As always, there's a lot going on all over the USA. Here are a few tidbits:

Southwest UU Women just wrapped up a very successful conference in Dallas, themed, "In the Name of Love," with keynote UUA Moderator Gini Courter and musician Amy Carol Webb. They used their new website, www.swuuw.org, for online registration. Photos will be up soon. And they are already planning for 2011!

Central Midwest women had their Winter WomanSpirit the same weekend, welcoming Starhawk as their keynote. A Margaret Fuller Tea was one of the weekend's highlights. Women from Canada even attended this one! Their photos are online at www.cmwdwr.shutterfly.com. CMwD W&R are planning for their Summer retreat in Watervliet, Michigan, called "Sowing the Seeds of Gratitude" and have just announced Margot Adler as their keynote for February 2011 in Elkhart, Indiana. This group's ongoing projects include working with their District to redefine and strengthen their relationship, partnering on projects with their sister organization in CMwD, the UU Women's Connection, and a comprehensive selection of retreat planning resources on their website, www.womenandreligion.org.

UU Women's Connection in CMwD hosts two annual retreats as well, with the Spring 2010 event being held at Pilgrim Park in Illinois. Their board of councillors has a wonderful practice of quarterly meetings where they travel to a host church for a meeting, a Margart Fuller Conversation in the evening, and a visit to the host church's Sunday service. www.uuwomensconnection.org.

UU WomenSpirit in Thomas Jefferson District have published details on their Spring event, held at The Mountain in North Carolina. "The Institute and Gathering are biannual events in the Spring and Fall that offer the experience of an all-woman retreat where women can strengthen their talents and renew their energy in a supportive and safe environment. All Institute and Gathering activities are optional; during these events we encourage you to make choices that best meet your needs. Unitarian Universalist Womenspirit expects and encourages all women to honor the safety, integrity, and confidentiality of those attending its sponsored events." www.uuwomenspirit.org.

Northern New England UU Women and Religion holds annual retreats as well. They are the W&R group for the consolidation of the Northeast District (Maine) and the New Hampshire Vermont District now being called Northern New England. Their website is new and still under construction. www.uuwomenandreligion.org.

General Assembly in Minneapolis, MN this June will feature some workshops of special interest:

UUWF - Funding for Women's Work, Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller, and No Silent Witness: A Web of Empowering Conversation

Iternational Convocation of UU Women - Organizing Women's Groups in Unitarian Universalism

Meadville Lombard Theological School - Reflecting on Stories of Black UU Women

UUSC - Women Organizing for Workers’ Rights

Beacon Press - She Looks Just Like You: Exploring GLBT Families

UU Holdeen India Program - Empowering Women using Microfinance and Organizing: SEWA's Strategy

UUA SMF Bicentennial Committee - Margaret Fuller: A Woman for the 21st Century

Association of Universalist Women - Drumming The Soul Awake

The 2010 Ware Lecture Delivered by Winona LaDuke

And of course the UUW&R Annual Gathering at GA, which will be a breakfast program and meeting on either Thursday or Friday. Watch your e-mail and snail mail for an announcement this month. UUW&R will be sharing an exhibit table in the international group with the ICUUW. We'll have curricula and books as always, and a brand-new jewelry line.

The complete GA schedule is here: http://www.uua.org/events/generalassembly/schedule/index.php

See you there!!!

Female spiritual heritages of Crete, Greece, & the Aegean
a visual presentation by Max Dashú
Ancestors, goddesses, priestesses, and women's ritual, 6000 BCE to 200 CE. Female figurines, Cycladic marbles, Cretan frescos and seals; bee seeresses, snake women, bear girls, shamanic dancers and crone masks; archaic Hera and Artemis, the Mistress of Animals, Hekate, Gorgons, the Furies, Medea—and patriarchy's impact on mythology. This isn’t the Greece we were taught!
Rare images from the legendary Suppressed Histories Archives collection.
Wednesday April 21, 2010 at 7:30pm
Suggested Donation: $15. to $5.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax
2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton, VA 22124
Sponsored by UUCF Women's Spirit Circle
For more information: scbennett@cox.net
www.suppressedhistories.net

We invite you to send your events for inclusion on our calendar! UU women's spiritual events in congregations and at the District level are welcome.

Frances Moore Lappe continues to help us reverse the spiral of despair. Her most recent book is Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad, awarded the Nautilus Gold/“Best in Small Press” award. In June 2008, that book and Diet for a Small Planet were designated as must-reads for the next U.S. president (by Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan, respectively) in The New York Times Sunday Book Review. Preview the first chapter and more of  Getting a Grip 2!  This revised edition will be available in stores March 2010.

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Restoring Margaret Fuller’s place in history, literature, and memory.

A special project of UUWA and UU Women & Religion Metro District

You are invited to Margaret Fuller’s 200th birthday party and celebrations organized for the Margaret Fuller 2010 Bicentennial and the “Follow the Footsteps of Margaret Fuller” tours in New York City, Boston-Cambridge-Concord, and Rome-Rieti-Florence. These unique, one-of-a-kind events are a special project of UU Women’s Association and UU Women & Religion-Metro District, funded in part by The Fund for Unitarian Universalism. Do not feel guilty if you’ve never heard of Margaret Fuller. Born in 1810, her thoughts are as alive today as over a century ago. A woman of brains and heart, she was labeled genius by some, was ridiculed by others. World famous in the 1840s, she has largely been forgotten in history. She was:

• First American to write a book about equality for women
• First American war correspondent / served under combat conditions
• First woman foreign correspondent
• First woman journalist on Horace Greeley’s New York Daily Tribune
• First woman literary critic / set literary standards
• First editor, The Dial magazine
• First to organize paid "Conversations" for women (educational "rap sessions")
• First woman to enter Harvard Library for research purposes - a giant step since colleges were closed to women.

In addition, Margaret Fuller served as director of an Italian hospital that treated the war wounded during the Italian Revolution of 1848-9 – this predates the work of Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton.

Among the major events of the Bicentennial are dramatic stage presentations entitled “A Medley for Margaret Fuller,” “Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller,” and “O Excellent Friend!” with original scripts by Fuller scholar/author/actor Laurie James.  The New York City one-day walking tour “Follow the Footsteps of Margaret Fuller” will feature actors characterized as Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson and his wife, Lidian, Henry David Thoreau, Horace Greeley, Julia Ward Howe, Lydia Maria Child, Edgar Allen Poe, and other friends, and will culminate in a restaurant with skits and songs.

The tour to Italy will highlight sixth generation Roman researcher/writer Mario Bannoni as one of the guides as well as spotlight commemorative plaque presentations, wine tastings, seminars, a visit to Fuller’s lodging in Rome, and even a stay in the Florence hotel where Fuller lived. The Calendar of Events provides details.

Contact: Laurie James, Initiator and Project Director
goldenheritage@nyc.rr.com
www.margaretfuller.info