Women,Wheels and the West, a lecture and slide show on women and the American West, will be presented on Monday, October 23 in GVSU's Cook-DeWitt Center. The lecture is open to the public, free of charge.
Virginia Scharff, associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico, will lead the event beginning at 7:30 p.m. She plans to talk about the impact the automobile has had on American women, what their journeys have meant for the West and the United States in general, and what the combination of women, wheels and the West reveals about our nation's history.
A historian and writer, Scharff's publications include Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age and Coming of Age: America in the 20th Century. Scharff has served as a consultant on numerous television documentary projects, including the nationally broadcast Biography of America, and also writes fiction under the nom de plume of Virginia Swift. Her first novel, Brown-Eyed Girl, was published by Harper Collins in April.
A reception and book signing will follow Monday's program.
Scharff's lecture is part of GVSU's Glenn A. Niemeyer Lecture series, which features distinguished speakers discussing broad themes in American history and thought. The lectures recognize the continued contributions of Glenn Niemeyer, provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of history at Grand Valley State University.
