During our September 2016 book tour in Massachusetts for Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions, our protagonist was hardly known. Audiences at book talks in Boston and elsewhere invariably asked, “Why have we never heard of her before?” Even in Marie Equi’s hometown of New Bedford, relatively few were familiar with the early physician and political agitator who spent her early years in the city. That’s about to change even more.
 
Dale Danley and I brought the story of Equi’s fierce independence and commitment to social and economic justice to the New Bedford Public Library, radio station WBSM, and the historic Rotch Jones Duff House. The New Bedford area’s South Coast Today published feature articles written by Lauren Daley about Equi and the new biography. Earlier this month the same news site announced the launch of a comprehensive, interactive history project to unearth the remarkable stories of women from New Bedford’s past. Marie Equi will be highlighted among these women “who shaped local history.”
 
The project, known as “Lighting the Way: Historic Women of the South Coast,” will feature profiles of 90 women on a website and an app to guide followers on an historic walking trail through downtown New Bedford with stops at more than 30 landmarks that feature women’s stories. (Marie Equi’s nearby birthplace will be noted in the walk). Later a curriculum will be developed for area schools. Then in 2020, the anniversary of the nation’s adopting woman suffrage, the group plans to exhibit the historic women’s lives in public art displays. The New Bedford Whaling Museum has spearheaded the “Lighting the Way” project.
 
See Lauren Daley's article for SouthCoastToday:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20180305/lighting-way-group-sheds-light-on-southcoast-women

Much of Oregon’s populace rallied to make the state one of the most patriotic in the nation during the World War I era, but what about the other Oregonians, those who objected to, or merely criticized, America’s engagement?  They were subject to harassment, ostracism, and charges of sedition.

Michael Helquist, author of Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions, will recount the stories of the nearly 100 Oregonians arrested under the federal sedition law during a talk at the Eugene Public Library, 100 W. 10th Av; Saturday, March 31, at 2pm – 3:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public. Copies of his award-winning biography of Marie Equi, the only woman in Oregon convicted of sedition, will be available for purchase and signing.