The Woman Who Dares: 121st Annual Meeting

Jennie Powers: The Woman Who Dares is the special presentation for the Monadnock Center’s 121st Annual Meeting on Thursday, September 14 at 7 p.m. Jennie Powers took a stand against social vices in New Hampshire and Vermont in the early twentieth century. She was a humane society agent in Keene from 1903-1936 and one of the first humane society agents to become a deputy sheriff in New Hampshire. Jennie was known across the country as “The Woman Who Dares” cited by the Boston Post newspaper in 1906 as having arrested more men than any other woman in America.

As a photographic activist, she used her camera to document animal cruelty, family violence, and wide-spread poverty in New Hampshire’s Monadnock region and beyond. This one-hour illustrated presentation from Jenna Carroll, Education Director at the Historical Society of Cheshire County,  introduces us to Jennie’s life story, the work of humane societies at the turn of the twentieth century, and the politics of the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s) from a local perspective. 

Jennifer Carroll has been managing historical societies and museums in New England for 25 years. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Historical Administration from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Women’s Studies from the University of New Hampshire. Carroll has worked as both a curator and executive director. She currently serves as the director of education at the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene where she coordinates over 150 public programs per year. 

A short business meeting will be held before the presentation. This program is free and all are welcome.

This Humanities To Go program made possible through a grant from New Hampshire Humanities.

Accessibility Note:

This program will be held in Bass Hall at the Monadnock Center. For those who do not use stairs, access is from the rear door that opens directly into Bass Hall. The Monadnock Center’s restroom facilities are fully-accessible.