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Women in the Curriculum and the Women’s Studies Program celebrated the 25th Annual Maryann Hartman Awards on Oct. 27.
Candace Austin, Shenna Bellows and Francine Garland Stark were the 2010 Maryann Hartman award recipients. Daniella Runyambo and Heather Sawyer were the recipients of the 2010 Young Women’s Social Justice Award, which is awarded to student activists on a college campus, while the Maryann Hartman Award is bestowed upon community activists.
Hartman was an associate professor at the University of Maine and the director of forensics. Hartman, who was 53 when she died in 1980, was an activist for women on the campus and beyond. The first award was granted in 1986. Well-known recipients of the award include Doris Twitchell Allen, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, Margaret Chase Smith, Tabitha King and state Sen. Libby Mitchell.
According the award ceremony’s program, the award “recognizes distinguished Maine women and their accomplishments in the arts, politics, business, education, and community service.”
“The work of the women selected provides inspiration to others and demonstrates the levels of attainment now possible for women,” according to the program.
UMaine Provost Sue Hunter welcomed guests to the ceremony.
“The university is proud to host an event celebrating the achievements of outstanding women,” Hunter said, adding that recipients are chosen due to their contributions to their communities that “all stem from the core belief of the power to effect change.”
Runyambo, a first-year UMaine Honors College student originally from Rwanda, received the award for her efforts to maintain the culture of youth emigrants from the Congo and Rwanda by preserving the tradition of dance and song at a group started at her church.
Runyambo was nominated by Sue Mullen, a guidance counselor at Portland High School, of which Runyambo is a graduate.
“She is one of the most positive, motivated and brilliant women I’ve met,” Mullen said, describing Runyambo’s commitment to members of her community.
Sawyer, a student at Nashua Community College and graduate of Mt. Ararat High School, received the award for her work as a GLBT political activist. Sawyer was nominated by Gillian Watt and Lexine Mainwaring, faculty members from her high school.
“As a senior in high school, in addition to going door-to-door canvassing [for the No on 1 campaign] … she trained volunteers to work the phone bank in Topsham,” Mainwaring said. “As trainees, we got to see Heather at work. What we saw was a young women with a strength in social justice.”
Mary Marin Lyon presented the award to Candace Austin. Lyon is the executive director of Literary Volunteers of Bangor, of which Austin is an active member. Lyon included Austin’s lifelong commitment to literacy as one of her motivations for nominating her. Austin is the project coordinator of the Reading in the Family Program in Old Town and founded Mano en Mano, which is a community center in Washington County. Austin has also led groups of volunteers to Morelia, Mexico in order to improve English language skills there.
“Scores of Mexican women have improved their English skills and have gotten jobs in the tourism industry,” said Lyon. “She sees reading and English as a tool for economic freedom in Morelia, Mexico, and Millbridge, Maine.”
“It’s wonderful,” Austin said of being honored with the award. “It allowed each of us to stand up and say one of the issues we felt was important for people to help with.”
Austin said her work with adult students was a continuation of her efforts as a teacher.
“This is my second chance to make a difference in that child’s life,” Austin said, referring to her adult students as the grown children who may not have been helped as thoroughly as they should have been while in the classroom the first time.
“An education is the key to getting out of and staying out of generational poverty,” said Austin.
Sally Dobres presented the award to Shenna Bellows. Dobres is UMaine’s director of equity and diversity and the associate director of human resources. Bellows is the executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.
While accepting the award, Bellows spoke about her personal experience advocating for equal pay at two of her previous jobs and how that continued into her work at the MCLU advocating for the Paycheck Fairness Act.
The Congressional Research Service summarizes the Paycheck Fairness Act as “amend[ing] the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 … known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for, enforcement of, and exceptions to prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages.”
“It’s an incredible honor to be a part of 25 years of tremendous women leadership,” Bellows said. “To know you’re part of this network of women leadership is amazing.”
“I really think there is no limit. I can do anything I want to do, but at the same time there are these barriers,” Bellows said, describing the hurdles women overcome in becoming leaders.
Kati McCarthy, the public awareness and education coordinator at Spruce Run, and Hazel Stark presented the award to Francine Garland Stark, who is Hazel’s mother.
“She’s extremely focused on the role we all have on creating peaceful and just communities,” McCarthy said. “Whether we want to change the world or not, we’re doing it all the time.”
McCarthy spoke about Stark’s involvement with the Hope and Justice project in Aroostook County, a homelessness council, victims of crime, the United Way and other programs.
Stark stressed that she was only part of many efforts to promote justice for abuse victims and encouraged members of the audience to say “thank you” with her while listing the people with whom she works on multiple social justice projects.
“I really wait for the day when we all learn the lesson, the big lesson, that every victim of abuse teaches us: There is no immediate result,” Stark said.
She emphasized that victims of abuse do not then go out and spread violence; rather, they ask for justice and for a peaceful way to achieve it.
