Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — So, what makes a woman phenomenal?

That question will be answered during a presentation of “Phenomenal Woman!” on March 22 at the Battle Creek Regional History Museum (BCRHM). The title of the three-woman performance comes from a poem of the same name written by the late Maya Angelou.

In that poem Angelou writes that everything about a woman makes her phenomenal, something that resonated with Donna Rickman, BCHRM Board Member and Vice President of the Historical Society of Battle Creek.

As she and fellow BCRHM Board Member Michael Delaware were discussing what a program highlighting women in Calhoun County history would look like, he suggested an approach that puts the lives of these women in a much richer context.

“Michael said what might make a woman great or phenomenal? I thought of Maya Angelou, who I saw 25 years ago at a performance in Battle Creek, where she read her poem Phenomenal Women,” Rickman says. “I ordered a copy of the book with her poems.”

That book will be placed on a table facing the audience as Rickman and her two fellow performers, Bobbie Mathis and Toni McPeake Ardis, give voice to Dr. Velma Laws Clay; Caroline Hurd; Betty Hutton; Mary Jennings Pendill; Dr. Donna Powell; Revene Grant Slater; and Margaret Duffy Werstein.

To prepare to speak in the voice of some of these women, Ardis, Mathis, and Rickman researched biographical information and obituaries, in addition to other information sources.

“We’ll speak in first person like them and from there look at what made each woman so unique. Her style, inner beauty and her essence will be brought back to life in our readings,” Rickman says. “We’ll be looking at what made her tick, what made her move, be joyful or sad, and accomplished and productive.”

Except Hutton, who was born in Battle Creek and would achieve fame as an actor in the 1940s, and Laws Clay, a business and community leader in Battle Creek, the other women are likely not as well known.

Hurd was a philanthropist and capitalist/investor; Pendill was a leader in Temperance and Suffrage movements at the local, state, and national level; Powell was the first female, African American physician at the VA Medical Center in Battle Creek; Slater was an evangelist; and Werstein who was murdered in 1916 by her husband.

“What was the something that happened that made her find herself on the road she wanted to travel,” Rickman asks about each of these women. “Whatever it was, that’s what makes them Phenomenal Woman.”

Rickman’s journey led her to become a Sojourner Truth Historian and Reenactor. For many years she performed in the character of Truth in costume for businesses and organizations throughout Michigan. Her spot-on performances were among the reasons the retired K-12 educator received a 2024 State History Award in the category of Educator of the Year from the Historical Society of Michigan.

“I have earned my dues,” she says of the award.

Herstory is just as important as history

Though they may not have been celebrated for who they were and what they did during their lifetimes, they each had their own unique story, and that, Rickman says, is what all women have. Finding these stories isn’t always easy, but it is necessary to ensure that a more complete history of Calhoun County is represented.

In a similar production last year, Lora Vasquez, Treasurer and volunteer with BCRHM, took on the roles of Marjorie Merriweather Post and Vera Wightman.

While a lot has been written about Post, whose father was the founder of Post Cereals, she had never heard of Wightman, who was an outstanding athlete at the professional and amateur levels.

Through her research, Vasquez learned that Wightman played second base in 1946 for the Grand Rapids Chicks who were part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She also was a Women's Champion Bowler in Battle Creek, setting many records, some of which still have not been broken, in addition to being an excellent golfer.

“Vera was a gruff lady who didn’t put up with a lot,” Vasquez says. “To have a woman in that timeframe who was assertive like that was not what people expected. She just had a lot of fun being who she was.”

And she would come to find out that Post was also no shrinking violet.

“Post wasn’t just her dad’s daughter, she was much, much more,” says Vasquez who has her own story of what it was like to be a woman in a field dominated by men.

For eight years she worked as a tree trimmer for Consumers Energy. She faced a lot of opposition while trying to get that job.

“I did have to fight to get into that department because at the time they didn’t feel that a woman could do it,” Vasquez says.

She would prove them wrong.

“I could do just about everything my male colleagues could do. I learned how to use a chainsaw and carry stuff in a way that worked for me,” she says. “Tree trimming is a dirty job because you get sawdust all down into your clothes, but it’s rewarding because you know you’ve accomplished something. Being in a nontraditional job, this made me feel close to Vera and it was one of the things I could draw on to be in her voice.” 

As she practiced to take on the voices of these women, she felt what it was like to be them, which she says was a “big part of it. It’s easier to speak about a person when you know who they are.”

In this year’s presentation, the third annual one hosted by the BCRHM, Vasquez has taken on the role of co-director. Part of that job involves knowing about the women being lifted.

“I don’t feel like I can produce without knowing more about them,” she says.

Vasquez never considered herself to be part of the Women’s Liberation movement, but says the curtain needs to be pulled back to reveal the stories of all women who deserve equal rights and opportunities.

“Women have been somewhat suppressed throughout history. Many women did many things almost behind the scenes that weren’t recognized during their lifetime,” she says. “There’s a lot that people can learn about what these women went through. These women did these things and no one knew about it.”