Women’s History Month to feature concert, book talk, lecture

Publication Date

A concert of music by women composers, a conversation with novelist Jennifer Smith Turner ’74 and a talk by transgender author and activist Abby Stein are among the events the College is hosting during Women’s History Month in March.

On Monday, March 1 at 7 p.m., the trio of Max Caplan ’16, piano; Melanie Chairgran, flute; and André Laurent O’Neil, cello will present a “Women Composers Concert.” It will include work by Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music Emerita. The concert is co-sponsored by Union’s Department of Music, the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Saddock Women in Arts Lecture Series and the Schenectady Musician’s Union. For more information, contact Prof. Jennifer Matsue, department chair, at matsuej@union.edu.

The concert will stream on the Department of Music’s website at www.union.edu/music

On Tuesday, March 2 at 7 p.m., Jennifer Smith Turner ’74 will discuss her novel, Child Bride. Set in the segregated South of the mid-1900s, 14-year-old Nell bears witness to a world that embraces the oppression of women. Smith Turner is a former trustee and a member of the inaugural class of women admitted to Union. Professors Deidre Hill-Butler of Sociology and Jillmarie Murphy of English will moderate the conversation. The talk is presented by the Offices of Alumni & Parent Engagement and Intercultural Affairs.

On Monday, March 8 (International Women's Day) at 7 p.m., Abby Stein will relate her experience of celebrating her 2015 transition as a woman and member of the Jewish faith, after which she said, “Every time something like this is done, it’s one step closer to acceptance for everyone.” She is the author of a memoir, Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman. In 2019, she served on the steering committee for the Women’s March in Washington, and she was named by Jewish Week as one of the “36 Under 36” Jews who are affecting change in the world. The talk is sponsored by Intercultural Affairs, Religious and Spiritual Life, Union Hillel, Women’s U, LGBTQ+ Affairs Committee, Union Pride, and Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies.