The World Through a Woman's Eyes (Jessie Ackerman Exhibit at Reece Museum) (1 Hour)

            On Tuesday October 9, I visited Reece Museum at the ETSU main campus. Along with other exhibits they had displayed, I decided to check out the exhibit focusing on Jessie Ackermann and her life. She was born in 1857 in Frankfort, Il and died in 1951 in Pomona, Ca. During her 94 years, she was an educator, feminist, author, activist, missionary, and carried several other titles. The exhibit was dedicated to showcase some of her works (i.e. “The World Through a Woman’s Eyes” and “What Women Have Done with the Vote”) along with pieces recovered from her home and her travels.

            History has always been one of my favorite subjects, and learning about strong women who made a difference and had a tremendous impacts on the way that women are viewed by the world, is something that I find extremely empowering and uplifting. I also found it very interesting that she had a strong connection with ETSU before it became ETSU. She gave several lectures, and even attended a few classes here when it was still named East Tennessee State Teacher’s College. Here she became great friends with the College President of the time, Dr. Charles C. Sherrod (our beloved library’s namesake). Not just here, but at many campuses across the US, she took classes well into her 80s and stated that she always wanted to better herself and her education, and she wanted to be a role model for other young girls to do the same.

            Jessie Ackerman was also very well-traveled. She is known as a two-time world missionary. It has been claimed that she has visited all of the twentieth century countries, except for Afghanistan and Greenland. She was a missionary with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. In 1910, she began working as an organizer for the Australian Women’s national League. She spent much time in China as well, working on different projects and acting again as a traveling missionary. After World War 1, she did restrict the majority of her travel to within the US borders, but she never let her traveling shoes grow cold.

            Not only was she a big activist for the Temperance Movement, she was also a large proponent for the fight for Women’s Suffrage. She did not only impact the US with her suffrage movement; other countries that credit her for their advances in women’s suffrage include Australia, New Zealand, Finland, and Iceland.

            Her impact on the world can still be seen in many aspects of our everyday life. Rights that we take for granted today, are things that she fought valiantly for on many different fronts. Overall, I really enjoyed this exhibit. I was able to see many of her artifacts from her travels (dresses, knick-knacks, letters of recognition, etc.) and I felt that it gave us a little window into the past regarding what it means to be independent and fight for what you believe is right. Jessie Ackermann is an inspiring woman who I feel like women today could learn from and try to mimic. Maybe if we all could learn from those who came before us, we could create a better present and future, now.