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Macomb Feminist Network's 2022 Writing Women into History Honorees

February 23, 2022

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MACOMB, IL -- The Macomb Feminist Network has selected Gayle Tronvig Carper, Nancy "Nan" Crossman, Verneata Jones and Jill Joline Myers as recipients of its 2022 Writing Women into History Awards. The women will be honored for their outstanding contributions to the local community on Saturday, March 5, during a reception at the Wesley Village Community Center.

Through this award, the Macomb Feminist Network seeks to expand public knowledge and appreciation of individual women whose initiatives, advocacy, and engagement have strengthened the local community in significant ways. This year's honorees, like earlier honorees, have excelled as role models and community leaders over many years.

The public is invited to join MFN members in honoring this year's award recipients at Wesley Village Community Center between 10 a.m.-noon, March 5. Following a light brunch, honorees will tell their stories of activism and civic commitment. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, in-person attendance is restricted to 50 people. Masks are required. RSVP to RM-Kelly1@wiu.edu by Monday, Feb. 28 to make a reservation. Information about accessing the event through live streaming will be posted on the Macomb Feminist Network's Facebook page.

Carper, WIU law enforcement and justice administration professor emerita, was the first woman tenured full professor in the LEJA department. She has woven her background and training as an attorney, public defender and WIU professor into the activities she has pursued as a civic-minded Macomb resident. Her approach to the roles and tasks she assumes is consistently meticulous. Whether she was serving on the City Council (first appointed, then elected), writing a commentary for Tri-States Public Radio's Women's Voices or helping establish an organization to help ensure food security for residents in need, her approach has reflected scrupulous research and an exceptionally coherent presentation of information and insight. She has co-chaired the annual Gazebo Art Festival and the Macomb Art Center's Art and Gift Market multiple times, taking responsibility for much of the events' organization and publicity. Carper's contributions to Macomb's civic and cultural life attest to her strength and integrity as well as her extraordinary energy, enthusiasm and commitment to a healthy, viable community.

Crossman, WIU communication instructor emerita, has been helping ensure a diverse and lively arts scene in Macomb for many years. Whether serving on the Performing Art Society Board, facilitating Macomb Community Theater productions or coordinating the multiple activities sponsored by the Macomb Arts Center, Crossman has been generously giving her time to make sure these ventures attract audiences and help both spectators and contributors enjoy the talent of the many artists in the community. The wide spectrum of activities she organizes and manages through the Macomb Arts Center as its volunteer executive director bear out her commitment. She facilitates events and projects that clearly appeal to children, from tikes to teens, others that appeal to adults, and still others that bring in entire families. She has taken on the nitty-gritty behind-the-scenes roles that event planning requires as well as the role of host for programs, receptions, and exhibits. She has consistently done so with grace.

Jones is well-known and respected in the Macomb community. She has helped organize and implement many programs and events sponsored by her church and various community organizations, including P.R.I.D.E., a summer youth program that emphasized education, recreation and service, a summer food distribution initiative and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Juneteenth celebrations. Widely and comfortably known as Aunt V in the community, what is perhaps most remarkable about her service is what she has been doing on her own year after year. Jones has provided foster care, often on an emergency basis, for over 27 children, always making sure those she cared for had what they needed materially, emotionally and educationally. She reaches out to people with ease, discerns their needs, and quietly finds ways to help. Skilled and caring, she has enriched the lives of numerous people in the community through her love and generosity.

Myers, director of the WIU School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, using her doctoral studies in law, first in Baltimore and then in Macomb, has spent much of her career working on behalf of victims and society. She began by representing abused and neglected children; later she represented victims of violence and terrorism. She continues to focus on the well-being and safety of children, no longer as a prosecutor or investigator, but as the President of the Macomb CUSD No. 185, helping to develop policies that determine how Macomb schools prepare students for a successful future. Given students' widespread access to the internet, Myers' background in electronic surveillance and cyber investigations has been particularly valuable in addressing online bullying and in promoting cyber safety and digital citizenship training. She serves on the board of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters, is a member of the Macomb Fire and Police Commission, and is president-elect of the morning Rotary Club. Her commitment to the community runs deep.

These women join the women who have been honored previously with the Writing Women into History Award: Wanda Black, Mary Ellen Graff, Rosa Julestrom, and Beth Stiffler (2010), Connie Berg, Marcia Moll, and Ruth Parks (2011), Maria Dunstan, Judith Kohler, and Donna Werner (2012), Josephine Johnson, Elizabeth Kaspar, and Janice Welsch (2013), Gordana Rezab, Alice Swain, and Mary Warnock (2014), Lois Ganyard, Margaret Ovitt, and Suzan Nash (2015), Alice Henry, Alta Sargent, and Peggy Scharfenburg (2016), Lorraine Epperson, Debbie Maguire, Pamella McLean, and Rebecca "Becky" Parker (2017), Sally Egler, Martha Klems, Maurine Magliocco, and Paula Wise (2018), Belinda Carr, Susan Lawhorn, Winona Malpass, Essie Rutledge, and Patricia Walton (2019), and Janine Cavicchia, Patricia "Patti" Jones, Lois Lueck, and Sue Scott (2020). Information about these women's contributions to the city and county is available on the Macomb Feminist Network's website at https://macombfeminists.org/.

Posted By: Alisha Looney (AA-Looney@wiu.edu)
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