NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH, 2016

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

 

The physical and emotional scars of domestic violence can cast a long shadow. Too many individuals, regardless of age, ability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, circumstance, or race, face the pain and fear of domestic violence. During National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we shine a light on this violation of the basic human right to be free from violence and abuse, pledge to ensure every victim of domestic violence knows they are not alone, and foster supportive communities that help survivors seek justice and enjoy full and healthy lives.

Over the past two decades, rates of domestic violence against females have dropped by nearly three-quarters — but there is still much work to do to build on the progress we have made. Nearly 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have suffered from domestic violence by an intimate partner. All people deserve to feel safe with loved ones, and my Administration is committed to eliminating this scourge and supporting survivors’ healing — and we must ensure that survivors and their families have access to the resources, care, and support they need to do so.

My Administration is dedicated to ensuring that all people feel safe in all aspects of their lives, which is why I proposed significant funding for responding to domestic violence in my most recent budget proposal. We have also championed legislative action like the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, and the Affordable Care Act — which ensures that most health plans cover domestic violence screening and counseling services at no additional cost. And the Violence Against Women Act, which was reauthorized in 2013, has enhanced and expanded protections to Native Americans, immigrants, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, and victims who reside in public housing.

This is progress we must continue to invest in and carry forward. Earlier this year, I announced a series of commonsense steps my Administration is taking to reduce gun violence, including work to renew our domestic violence outreach efforts. Building on the work of our Police Data Initiative, the White House is promoting smart approaches to collecting data on domestic violence offenses that balance transparency and accountability with victim safety and privacy. And victim safety should also be a priority in the workplace — a truth that extends to the Federal Government. That is why I directed all Federal agencies to adopt domestic violence workplace policies and encouraged employers to do the same.

Our agencies have taken many critical actions to advance this cause. For example, the Department of Justice has invested millions of dollars in new initiatives to prevent domestic violence homicides, urge law enforcement agencies to identify and prevent gender bias when responding to domestic violence and sexual assault, and expand services to underserved victims. And the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued guidance to prevent housing discrimination against survivors of domestic violence.

Vice President Joe Biden’s leadership has helped guide our progress and worked to change our national culture — which too often tolerates and condones domestic violence. We are challenging harmful stereotypes associated with victims of domestic violence and striving to bring the practice of victim-blaming to an end. We must continue to recognize survivors who experience disproportionate rates of domestic violence, and who have been placed at the margins for generations, including women of color, Native Americans, individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBT community, immigrants, and older adults. Along these lines, we also joined with Canada and Mexico to create the North American Working Group on Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls, working together to enhance responses to violent crimes against indigenous women and girls in North America.

Our Nation’s character is tested whenever this injustice is tolerated. When anyone is targeted by someone they place their trust in, we have a responsibility to speak up. We all have a role to play in building a bright and safe future for each other and for future generations. This month, we recommit to standing with survivors of domestic violence and to doing our utmost to extend hope and healing to all who need it. If you or someone you know needs assistance, I encourage you to reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which recently engaged in its 4 millionth conversation with victims and survivors of domestic violence, by calling 1-800-799-SAFE, or visiting www.TheHotline.org.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2016 as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I call on all Americans to speak out against domestic violence and support local efforts to assist victims of these crimes in finding the help and healing they need.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.

BARACK OBAMA

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From The White House, Office of the Secretary, September 30, 2016 – https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/10/01/presidential-proclamation-national-domestic-violence-awareness-month

The Merit System Principles: Guiding the Fair and Effective Management of the Federal Workforce.

 

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) has just released a new report, The Merit System Principles: Guiding the Fair and Effective Management of the Federal Workforce. This report summarizes how well Federal agencies are perceived to be supporting the MSPs; evaluates the extent and effectiveness of agency education on the MSPs; recommends steps to improve MSP education and adherence; and provides guidance and resources to facilitate greater understanding of the MSPs.

Click here to review the overview. To view a copy of the full report click here.

“The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.” ~ Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States

With a major national election looming, it’s time to think about our right to vote.

If you read the Constitution of the United States, you may be surprised to find that it does not guarantee the right to vote to its citizens. It was understood, in the beginning, that decisions for our country and its government should be restricted to certain individuals who “know what’s best”.

It wasn’t until 1868, with the 14th Amendment, that the right to vote was extended to all person born within the United States. The 15th Amendment, in 1870, took this one step further, requiring that no citizen be denied the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. And, it wasn’t until 1920, with the 19th Amendment, that women were finally considered citizens with regards to voting rights.

Why, then, do so many in this country fail to exercise this right that was so hard won?

“My vote doesn’t count. It’s the Electoral College that chooses.” However, the popular vote determines how the Electoral College votes.

“I’m too busy.” We’re all busy. Life can be challenging. We find the time for those things that are important to us. People have fought and died to protect this right for us. This is important.

“Registering is just too confusing.” Not so! For the most part, simply the presentation of identification is sufficient to complete the registration process. Have you moved recently? If so, you’ll need to update your Registration to preserve your right to vote.

“Why bother? They’re all liars.” Then say so, with your vote. Those who do not speak up with their vote have no right to speak up to complain about the results.

“The lines are too long!” In reality, lines are seldom very long. The peak line lengths are generally right when the polls open, and when they are about to close. If you’re still worried you’ll have to wait for too long a time, take advantage of early voting. Check this calendar to find early voting information for your area.

Exercise your rights. Make sure your registration is filed and up-to-date so that you can be heard.

Resources:

• Voter Registration Deadlines
• Early Voting Calendar
• Check Your Registration

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

The OPM has a library of programs offered by Federal departments and agencies to foster the development of leadership skills in their employees. Information on programs can be found by searching the catalog by agency, pay level, key words, and/or audience scope. Even more information can be accessed by using the URL, email, and/or phone number listed next to each program under Get More Info.

“The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.” Ray Kroc

Search the catalog here: https://www.opm.gov/services-for-agencies/federal-leadership-development-programs/#url=Search-the-Catalogue

The 2016 Government-wide Inclusive Diversity Strategic Plan (the Plan) outlines the second phase of implementation of the President’s 2011 Executive Order 13583, Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce (the Executive Order).

This Plan takes the lessons learned since the 2011 Government-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan was issued and provides Federal agencies a path for continuing to create and foster a Federal workforce that includes and engages Federal employees and draws from all segments of society. The overarching strategy of this Plan is to increase the  transparency of human capital processes (to the extent appropriate, in light of the obligation to protect certain test and examination materials, for example) throughout the Federal workplace as an approach to foster the inclusion that leads to the diversity of the workforce. The Plan provides a framework for the many initiatives that have been  realized, the efforts that are currently underway, and the overarching strategy, offering a  cohesive and comprehensive path forward. Together, Federal agencies will fully utilize policies, programs, and systems that support inclusive diversity through increasingly focused, innovative, and accelerated communication and learning strategies.

This Plan also includes a focus on data-driven decision-making through the strategic use  of applicant flow data from past selection processes to help agencies plan recruitment for subsequent selection processes so as to foster a diversified applicant pool at all stages of the employee life-cycle, emphasize and identify potential areas of implicit bias, train agencies on the New Inclusion Quotient (New IQ), create a more interactive Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (FEORP), and intensify and accelerate agency communication techniques.

Of particular interest during this planning period will be continuing to address the underrepresentation in the Federal workforce (as compared to their proportion of the Civilian Labor Force) of people who identify themselves as Hispanic, enhancing the Government’s ability to recruit effectively from all generations to foster continuity in knowledge, skills, and abilities as we experience the current retirement wave, finding ways to recruit more minorities and women to compete for positions designated as falling within the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and finding ways to recruit more minorities and women to compete for positions in the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Click Here to view the full plan.

Taken from the Office of Professional Management, www.opm.gov.

Help for Louisiana storm victims — (September 2, 2016) The TSP has made a temporary change to the financial hardship withdrawal rules for participants affected by the recent storms in Louisiana: As of September 2, 2016, we will treat any Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request as a qualifying hardship and will waive the rule prohibiting employee contributions for 6 months after taking a hardship withdrawal provided one of the following is true:

• Your primary residence or place of employment is located in a covered disaster area and has incurred a loss as a result of the recent Louisiana storms. OR
• Your hardship withdrawal will be used to assist an eligible family member who lives or works in a covered disaster area and who has incurred a loss as a result of the recent Louisiana storms.

IN ADDITION, you must also meet all of the following requirements:

• You must be actively employed as a federal civilian or a member of the uniformed services.
• You must complete Form TSP-76,  Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request.
• You must write “Louisiana Storms” at the top of page 1 above the name of the form.
• You must check the “Personal Casualty Loss” box on page 2, Item 18 of your request form, as the reason for requesting financial hardship.
• Your request must be received in our office by January 10, 2017 and, in compliance with IRS guidelines, your distribution must occur before January 17, 2017. Any Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request forms received after January 10, 2017 will be processed as a standard hardship withdrawal, and your TSP contributions will automatically stop for 6 months.

If you want to stop your TSP contributions, complete Form TSP-1,  Election Form (Form TSP-U-1  for uniformed services) or use your agency or service’s automated system.

This rule change is not retroactive and all other Form TSP-76 rules apply. Participants may only receive one hardship withdrawal under this change. If you have questions about this change, call the toll-free ThriftLine at 1-TSP-YOU-FRST (1-877-968-3778). Outside the U.S. and Canada, please call 404-233-4400 (not toll free).

To read more, visit the TSP site at https://www.tsp.gov/whatsnew/Content/index.html#louisiana.

For the month of August, the highlight is Women’s Equality.  Despite anyone’s political affiliation, the fact remains that we all have witnessed history with the first female securing the Democratic presidential nomination.  However, the struggle that led to that moment did not solely belong to the nominee.  Many have fought for political equality; one in particular – Shirley Chisholm (1924 – 2005).

Shirley Chisholm was born in New York in 1924.  At the age of 14, she met Eleanor Roosevelt who inspired her. After many years as a school teacher, Chisholm entered politics – she knew changes were needed and had to start somewhere.  She was elected as the first black woman in Congress in 1968.  In 1972, she placed her bid as a democratic presidential candidate.  Despite the mounting death threats, she continued to campaign.  Although she lost, she still felt she won; the campaign, Unbossed and Unbought, shed a light on gender inequality and many other issues.

Her continued efforts over the years resulted with seven Congressional terms, as to which she only hired women to work in her office.  Moreover, she was a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus (1971) and the National Political Congress of Black Women (NPCBW, 1982).

Her courage and pioneering example resulted with an honorary stamp issued by the United States Postal Service, with a corresponding biography video on  YouTube.  Please take the time to learn of the impressive legacy of Shirley Chisholm.

While watching the video, think about something. If it weren’t for the relentless efforts of Shirley Chisholm, and many others before her, can we say things would be the same today? Would we still have witnessed the shattering of the glass ceiling?

Although we are close, we still have a fight.  Our battle doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to our daughters, and their daughters, and many generations to follow.  One day, we will be the ancestors remembered as those who tirelessly helped to pave the way…

After all, we are Federally Employed WOMEN!

 

[1] Lewis, J. J. (2016, July 29). Shirley chisholm: Who was the first african american woman to serve in congress? Retrieved August 23, 2016, from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/congress/p/shirleychisholm.htm

Richardson, S. S. (2014, February 7). Unbossed, unbought shirley chisholm recognized with stamp. Retrieved August 23, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/s-eudora-smith/unbossed-unbought-shirley_b_4743323.html

USPS TV. (2014, January 31). Shirley chisholm: Black heritage stamp series [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe2jR0TiEKE

As we continue the campaign of Women’s Equality, it is important to understand that this fight is not based only in America, it is globally recognized as necessity. The United Nations is dedicated to this struggle – UN Women.  The website, www.unwomen.org, explains the purpose of this global initiative.  In addition, there is a publication, Progress of the World’s Women 2015 – 2016, that provides statistics and other useful information regarding the gender equality.

An excerpt from the website is as follows:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

• Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
• International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
• Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
• United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

The main roles of UN Women are:

• To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
• To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
• To lead and coordinate the UN system’s work on gender equality as well as promote accountability, including through regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

Meeting the Needs of the World’s Women

Over many decades, the UN has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth. Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes. For many years, the UN has faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and no single recognized driver to direct UN activities on gender equality issues. UN Women was created to address such challenges. It will be a dynamic and strong champion for women and girls, providing them with a powerful voice at the global, regional and local levels. Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, UN Women, among other issues, works for the:

• elimination of discrimination against women and girls;
• empowerment of women; and
• achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

 

Citation:

About un women. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2016, from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women

We are all aware of the many struggles women have faced regarding the fight to balance gender equality.  However, part of the struggle includes historical legislation.  Below is an article, written by J. Lewis (womenshistory.about.com), explaining the efforts of former President John F. Kennedy.  Enjoy…!

 

President’s Commission on the Status of Women

by Jone Johnson Lewis

December 14, 1961 – October, 1963

While similar institutions with the name “President’s Commission on the Status of Women” have been formed by various universities and other institutions, the key organization by that name was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to explore issues relating to women and to make proposals in such areas as employment policy, education, and federal Social Security and tax laws where these discriminated against women or otherwise addressed women’s rights.

Interest in women’s rights and how to most effectively protect such rights was a matter of growing national interest. There were more than 400 pieces of legislation in Congress which addressed women’s status and issues of discrimination and expanding rights. Court decisions at the time addressed reproductive liberty (the use of contraceptives, for instance) and citizenship (whether women served on juries, for example).

Those who supported protective legislation for women workers believed that it made it more feasible for women to work. Women, even if they worked a full-time job, were the primary childrearing and housekeeping parent after a day at work. The supporters of protective legislation also believed that it was in society’s interest to protect women’s health including women’s reproductive health by restricting hours and some conditions of work, requiring additional bathroom facilities, etc.

Those who supported the Equal Rights Amendment (first introduced in Congress soon after women won the right to vote in 1920) believed with the restrictions and special privileges of women workers under protective legislation, employers were motivated to higher fewer women or even avoid hiring women altogether.

Kennedy established the Commission on the Status of Women in order to navigate between these two positions, trying to find compromises that advanced the equality of women’s workplace opportunity without losing the support of organized labor and those feminists who supported protecting women workers from exploitation and protecting women’s ability to serve in traditional roles in the home and family.

Kennedy also saw a need to open the workplace to more women, in order to have the United States become more competitive with Russia, in the space race, in the arms race — in general, to serve the interests of the “Free World” in the Cold War.

The Commission’s Charge and Membership

Executive Order 10980 by which President Kennedy created the President’s Commission on the Status of Women spoke for women’s basic rights, opportunity for women, the national interest in security and defense of a more “efficient and effective utilization of the skills of all persons,” and the value of home life and family.

It charged the commission with “the responsibility for developing recommendations for overcoming discriminations in government and private employment on the basis of sex and for developing recommendations for services which will enable women to continue their role as wives and mothers while making a maximum contribution to the world around them.”

Kennedy appointed Eleanor Roosevelt, former US delegate to the United Nations and widow of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to chair the commission. She had played a key role in establishing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and she’d defended both women’s economic opportunity and women’s traditional role in the family, so she could be expected to have the respect of those on both sides of the protective legislation issue. Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the commission from its beginning through her death in 1962.

 

The twenty members of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women included both male and female Congressional representatives and Senators (Senator Maurine B. Neuberger of Oregon and Representative Jessica M. Weis of New York), several cabinet-level officers (including the Attorney General, the President’s brother Robert F. Kennedy), and other women and men who were respected civic, labor, educational, and religious leaders. There was some ethnic diversity; among the members were Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women and the Young Women’s Christian Association, Viola H. Hymes of the National Council of Jewish Women.

The Legacy of the Commission: Findings, Successors

The final report of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) was published in October 1963. It proposed a number of legislative initiatives, but did not even mention the Equal Rights Amendment.

This report, called the Peterson Report, documented workplace discrimination, and recommended affordable child care, equal employment opportunity for women, and paid maternity leave.

The public notice given to the report led to considerably more national attention to issues of women’s equality, especially in the workplace. Esther Peterson, who headed the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau, spoke about the findings in public forums including The Today Show. Many newspapers ran a series of four articles from the Associated Press about the commission’s findings of discrimination and its recommendations.

As a result, many states and localities also established Commissions on the Status of Women to propose legislative changes, and many universities and other organizations also created such commissions.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 grew out of the recommendations of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women.

The Commission dissolved after creating its report, but the Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women was created to succeed the Commission. This brought together many with a continuing interest in various aspects of women’s rights.

Women from both sides of the protective legislation issue looked for ways in which both sides’ concerns could be addressed legislatively. More women within the labor movement began to look at how protective legislation might work to discriminate against women, and more feminists outside the movement began to take more seriously the concerns of organized labor in protecting women’s and men’s family participation.

Frustration with progress towards the goals and recommendations of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women helped fuel the development of the women’s movement in the 1960s. When the National Organization for Women was founded, key founders had been involved with the President’s Commission on the Status of Women or its successor, the Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

 

Citation:

Lewis, J. J. (2016, June 12). President’s commission on the status of women.

Retrieved August 7, 2016, from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/laws/a/status_women.htm

As previously announced, each week, a woman who was a pillar with the fight towards gender equality, will be highlighted on our website each week.

Most of us know the story of Susan B. Anthony.  However, do you know who inspired her?

Courtesy of Biography Online, the Story of Margaret Fuller is amazing:

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was an American writer, a women’s rights activist, and was associated with the Transcendentalist movement.

Fuller was an influential early feminist whose writings had a profound impact on later women suffrage campaigners, such as Susan B. Anthony.

“She possessed more influence on the thought of American women than any woman previous to her time.”

– Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in History of Woman Suffrage.

Sarah Margaret Fuller was born May 23, 1810 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. Her father was a lawyer and, for eight years, a representative of Congress, enabling him to move in influential political circles.

Margaret was educated at home and also at the Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies (1821-22). She was a voracious reader and became well-known for being one of the best read people in New England. She became the first women to have access to Harvard library, when researching a book on the Great Lakes region. She also became fluent in the classics and several modern languages. Her thirst for knowledge was such that she felt little in common with other girls her own age. She was less interested in more conventional pursuits expected of women, Fuller was hopeful of continuing her studies and beginning a career in journalism.

However, after the unexpected death of her father from Cholera in 1836, Fuller found herself in a position of having to look after her family. Also, she did not benefit from her father’s estate, with the bulk of the family fortune going to two uncles (her father did not make a will). To supplement her income she took a job as a teacher in Boston and later Providence, Rhode Island.

In 1839, Fuller moved the family to Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Fuller began women’s discussion groups where Fuller would lead talks about the role of women in society.

In 1839, Fuller was offered the job of editing the Transcendentalists’ magazine – The Dial’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Transcendentalists were an influential philosophical movement in the Nineteenth Century. They believed in personal transformation and looking beyond religious dogmas. Fuller accepted the position and became a leading figure within the Transcendentalist movement. Although she was sympathetic to the movement, she had some reservations about the label ‘Transcendentalist’ being applied to her. However, she frequently visited leading Transcendentalists, and wrote about her experiences in her book called ‘Summer on the Lakes‘ (1844)

With growing confidence as a writer, Fuller also returned to themes of female emancipation and the role of women in society. In 1845, she published – ‘Women in the Nineteenth Century‘ – It investigated the role of women in society and how they could play a greater role in society. (Fuller had originally intended to call it The Great lawsuit: Men ‘versus’ Men, Woman ‘versus’ Women.)

“We would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have every path laid open to Woman as freely as to Man…”

“There exists in the minds of men a tone of feeling toward women as toward slaves….”

“…Let us be wise, and not impede the soul. Let her work as she will. Let us have one creative energy, one incessant revelation. Let it take what form it will, and let us not bind it by the past to man or woman, black or white.”

Quotes from ‘Women in the Nineteenth Century‘ (1845)

In 1844, she moved to the New York Tribune, where she became a literary critic and later – the New York Tribune’s first female editor.

It was a meteoric rise for Fuller. She frequently broke gender barriers, taking roles rarely allowed for women. She had a very strong personality – contemporaries say she had great self-confidence and self-belief in her own capacities.

“I now know all the people worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my own.”

– As reported by Ralph Waldo Emerson in Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1884) Vol. 1, Pt. 4.

However, she was quick to anger and with a short temper. Her personality could polarise opinion of her. As she herself admits.

“I am ‘too fiery’ … yet I wish to be seen as I am, and would lose all rather than soften away anything.”

– As quoted by Joseph Jay Deiss in “Humanity, said Edgar Allan Poe, is divided into Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller” in American Heritage magazine, (August 1972)

In 1846, Fuller was sent to Europe as foreign correspondent for the New York Tribune. She met leading literary figures of the day; she also met the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini. In 1848, she secretly married Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, a former marquis disinherited by his family because of his support for the revolutionary Mazzini. Their relationship was kept secretive for several months, though after the birth of their child – Angelo Eugene Philip Ossoli, they became less so. In 1849, they became involved in Giuseppe Mazzani’s fight for the establishment of a Roman republic. Fuller worked as a nurse, whilst her husband fought.

In 1850, the couple took a boat back to America. But, on July 19, 1850, the returning ship hit a sandbank. The ship was abandoned amidst crashing waves and Fuller was never seen again. She had previously written of feeling bad omens about her fate. Her last manuscript on the Roman republic was lost. After her death, a short biography was published, which proved popular

Fuller was interested in a range of social topics. She believed in social reform from women’s rights to the prison system. In particular, she believed women had a right to a full education. She felt a complete education would enable women to be more independent and enable a wider horizon of possibilities than the social conventions of the Nineteenth Century allowed. She also abhorred slavery and felt the Native Americans had been unfairly treated. She wrote extensively on a range of social issues from homelessness to women’s equality and played a role in promoting progressive ideas, which were later taken up by women rights activists and social campaigners.

She was good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson admired his vivacious friend, though Fuller criticized the Transcendentalist concern with personal transformation because she felt the necessity for social reform.

 

Citation:

Margaret Fuller biography. (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2016, from

http://www.biographyonline.net/women/margaret-fuller.html