Category: Women

“Pickering’s Harem”, Henrietta Swan Levitt, Edwin Hubble, and More on Women in Science

Research on Edwin Hubble lead me to learn more about this set of female mathematicians – and in that wonderful way the synergy of the world seems to work they were then discussed on a UK comedy game show starring Sandy Toksvig – and I learned even more!

Henrietta Swan Levitt figured out how to measure the distance from the earth of pulsating stars.  Edwin Hubble then used her calculations to discover the Milky Way.  One of the game show guests asks when she gets credit and the answer is – only anecdotally from Hubble reminding people of her work.  Why you might ask?  For two reasons…  

upper body and face of Henrietta Swan Leavitt
Public Domain, Link

First, Levitt was part of what was nicknamed Pickering’s Harem.  Edward Pickering ran the Harvard Observatory and found his male employees who analyzed data from the skies incompetent and slow so one day he said, “My maid could do it better.”  The male staff said “Go ahead” so Pickering did hire a slew of women and as they worked so well he hired more women.  Annie Jump Cannon manually classified 350,000 stars in her career.  Yet, in that way misogyny takes over, rather than call them fellow mathematicians or astronomers, the women became… Pickering’s Harem. I also learned that this lead to the Harem effect — a phenomenon where male executives hire female assistants as they are cheaper and work harder.  The jokes of these game show celebrities reminded me of the misogyny of naming the women Pickering’s Harem.  We didn’t call the men of the Mercury project “Jackie Kennedy’s consorts”.  I mean what a way to demean a set of highly educated women.  

The Second reason Henrietta Swan Levitt did not receive full credit for her discovery is that Swedish mathematician Gösta Mittag-Leffler DID want to nominate Levitt for the 1926 Nobel Prize for Physics – but she had died 4 years earlier and the Prize can’t be awarded posthumously (I wonder what male thought up that dumb rule – and why?).  Thankfully, Hubble always mentioned Levitt – but textbooks do not necessarily.  At the end of the segment the host then covers the many lies Hubble told in his lifetime as a means of polishing his less than elegant background. 

Amazing what you can learn from a UK game show.

Related posts:

  1. Women’s History Month – 26 in a series – Henrietta Johnston
  2. 17 Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute)
  3. 08 Edith Wharton’s Ghost Stories from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute 3 seconds)
  4. Celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science – 11 February 2019
  5. 02 Science Fiction As A Place For Discussion from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute)

A Woman Wrote That – 15 in a series – Clueless – Wr: Amy Heckerling

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 15 in a series - Clueless - Wr: Amy Heckerling

AMBER

Ms. Stoeger, my plastic surgeon doesn’t want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose.

Related posts:

  1. A Woman Wrote That – 6 in a series – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
  2. A Woman Wrote That – 12 in a series – Private Benjamin (1980) by Nancy Meyers
  3. A Woman Wrote That – 11 in a series – Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
  4. A Woman Wrote That – 9 in a series – Klondike Annie by Mae West (1936)
  5. A Woman Wrote That – 10 in a series – When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Nora Ephron

Event: ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Complete Transcript

I had a lot of fun on my first Twitter Chat last Sunday. Jeanne Veillette Bowerman of #Scriptchat had invited to talk about how to behave in a writers room alongside what are the benefits of an MFA in TV and Screenwriting (such as the one we offer from Stephens College).  

Happily, I had just interviewed Gloria Calderon Kellet who had an MFA and who had said so astutely that no one requires that in Hollywood but taking 2 years to invest in herself and her craft meant she had material that was truly of high enough quality to offer up when future producers offered to read her work.  So that was nice!

As to Twitter, I knew being short and concise is the bread and butter of Twitter but… wow… I’m clearly a much longer storyteller and kept running over the limit and having to use ellipses to extend a sentence or a thought.  But folks seemed to enjoy it and even said I had ‘dropped pearls’ so that was nice to hear as well.

Check out #Scriptchat every Sunday night at 5pmPST/8pmET for more fun guests.

 

Event: ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Sunday, February 14, 2021 - 4PM PDT

ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch from Sunday, February 14, 2021

Read the entire transcript

Related posts:

  1. Event: ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Sunday, February 14, 2021 – 4PM PDT
  2. Event: Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Online Open House – Thursday, April 23, 2020
  3. Learn more about the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting in this Q&A with Executive Director, Dr. Rosanne Welch
  4. Event: Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Open House – Wednesday, February 10, 2021
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Stephens College MFA Alumni Chase Thompson and Michael Burke Talk About Their MFA Experience on the Starcatcher Podcast [Audio Except]

In this clip from a recent Starcatcher podcast film professor (and MFA alum) and host – Chase Thompson – interviews Tech Theatre professor (and MFA alum) Michael Blake about their time as MFA candidates in our Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting program. 

They both mention the great feedback they received from their writing mentors, which made me thankful for the dedication of the many marvelous mentors in our program. Then the part that made me smile the most… They each reflected on how important it was in the History of Screenwriting courses to learn about all the female screenwriters who founded Hollywood and how often those women were left out of mainstream histories of the era.

It’s a very powerful example of how history takes time — and deep research — or someone(s) will be left out.

RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Stephens College MFA Alumni Chase Thompson and Michael Burke Talk About Their MFA Experience on the Starcatcher Podcast [Audio Except]

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Join me for a conversation with Stephens College’s Director of Production, Michael Burke. A former graduate of the Stephens Theatre program, Michael talks about his path to production, his background, why Theatre majors are so good at saying thank you, and his predictions on where the road Theater is heading after the pandemic is over.

Listen to this excerpt

Listen to the entire Starcatcher Podcast Episode

Related posts:

  1. Listen to “Between the Sheets: Writing About Sex on TV” from the Writers Guild Foundation and Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting [Audio]
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  3. Screenwriter Jennifer Maisel from The March Sisters at Christmas, and Tempting Fate from the How I Wrote That Podcast [Audio]
  4. Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Alumni, Sahar Jahani, Interviewed in Voyage LA Magazine
  5. Listen to the latest “How I Wrote That” Podcast with Screenwriter Julie Hébert from ‘American Crime’ and ‘Man in the High Castle’

A Woman Wrote That – 14 in a series – The Birdcage (1996) Wr: Elaine May

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

AGADOR

“My guatemalaness. My natural heat. You’re afraid I’m too primitive to perform with your little estrogen Rockettes.”

Related posts:

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  2. A Woman Wrote That – 10 in a series – When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Nora Ephron
  3. A Woman Wrote That – 13 in a series – Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  4. A Woman Wrote That – 12 in a series – Private Benjamin (1980) by Nancy Meyers
  5. A Woman Wrote That – 9 in a series – Klondike Annie by Mae West (1936)

Event: Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Open House – Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Wednesday, February 10, 2021
At 4 PM PDT – 5 PM PDT
 
Register Now

Explore the low-residency MFA in TV + Screenwriting with Executive Director Dr. Rosanne Welch. Our mission is to increase the impact of women and other under-represented voices in television and film. Our faculty and mentors include some of the best working writers in Hollywood, and our curriculum includes an in-depth look at the business side of TV and screenwriting.

Register Now

Related posts:

  1. Event: Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Online Open House – Wednesday, November 18, 2020 – 4pm PST
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  3. Learn More About the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting with this Open House Session [Video]
  4. Master Class On Writing with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Mentor, Valerie Woods
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A Woman Wrote That – 13 in a series – Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 13 in a series - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

PRINCESS LEIA

Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking… nerf-herder.

Related posts:

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  4. A Woman Wrote That – 9 in a series – Klondike Annie by Mae West (1936)
  5. A Woman Wrote That: “It’s A Wonderful Life”, Written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett – 1 in a series

A Woman Wrote That – 12 in a series – Private Benjamin (1980) by Nancy Meyers

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 12 in a series - Private Benjamin (1980) by Nancy Meyers

JUDY

Look at this place. The army couldn’t afford drapes?

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Dr. Rosanne Welch Speaks On “An Introduction to the Women of Early TV: There are More Women than Lucy to Love“ for the American Women Writers National Museum [Virtual via Zoom]

I’m thrilled to have been asked to make a presentation for the American Women Writers National Museum (AWWNM) on the topic of “An Introduction to the Women of Early TV: There are More Women than Lucy to Love“.  I’ll be discussing the groundbreaking work of women from Gertrude Berg (one of the first women to create, write, produce and star in a long-running hit — The Goldbergs) to D.C. Fontana (Star Trek).    — RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

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RSVP Today! 
Email AWWNM1@gmail.com

Wed Feb 10, 2021 noon-12:45 EDT

“An Introduction to the Women of Early TV: There are More Women than Lucy to Love“

Sponsored by: American Women Writers National Museum

Time & Place: noon-12:45 p.m. EDT / 9 AM PDT via Zoom

All AWWNM programs are now via Zoom until further notice. Invitations are sent via email to AWWNM’s mailing list. RSVPS are REQUIRED in order to receive a link to a specific program. If you would like an invitation, email request to AWWNM1@gmail.com.

Dr. Rosanne Welch, Executive Director of the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting, Author, Historian and Book Reviews editor of the Journal of Screenwriting will profile pioneer women who created, produced and worked on many of America’s most wildly popular early TV Programs. 

“My goal is to rescue these talented women from historical oblivion”, she said.

Some of the women writers she will discuss are:

  • Lucille Ball (1911-1989) of “I Love Lucy” fame, who also ran Desilu production company and greenlighted the blockbuster Star Trek productions.
  • Treva Silverman (1936- ) winner of two Emmy awards for the brilliant comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
  • D.C. Fontana (Dorothy Catherine) Fontana (1939-2019) a story editor of Star Trek
  • Leigh Brackett (1915-1878) known as “Queen of the Space Opera” who wrote on or worked on timeless films: The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), The Long Goodbye (1973) and The Empire Strike Back (1980).
  • Peg Lynch (1915-2015) She wrote about 11,000 scripts for radio and TV

Related posts:

  1. Watch Dr. Rosanne Welch on What Is a Western? Interview Series: When Women Wrote Westerns from the Autry Museum of the American West [Video] (27 minutes)
  2. 40 Madelyn Pugh and I Love Lucy from “When Women Wrote Hollywood” with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (54 seconds)
  3. 07 African-American Writers In History from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (53 seconds)
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Watch Dr. Rosanne Welch on What Is a Western? Interview Series: When Women Wrote Westerns from the Autry Museum of the American West [Video] (27 minutes)

The Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting is building a relationship with the Autry Museum of the American West since both organizations are devoted to bringing out more diverse and untold stories.  Last year we were able to take our cohort of graduating MFA candidates to the museum’s theatre for a showing of Michael Wilson’s Salt of the Earth and we had plans to present a film of our choice this year – but of course the pandemic changed all that.  Instead, Autry Curator Josh Garrett-Davis asked me if I would sit for an interview about female screenwriters in the western genre and so “When Women Wrote Westerns” came to be a part of their “What Is a Western? Interview Series”. 

I had a great time discussing so many wonderful women writers – from Jeanne MacPherson to D.C. Fontana to Edna Ferber to Emily Andras.  If you love westerns I suggest you watch Josh’s other interviews covering everything from the work of Native Americans in Western movies to films in the western-horror hybrid. — RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch Dr. Rosanne Welch on What Is a Western? Interview Series: When Women Wrote Westerns from the Autry Museum of the American West [Video] (27 minutes)

As part of a series exploring the significance of the Western genre and the ways in which the movies shape our understanding of the American West, Autry Curator Josh Garrett-Davis interviews Professor Rosanne Welch about the women screenwriters of Hollywood and their contributions to the Western genre.

Find more information at the Autry Museum of the American West

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Related posts:

  1. 07 African-American Writers In History from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (53 seconds)
  2. 01 Introduction from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute 18 seconds)
  3. 14 Beetlejuice from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute 16 seconds)
  4. Listen to the latest “How I Wrote That” Podcast with Screenwriter Julie Hébert from ‘American Crime’ and ‘Man in the High Castle’
  5. “When Women Wrote Hollywood”, Dr. Rosanne Welch, Cal State University, Fullerton [Video] (53 minutes, 30 seconds)