THOUSAND OAKS : Women’s History Program Seeks Help

The Thousand Oaks chapter of the American Assn. of University Women is looking for volunteers to perform solo before local school children in the role of a woman who played a significant role in history.

As part of the Women’s History Project, the AAUW each year researches and writes monologues on five women. The manuscripts are offered to schools for use during Women’s History Month in March.

Some schools draft students to do the roles before their peers. Other schools look for adults to play the parts, said Jill Lewis, co-chairwoman of the Women’s History Project committee.

When a school needs help finding someone, the AAUW wants to have people to recommend, Lewis said. It is not necessary to have acting experience or school-age children to get involved, organizers said.

The project has been done annually since 1985. It began when a member’s young daughter remarked that girls can’t be doctors. That woman researched the life of female doctor Elizabeth Blackwell and presented the material in a monologue.

Since then, the local chapter of the national organization has compiled 15 monologues into a book that is sold nationally. The women selected for this year’s project are Susan Butcher, an Iditarod dog sled racer; Vilma Martinez, a civil rights activist; Julia Morgan, architect and designer of the Hearst Castle; Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an anti-lynching crusader, and Chien Shiung Wu, a nuclear physicist.

To volunteer call 492-4143 or 499-2815.