The 76th National Convention of AAUW (the American Association of University Women) wasat the Sheraton Hotel and Marina in San Diego from June 18-21. I flew out with several members from Chicago-area branches, including my roommate Shirley May (Elgin). She is a retired librarian and we've known one another for many years. It was nice to get to know her better.
The convention logo featured AAUW founder Marion Talbott on a surfboard.Even the elevators were ready for us.
The convention was filled with workshops (membership, fundraising, advocacy, research reports, programming). Guest speakers talked about women in STEM, Title IX (not just sports but a matter of civil rights), equal pay, and other AAUW policy issues.
Almost as many badge ribbons as ALA!
There were 1,000 people at convention -- it turned out that that was the maximum capacity of the banquet room where we had plenary sessions and several meals. I saw many long-time friends and met many new people. (Why don't I have photos of some of them? Too caught up in conversations!)
Here's the Illinois delegation.
Artist / quilter / writer Faith Ringgold received the Alumnae Recognition Award at the Saturday banquet. AAUW staff especially wanted me to meet her in person. "She's a quilter!" they said. I replied, "And she won the Caldecott medal!" (1982 for Tar Beach).
In her speech Ms. Ringgold said, "I am 84. I will continue to be a force for women in the art world." She has created an app called quiltudoku. You can see it here: http://quiltuduko.blogspot.com/
Sunset over the marina.
Convention ended Sunday morning, June 21. I took the hotel shuttle to the airport to pick up a rental car for part 2 of my trip.
Stay tuned!
It's a good thing you retired or your work would have interfered with all your travel!
ReplyDeleteYou always have an interesting blog. Looks like you had a great time.
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