Mahoning Valley women share their memories

By Elise Franco | March 20, 2011 at 12:07a.m.

This generation knows only what it reads in history books about the women’s-rights movement, but many Mahoning Valley women have firsthand memories of the progress made.

Austintown Trustee Lisa Oles, who has been on the board for eight years, said Women’s History Month for her is about remembering the suffering and sacrifices made by women of the past.

“Years ago, contributions women made to build our nation went unnoticed,” she said. “Today, the role women play has evolved dramatically. We’re strong, independent-thinking and highly educated individuals. The recognition women are given now is well-deserved.”

Women’s History Month became nationally recognized in March 1987 and garners bipartisan support from the House and Senate each year to honor the achievements of American women, according to the National Women’s History Project website.

Significant accomplishments include the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in 1920, and the Equal Pay Act passed in 1963.

Marge Dinda of Austintown said recognition of the movement is important for men and women to remember.

“It’s to know where you come from and to know some of the women who worked for our rights,” she said. “I admire them.”

Dinda said several strong-willed women throughout history have inspired her during her lifetime, especially Eleanor Roosevelt.

“I just loved her because she wasn’t afraid of anybody or of what anybody said about her,” Dinda said. “She was a great woman.”

June Drennen, member of the Youngstown Board of Education, remembered challenging moments during her 30-year career as an educator and principal with the Diocese of Youngstown.

Drennen said after 15 years as a teacher and five years as an elementary school principal, she was hired in 1999 as the principal of John F. Kennedy High School in Warren.

Drennen said though it was the late 1990s, she was still forced to prove herself in a group of male peers.

“At that time, I was the only female high-school principal in the diocese,” she said. “It was difficult because I was often not taken seriously. Until I was able to prove myself capable, I was ‘the woman.’”

Drennen said though the women’s movement gave females a larger role, they still face adversity.

“I think being a woman is difficult when you’re involved in anything run with a sense of power,” she said. “Women haven’t yet reached the point where they’re acknowledged as complete equals.”

Oles said she also had to prove herself when she was first elected to the township board.

“I was probably viewed as the weaker link when I first came in ... so I think there were challenges,” she said. “It took a while for there to be mutual respect between myself and the sitting trustees at the time.”

Oles said the two most inspirational women to her were also strong female voices of Austintown — June Stas, the only other woman elected to the board of trustees; and Joyce Pogany, former member of the Austintown board of education.

Oles said both women always have been active in making Austintown a better community in which to live.

Judy Jones of Austintown said she’s sure the country eventually will reach the ultimate women’s-movement payoff.

“We’re all created equal, and I know one of these days, we’ll have a woman president,” she said.

Jones said for her, the two most influential females in history are Susan B. Anthony, who was at the heart of women’s suffrage; and Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state.

“Up until women had the right to vote, it was a man’s world,” Jones said. “And look at what [Clinton] has done and what she did even when her husband was president.

“It’s important to have strong women at the forefront.”