In the spring of 1999, I got a call from Rose Norman. Would I be interested in doing a little something to help celebrate Women's Equality Day that August? Having had great fun working with Rose and the UAH Women's Studies Program before, I quickly said yes. It ought to be easy to pull something together in a few months. As a teacher I had the summer free to play around with ideas. Rather quickly, however, our notions about the "little something" began to grow. Grants were written, consultants were hired, committees were formed, artists were approached--a year passed. Many times last winter, when I was drowning in research and wondering where the play was, I would hear from Patricia Sammon or Elizabeth Perry or Lynne Rieff, saying just the right words to lift my spirits. And support came for Rose's end of the work, too. Time after time, she would need a little more financial support for some part of the project and, almost miraculously, it would come. We began to shake our heads in wonder, and laugh. A year later, we premiered Women Great of Heart, celebrating the lives of Hallie Farmer and Pattie Ruffner Jacobs. But we are also celebrating the lives and work of the galaxy of women and men who supported this project with their time, money, ideas, and words of encouragement. We have all come to believe that Hallie Farmer and Pattie Ruffner Jacobs are women whose story needs to be told. We hope you'll agree. Bette Yeager, July 2000
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