Women in Applied Politics Seminar

(left to right)  Linda Ross Aldy, Lillian Wade, Elaine Evans, Mary Libby Payne, Deborah Hodges, Kay Cobb, and Lydia Quarles.  Not pictured are Betty Lou Jones and Jimmie Moomaw

Jimmie Meese Moomaw (c/o 1958 ) gave the Keynote speech at the Women in Applied Politics seminar sponsored by the Stennis Institute and the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women. Coordinated by MUW alumna Lydia Quarles, Senior Policy Analyst for the Stennis Institute, the presentation focused on (1) getting women to run for public office and (2) then getting them elected when they do.

An amazing group of women were in attendance, including a large contingency from the W: Judge Mary Libby Payne (c/o 1954), Judge Kay Cobb, Betty Lou Jones, Deborah Hodges (c/o 1990), Elaine Evans (c/o 1970), Linda Ross Aldy,(c/o 1973) Lillian Wade (c/o 1969), and Lydia Quarles (c/o 1971).

Attendee Deborah Hodges remarked: "The panels were extremely impressive, well-spoken funny, informative and inspiring. I think I learned more in this 6 hours than I learned in 60 hours of continuing education last year, and not just about politics. I learned about how to be a citizen and most of what I learned can be applied to my daily life on a practical level. I even learned what the Tea Party is supposed to really be about!"

The program included a panel of women from different parties. MUW alumna Kay Cobb represented the TEA party, Rita Wray, the Republican Party and Gloria Williamson was from the Democratic Party. According to Judge Mary Libby Payne "One person from the League of Women Voters said that panel was worth the whole $75 registration fee!"

"Women aren’t running for office in Mississippi. Mississippi women make 73% of what their male counterparts earn. When you look at 'women’s issues', they are LIFE issues – healthcare, education, jobs with good wages. We need more women in elected office at ALL levels (not just in Mississippi, either)" said Deborah. She continued "So, W girls, we’ve got to do better. If we can’t run, we can at least influence. At a bare minimum, we need to get active and work to elect those who share our vision locally, nationally and statewide"

Still, electing women is not the whole job. Judge Mary Libby Payne told us "There was a man there who had been in elective office for 37 years who is retiring this year. He brought his daughter and raved about getting to be in a group like this where he could just listen to women telling of their experiences. Folks, we have got to get more ways to get men to hear us because when they do they become our cheerleaders."

According to Jimmie " Women who are motivated to service and who want to make the most profound impact with their work should consider this: The institutions that offer the greatest opportunity to affect real change are Education/teaching, Church/preaching, and politics/holding elected office. I decided a long time ago that the path to making the greatest impact on the most people lay in the political realm. I challenge all of you with an impulse to serve to consider running for public office."

Thanks to the supporting institutions:  Stennis Center for Public Service, the Foundation of the Mid-South and Newk's of Jackson.

Birmingham Chapter Meeting

The Birmingham chapter of Mississippi's First Alumnae Association met January 15, 2011 to hear fellow alumna Jimmie Meece Moomaw read from her new book Southern Fried Child.  Pictured are left to right, front row: Alice Michelle Roberts '01 and Kaye Howard Smith '91; back row - Charlotte Dale McQueen Thornton '69, Roberta Shelton Atkinson '68, Shirley Rutherford Spain '64, Jimmie Moomaw '58, Erin Goia '07, Jo Nell Hales '57, Betty DeBay Hull '64 and Jane Mansell Chamberlain '66.,

A Southern Fried Child tours Mississippi with her memoirs.

Alumna Jimmie Meese Moomaw ('58) will kick off her book tour supporting her autobiography Southern Fried Child ... In Homeseeker's Paradise today at 2PM at Oakland Public Library in Oakland, MS, and at 4PM at the Charleston Public Library in Charleston, MS.

In Southern Fried Child ... In Home Seeker’s Paradise, one small Mississippi town, a country store/service station, plenty of memorable characters, plus somewhat dysfunctional parents and assorted relatives shape the world of an only child growing up in the 1940s and ‘50s segregated South.

Moomaw will read excerpts from her book at signings throughout the state of Mississippi in October.

Southern Fried Child ... In Home Seeker’s Paradise is a charming account of the unusual experiences of an unusual child. It opens a window into the stratified social and political ways of a small southern town after World War II and before Brown v. Board of Education.

A memoir in the vein of A Girl Named Zippy, Haven Kimmel’s story of growing up in Middle America, Southern Fried Child ... In Home Seeker’s Paradise illustrates the closely-held and uniquely Southern sense of place and family.

Moomaw was born and raised in Brookhaven, MS. Though she left Mississippi in the 1960s for graduate school in Illinois, she has never lost touch with her Southern roots. 
     
Moomaw taught communication courses on the college and university level for 40 years. Now retired from teaching, she is a political consultant, writer, and popular public speaker living in Avondale Estates, GA. 

For more information about the book or to order a personalized, signed copy, contact Jimmie Moomaw at mamoomaw@mindspring.com. You can also join the Southern Fried Child fan page on Facebook or follow the SFC Twitter feed for updates about the book and the tour.

Southern Fried Child Book Tour Schedule

Monday, October 11th
2PM-3PM: Oakland Public Library, Oakland, MS
4PM-5PM: Charleston Public Library, Charleston, MS

Tuesday, October 12th
12PM-1PM: Batesville Public Library, Batesville, MS
4PM-5PM: Grenada Public Library, Grenada, MS

Saturday, October 16th
2PM-3PM: Lincoln-Franklin-Lawrence Regional Library, Brookhaven, MS

Sunday, October 17th
2PM-3PM: Merrehope House, Meridian, MS

Tuesday, October 19th
11:30AM: Jackson-Area Alums Lunch Bunch and a Book
Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, MS
Catered Dutch lunch treat ($12.00)
Contact Emily Myers Garner or Alma Ellis to RSVP

Wednesday, October 20th
12:00PM-1:30PM: Reed's Gum Tree Bookstore, Tupelo, MS

Thursday, October 21st
3:30PM-4:30PM: Bookmart and Cafe, Starkville, MS

Thursday, October 28th
12PM-1PM: Lowndes County Chapter Reading, Columbus, MS

Saturday, October 30th
3PM-4PM: Bay Books, Bay St. Louis, MS

Photo of the Week

Jimmie Meese Moomaw ('58) introduces her cousin, Hazel Howard ('40) and presents her with an Alumnae Achievement Award at Homecoming 2010.

Thanks to Jane Dearing Dennis for this photo.  

You can see the rest of Jane's Homecoming photos on facebook.

Do you have photos of your W days or of your participation in Alumnae events?  We'd love to publish them, and/or link to your on-line albums.  Please send photos or links to mfaeablog@gmail.com

Board Member Spotlight: Jimmie Meese Moomaw ('58)

Jimmie Meese Moomaw, class of 1958, double major in speech and English, is a MFAEA Board member. While at MUW, she was President of Theatre Guild, and a member of Pi Kappa Delta, Sigma Tau Delta, Alpha Psi Omega, Student Government, Orchestra, and Annual staff. She was named Most Versatile, to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, and to the Hall of Fame. She also served on the President’s Council. 

Jimmie has had a long career in the education field. "After getting my bachelors and masters degree in 4 ½ years without going to summer school, and teaching high school for one year, I was hired at Mississippi State where I formed and coached an award-winning debate team. One of my proudest achievements was starting the first communication department at State. I designed the first curriculum for the speech major, wrote the course descriptions for the catalog and was instrumental in hiring the first chair of the department as well as the first two other faculty members for the department." After her time at State, Jimmie attended University of Missouri where she completed her Ph.D. while teaching classes and coaching the freshman debate team. Next, she taught in Kentucky where she also coached debate.

While in Kentucky, she married and subsequently moved to Atlanta. She had two daughters, Betsy and Amy. In Atlanta she taught at and chaired the department of speech and theatre at a local community college. She spent the last 21 years of her 41-year teaching career at Georgia State University until retiring from teaching in 2000.

For past 35 years Jimmie has been a communication consultant with a diverse client base. She does a lot of speaking and workshop presentations for corporations, organizations, and political clients, including writing the presentation script for a new product for CHANEL international. She also works with Democratic women on their political campaigns. 

Jimmie's involvement as a W alum began about 10 years ago when Donette Lee was President. "Donette asked me to serve on her Board and since then I have been on the Board every year," she says. "I was also chosen to represent the alumnae team in the first rounds of mediation arranged by the IHL Chancellor to try to resolve the issues between the Alumnae Association and Dr. Limbert."

She fronted the purchase of t-shirts that netted several thousand dollars for MFAeA, went online to issue a fund-raising challenge urging everyone to send money to support the association, and most recently planned and implemented a silent auction for the GDI e-chapter at Homecoming.

Jimmie says, "I am perhaps most notorious as a letter-to-the-editor writer. I do a lot of background writing for individual members who want to write letters or white papers on issues." Jimmie's efforts have been rewarded with an Alumnae Achievement Award.

As a member of the Board of Directors, Jimmie's goal for the MFAeA is to capitalize on our 501 status to raise money to support the work of the Association as well as money for scholarships. She would like to see the Association create and institute an annual fund-raising project to increase funding. She hopes to be able to send a mailer to all alums in order to increase Association membership.

Regarding the next president of MUW, Jimmie explains, "I feel strongly that the ideal candidate should be an alum of the institution. I prefer that the next president be a woman, but it is not a deal breaker." Jimmie further explains that she ideally wants someone who truly understands and values the strengths and mission of the W as it is; someone who is a savvy and articulate advocate for the institution, with well-developed communication skills who is comfortable in social and all political contexts. "The new president's academic credentials should include having attended an institution where traditions are understood and appreciated."

Jimmie would like to encourage all alums to join MFAeA so that you are counted among the numbers of those who support the institution. All alums, no matter how busy, or what their financial status, can identify students in their community who might be interested in and a good candidate for going to the W.

In ten years, Jimmie would like to see an MUW that is larger than it is now, but still a small liberal arts college with an emphasis on educating women with a nationally-ranked women’s studies program. She would also like to see the creation of a men’s unit under the umbrella of the existing name--with the proposed label "The Hogarth College for Men"--co-existing on the current Mississippi University for Women campus. As she explains, "Men and women would go there taking courses from either or both entities and graduating with a degree with the name of their choice."