Roxcy Bolton
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Roxcy Bolton, Gender & Naming Hurricanes
This is the first week of the hurricane season and the potential names have been announced. The list includes male and female names. That wasn’t always the case. Prior to the Women’s Liberation Movement, hurricanes were only named for women. Miami feminist Roxcy Bolton (pictured below) played a central role in changing the policy. She got tired of reading headlines about hurricanes with women’s names destroying communities. Instead, she suggested that hurricanes be named for senators – since they like to name things after themselves. Roxcy put up a significant fight with government officials. By 1979, the policy was changed to alternate women and men’s names when it came to…
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Naming of Hurricanes
The Associated Press recently ran a story about the names of hurricanes. What is left out of the story is the role that Miami feminist Roxcy Bolton (pictured below) played in changing the policy. Prior to her activism, hurricanes were ALWAYS named for women. She got tired of reading headlines about hurricanes with women’s names destroying communities. Instead, she suggested that hurricanes be named for senators – since they like to name things after themselves. By 1979, the policy was changed to alternate women and men’s names when it came to naming hurricanes. Here is a story that provides some background. Roxcy was a friend of Miami Herald women’s page editor…
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Writing Women into the Curriculum
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Celebrating Roxcy Bolton on August 26
Miami feminist Roxcy Bolton was honored on Thursday as part of the March for Equality – the 90th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. In the 1960s and 1970s, Roxcy worked to raise awareness about inequities women faced. She often did this with the help of Miami Herald women’s page journalists – including Marie Anderson. Miami’s CBS News did a great job about Roxcy:“Thursday marked an important day in the history of women’s suffrage. It was the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote. A feminist pioneer responsible for creating this day of tribute is Roxcy Bolton. She is…
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Celebrating Roxcy Bolton on August 26
Miami feminist Roxcy Bolton was honored on Thursday as part of the March for Equality – the 90th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. In the 1960s and 1970s, Roxcy worked to raise awareness about inequities women faced. She often did this with the help of Miami Herald women’s page journalists – including Marie Anderson. Miami’s CBS News did a great job about Roxcy:“Thursday marked an important day in the history of women’s suffrage. It was the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote. A feminist pioneer responsible for creating this day of tribute is Roxcy Bolton. She is…
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Celebrating Roxcy Bolton
I am so pleased that Miami feminist Roxcy Bolton will be honored at the end of the month by HistoryMiami. She marched and advocated for women – often working with Miami Herald women’s page editor Marie Anderson to draw attention for social causes. Roxcy helped establish a rape crisis center and change the policy on naming hurricanes only after women. (I am still working on telling the hurricane story.) I wish I could attend the event but it is during the week. I also just learned that Roxcy is included in the book, True Grit. I just ordered a copy. The Miami Herald ran a short piece on Roxcy’s inclusion.…
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Roxcy Bolton House
Lance and I spent last weekend in beautiful Coral Gables. On Friday we went through the papers of Helen Muir at the University of Miami. We were happy to discover folders about several of the people we study: Jim Bellows, Dorothy Jurney and Jeanne Voltz. We found interesting information about the state of Florida journalism and the role of women. We also found evidence of great friendships. After our archiving, we visited the Roxcy Bolton House which is near the campus. (That’s a photo of the visit above – I’m 6 months pregnant with Curtis James.) Roxcy worked with the Miami women journalists as an early feminist leader. For example,…
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Writing Women into the Curriculum
