Louise Brooks Research Paper

Louise Brooks was an American film actress and dancer. She was born on November 19, 1906 in Cherryvale, Kansas. As a young girl her mother forced her to embrace the role of a flapper in order to star in Hollywood films. She was seen as an iconic symbol of the flapper movement due to her bobbed haircut and the clothing she wore, such as short dresses and elegant jewelry. Many were mad about the flapper movement mainly men because the flappers were changing the traditional roles of women. Women began to cut their hair short, wear short dresses, go out to bars and drink, and they started having control of themselves. Brooks was a feminist during the time and she was assaulted twice for embracing her passion. One well known film she took a part in was “Pandora’s Box (1929)”. She then began writing a book based in all the things she did not like about Hollywood. Later on, she retired and died due to a heart attack at the age of seventy-eight on August 8, 1985 in Rochester, New York. Although, many still believe women should continue to follow traditional roles she did make a huge contribution to society today because women express themselves however they want to. Louise Brooks and Mitchell Palmer would not have gotten along due to the fact that they were two completely different people.

Barbara Jordan was born on February 21, 1936 in Houston Texas. She was the youngest child of three. Her father Benjamin Jordan was a Baptist minister and warehouse clerk. Her mother, Arlyne was a maid, housewife and church teacher. Jordan went to college at the University of Texas. She graduated from college being one out of two African American women in her class. Jordan passed away from viral pneumonia on January 17, 1996. Barbara Jordan is a modern here because she is a brave woman, she overcame racism, she is also a civil rights activist.

Was Jane long really the mother of Texas?I think not . It all started on july 23 1798 , when Jane Herbert wilkinson was born. When Jane was born the doctors thought that she was dead and then proceeded to shoved her in a night stand drawer while they saved her mother's life.When the doctors opened the nightstand drawer they discovered Jane Herbert Wilkinson alive and well. Jane was the tenth child in her family.Sadly,Jane’s father died when jane was only one years old .Jane later became an orphan at the age of fourteen. After jane's mom died she moved in with her aunt .Jane’s family was very wealthy, so wealthy that Jane got her own slave named Kian , they were really good friends and when Jane was sixteen she was on her way to school and Kian told her about a very handsome man that was a doctor and persuaded her to skip school and meet him ,she then proceeded to introduced her to James long ,her future husband. Jane later got married to James long in may of 1815 and had her first child when she was only eighteen years old .In September of 1821 jane was expecting her second child and stayed behind at a post while james,her husband left ,she vowed to not leave till he returned but , he never did. She had her child in a very harsh winter,on the Bolivar peninsula in december of 1821. Jane and her slave,Kian fought starvation for over two weeks.She claimed to be the first english-speaking woman to give birth in Texas but, we know now that she wasn't.Soon after she found out that she was a widow in 1822 at the age of twenty four .

Would the advances of today be up to such standards without the writings of history? Diary’s and books show the way of life along with what did and did not work. Women such as Martha Ballard and Mary Jemison gave an insight into their life that would have not been accessible to the world we know.

In the glass castle, Jeannette Wells lives with such parents that she was much of the time homeless. She had no idea that her father’s drinking abuse was so wrong, or that living in such run down homes with animals that came and go could be seemed as unfit for a family with children. So young, with her three siblings, they wouldn’t know at the time they were being treated poorly by the people they believed loved them the most. Scroungy and dirty, but tough from living in such horrible conditions as a child. Growing up has shown difficulty for the young girl.

Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine MacDonald in St. Louis, Missouri to her unwed parents: Carrie McDonald and Eddie Carson. Her father soon left the family and Josephine had to help her mother support herself and her three younger half-siblings. At age eight, she got a job working as a maid for a white family (Robinson). At age 12, she had dropped out of school to work. By age 14, she had moved out, been married, and separated from her first husband. She would later go onto marry and divorce three more men. Never was she financially dependent on any man, including her husbands.

Musical prodigy Mary Lou Williams, also known as Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, was born on May 8, 1910 in Atlanta, Georgia. She was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along with her 10 half brothers and sisters. The start of Mary Lou’s piano career began when she was able to replay almost perfectly the song her mother played on the family’s pump organ. Her exceptional gift of perfect pitch and teaching from her mom enabled her to play piano on a professional level at the age of four years old. Mary Lou’s birth name was Mary Elfrieda Scruggs but she changed her name to Mary Lou Burly to take her step father’s last name. She later changed her last name to Williams after her first husband. At a young age Mary Lou performed small gigs around Pittsburgh and at the age of 10, she was known everywhere

Who was Josephine Baker? Born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3,1906, in St. Louis, Missouri , Josephine Baker spent her youth in poverty before learning to dance and finding success on Broadway. In the 1920s, she moved to France and soon became one of Europe’s most popular and highest-paid performers. She worked for the French Resistance during World War II, and during the 1950’s and 60’s devoted herself to fighting segregation and racism in the United States. It was also around this time that Josephine first took up dancing honing her skills, both in clubs and in street performances, and by 1919 she was touring the United States with the Jones family band

Imagine the strength required to defy social inequality and rise to become a purveyor of culture upon a new generation of poets. Gwendolyn Brooks was one with such strength. She had the strength to overcome the garrison of social injustice which held back so many other African-Americans. She had the strength to establish herself as a master poet by being the first of her kind to win a Pulitzer Prize and be appointed Poet Laureate of the United States. She, Gwendolyn Brooks, a champion of African-American literature since her youth and a civil rights activist in her old age, wrote many critically acclaimed works of both prose and poetry and excessively garnered prestige among the ranks of twentieth-century

The summer of 1911 Hollywood star, Ginger Rogers, was born in Independence, Missouri. Ginger, a young and talented girl, grew up to be a famous and one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood, America’s most famous city for acting. Ginger grew up to be a very successful actress due to the support and help of family and friends.

On the day of March 6 1979 everything seemed normal in the scenic European country called Poland. Passerbys walked along the streets, bundled up in warm clothes, birds sang their melodies, children were in school, adults were working, and children were born. One of these children, however, would go on to make a name for herself almost halfway across the world on a small and somewhat reclusive island in America.

Katherine Dunham, an African American dancer from Chicago Illinois had a very successful dance career in American and European theatre in the 20th century. Dunham was a choreographer as well as a dancer. She directed her own dance company for many years before she died May 2006. Dunham was known as the “matriarch and queen mother of black dance” meaning that she was the “head” or “leader” of black dance. Her works and pieces all showed similarity and differences throughout the time in which they were produced. Most of her works were not solos but they were danced with her and her company in which she taught various classes based on her technique.

Bella Lewitzky, in her time, was considered a world-renowned modern dance instructor. Her astounding technique, to engage the core, is still used world wide today. Born in the utopian socialist community of Llano del Rio in the Mojave Desert, her family settled in San Bernardino when she was a child. Dance was of a great interest to Lewitzky; she grew to love the art of dance and attended classes taught by Lester Horton during the 1930’s. Soon after beginning dance with Lester, Bella “established herself as a highly charismatic performer with the Horton Dance Group…”

We are all gathered here today to remember the short, but luxurious life of our beloved friend, Marilyn Cross. This courageous young woman did many incredible things throughout her lifetime. She was incredibly humble about those graceful things, nor she didn’t even realize what she had really accomplished in life. This girl in front of us today was number one, an All-American soccer athlete, number two, she was on the Honor’s Society all throughout Middle and High School, and number three, she was an inspiring woman who was a joy to be around.

One of the greatest dancer/choreographers was Katherine Dunham. Katherine Dunham created many ballet companies schools, used Thinking Flexibly to innovate ways to make sure everyone would be able to learn dance, and illuminated the world by rejecting social injustice.