Picks & Finds

A celebrity in her own right among politicians and public figures of the mid-20th century, Mary (Marietta) Endicott Tree’s (1917–1991) life was defined by glamour, public service, and political pursuits. Her life was also characterized by the limitations and opportunities of being a woman in elite and powerful circles.

In the course of the past 150 years, women’s efforts in behalf of social justice (including suffrage, equal rights, fair labor laws, peace, and civil rights for African Americans and gays and lesbians) have been well documented in diaries, speeches, correspondence, and meeting minutes—some passionate and intimate, others written for a public audience. But what happens to those ephemeral pieces left behind in dresser drawers or rolled up at the back of a closet, forgotten once the march was over or the election won? 

The Schlesinger Library's vegetarian cookbooks provide a look into book history, social movements, subcultures, and, certainly, food.  

In 1976, the Portuguese journalist and activist Maria Antonia Palla produced and aired a documentary on Portuguese television titled “Abortion: The Crime Is in the Law.” It documented an illegal abortion clinic and advocated for decriminalization of the procedure. She was jailed for “moral offenses” and “incitation to crime.” Her trial did not occur until 1979.