all but a handful of her movies, she endures as a cinematic icon.

Evelyn Beatrice Longman (1874-1954) at age 19 visited the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, where she was inspired to become a sculptor. She became the first American woman of her generation to establish a career in large-scale public sculpture and the first woman sculptor to become a full member of the National Academy of Design. She worked on parts of the Lincoln Memorial and created many memorials of her own, most famously the Spirit of Electricity for the AT&T Corporation headquarters in Manhattan.

Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954), daughter of former slaves and one of the first African American women to earn a college degree, became known as a national activist for civil rights and suffrage. In 1896 she helped found the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and was president from 1896 to 1901. In 1909 she was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and led several important associations, including the National Association of Colored Women.

UNLADYLIKE2020 Hosted a Screening at Maysles Documentary Center!

UNLADYLIKE2020 hosted a screening of its first video at the Maysles Documentary Center in celebration of National Aviation History Month! The video tells the incredible story of aviator Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to hold an international pilot's license. The screening was followed by a lively panel discussion with series creator Charlotte Mangin, NYU professor and historian Michele Mitchell, who provided important historical context for Coleman's story, and Harlem actress and playwright Madeline McCray, moderated by Sandy Rattley, UNLADYLIKE2020's Executive Producer. McCray then performed an excerpt from “A Dream to Fly,” her play about Coleman. The event also featured a community talk-back and Q&A, and reception, with food and drink provided by Harlem vendors, including Pompette Wine, C-Town Grocery Store, Best Market Harlem, Cantina Taqueria, and Corner Social. Thank you to these establishments for their generosity. Check out the event page on the Maysles website!

Here’s what several audience members had to say:

“Beautiful and urgent story.”

“Excellent film, trailer, panel discussion—excellent. Loved performance by Madeline McCray.”

“We enjoyed so much seeing and hearing history come alive in such a vibrant format. It was fascinating to know more about the historical context too. Loved Madeline’s performance to bring back Bessie Coleman to life.”

This event was made possible by: Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and New York State Council on the Arts, in partnership with The Futuro Media Group. Original artwork by Amelie Chabannes.

UNLADYLIKE2020 Received Funding From the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities

We are excited to announce that we received funding from Rhode Island Council for the Humanities to research two women from the state -- Sissieretta Jones, the first African American to sign on the mainstage at Carnegie Hall, and Annie Smith Peck, the first mountaineer to conquer the highest peak in South America -- and plan a community engagement event in Rhode Island. See more about them below!

Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones (1868-1933) began singing at an early age in a baptist church ministered by her father. By 1892, she became the first African American to sing on the main stage at Carnegie Hall, at a time when access to most classical concert halls in the U.S. were closed to black performers and patrons.  She performed opera at the White House for four U.S. presidents and became an international sensation, receiving multiple medals and badges which she would often wear simultaneously on top of elegant, glittering gowns. But the rise of Jim Crow laws and segregation, after the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, ended her career as a high art musician and necessitated her move into vaudeville.

Annie Smith Peck (1850-1935), one of the first women in America to become a college professor, took up mountain climbing in her forties. She gained international fame in 1895 when she first climbed the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps-- not for her daring ascent, but because she undertook the climb wearing pants rather than a cumbersome skirt. Fifteen years later, at age 58 and after five failed attempts, Peck was the first mountaineer ever to conquer Mount Huascarán (21,831 feet) in Peru, the highest peak in South America. A dedicated supporter of a woman’s right to vote, she hung a “Votes for Women” banner on a nearby summit in 1909. She continued to mountain climb around the world into her eighties.

UNLADYLIKE2020 Received Funding from Humanities Nebraska!

We are excited to announce that we received funding from Humanities Nebraska to support the production of two of our NE-based episodes -- about incredible social worker, Grace Abbott and the first Native American female physician, Susan La Flesche Picotte. You can learn more about them below!

Grace Abbott (1878-1939) was born in Grand Island, Nebraska to activist parents who worked for the Underground Railroad and the women’s suffrage movement in the Midwest. After attending the University of Nebraska, Abbott and her sister Edith moved to Chicago to become residents of Hull House, a settlement house founded in 1889 by social reformer Jane Addams. Living side by side with poor immigrant residents of the community, Abbott became an influential advocate for immigrant rights, and served as director of the Immigrants’ Protective League. From 1921 to 1934, as chief of the U.S. Children’s Bureau in the Department of Labor, Abbot was the highest ranked woman in the U.S. government, where she led the fight to end child labor, common in factories and mills of the time. She helped draft American's Social Security Act and was voted by Good Housekeeping as one of “America’s Twelve Greatest Women” in 1931.

Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865-1915) grew up on the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska against the backdrop of the Dawes Act of 1887 which sought to do away with Native American tribes and foster assimilation into white society. Overcoming hostility from both her tribe and white society, Picotte graduated from Women’s Medical College and became the first Native American female physician. She returned to the reservation and spent her career making house calls on foot and horse-drawn buggy across its 20,000 acres. Alcoholism was becoming serious problem on the Omaha Reservation, and a personal one for Picotte: her own husband was an alcoholic. Active in the temperance movement, she campaigned publicly against drinking and unscrupulous liquor dealers. In 1913, Picotte fulfilled her lifelong dream of founding a community hospital on the reservation.

UNLADYLIKE 2020 Received Funding from Humanities Montana!

UNLADYLIKE2020 was recently awarded a grant from Humanities Montana to research and begin production of our episode about women's rights advocate-- and the first woman to hold federal office in the U.S— Congresswoman Jeannette Pickering Rankin. See below for more about her, and her incredible life:

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (1880-1973) was a prominent member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and became involved in the turn-of-the-century peace movement, helping establish the Women’s Peace Party. In 1917, Rankin decided to run for election to the U.S. House of Representatives for her home state of Montana, which had only one congressional district at the time because of its small population. She won the election, and at age thirty-six became the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She served two non-consecutive terms, and was the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. participation in both World War I and World War II.