New for 2023:
Carol Simon Levin tells the stories of women who overcame the combined barriers of gender and race to create inventions that have changed our world
Women of the Seas & Stars
Carol Simon Levin portrays Mercury 13 “almost astronaut” Jerrie Cobb to tell the stories of overlooked women who sought to explore realms beyond the surface of Earth, in outer space and the depth of the ocean — astronomers and astronauts, human “computers” and marine scientists who have broadened our understanding of our planet and our universe.
Also available as two shorter programs:
Jerrie Cobb & the Untold Story of the Mercury 13 “Almost Astronauts” and
Women of the Seas & Stars: Astronomers, Aquanauts, Astronauts & NASA’s Other Overlooked Yet Essential Women
Carol Simon Levin portrays Lillian Moller Gilbreth, motion study pioneer and “Cheaper by the Dozen” mother of 12 and shares the stories of other overlooked women innovators, including many women of color.
From Margaret Knight (the 19th century “Female Edison”) to Hollywood superstar Hedy Lamarr,
these “Mothers of Invention” changed our lives,
yet their accomplishments were all too often ignored, discounted or credited to others.
Also available as two shorter programs:
Mother of Invention (Lillian Gilbreath’s story) and
Anonymous Was a Woman (a tour through centuries of overlooked female ingenuity)
All my programs are also available as webinars.
Click here to see a list of upcoming performances.
Contact me for info or to schedule a program.
Carol Simon Levin portrays Lillian Feickert, president of the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association from 1912-1920, to tell the story of the role of New Jersey women in the long struggle for woman suffrage.
Carol Simon Levin, storyteller and author of Remembering The Ladies: From Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates, tells the story of the long fight for women’s rights emphasizing the overlooked role played by women of color. She shares the stories of Phillis Wheatley, the enslaved woman who wrote a poem in honor of George Washington, noted abolitionists and women’s rights speakers Maria W. Stewart, Sojourner Truth and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, organizers and suffrage activists Ida Bell Wells-Barnett and Mary Church Terrill, Native American activists Zitkala-Ša and Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin, migrant rights advocate Dolores Huerta and many more women of all colors and creeds who fought for women’s rights and women’s lives.
Remembering the Ladies: Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates
Remembering the Ladies: Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates
invites readers to discover the contributions of 69 courageous and tenacious women of all colors and creeds who fought for women’s rights and women’s lives. Each two page spread includes a full page bio, a fascinating fact and a quotation along with a coloring page, further reading, places to visit, and suggestions for activities and activism. To make it more accessible, Remembering the Ladies is now available as a free e-book.
(If you have the funds and find the book valuable, consider supporting organizations who are fighting voter suppression, including: Vote.org, League of Women Voters, Fair Fight, American Civil Liberties Union or a charity of your choice.)
Looking for ideas for reading, math, science, history, art, theater, music, magic and fun for kids in your life during this time of COVID-19?
Check out my family learning guide.
The March 2020 Issue of Garden State Legacy features my article “Reclaiming Our Voice: NJ’s Role in the Fight for Woman Suffrage” co-authored by Delight Dodyk with poems by Susanna Rich. It also includes articles on the “Petticoat Electors,” NJ’s Anti-Suffrage Movement, NJ’s Jewish, Black, and Immigrant Suffragists, Elizabeth Cady Stanton in NJ, the NJ Suffrage Torch, and other articles featuring Jersey women’s history.
I was interviewed on NJ’s 1776-1807 experiment with woman suffrage on
WNYC-FM’s “All of It” with Alison Stewart Listen to the program online.
My performance on Suffrage Forward as Abigail Adams discussing the NJ Constitution is here (begins at 3:05).
You can also read a NY Times article, hear staff from the Museum of the American Revolution (starts at 13:45) and read my NJ Studies review of the Museum’s exhibit “When Women Lost the Vote” highlighting new discoveries about NJ’s early women voters. (It has now closed but there is a virtual exhibit & timeline.)
There is also a NJPBS program on area suffragists and a virtual exhibit on NJ Women Voting at the Old Barracks Museum.
More at Women’s Suffrage Centennial 2020 + Other Women’s Rights Programs/Online Exhibitions
If you are a government agency or 501c3, click here for more information.
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Pickets & Persistence, War Service & Women’s Suffrage
American Women’s Fight to Win the Vote
Living History Presenter Carol Simon Levin portrays Jeannette Rankin,
America’s first female member of Congress, telling the intertwined stories of women’s suffrage activism, war service, and the political calculus that finally brought the support of President Wilson, the U.S. Congress, and state legislatures to achieve passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
Women’s Rights National Park Wesleyan Chapel, Seneca Falls NY
Photo Credit: Megan Slater
“Thank you for coming to the Wayne Public Library to present “Remembering the Ladies: From Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates.” This is a wonderful history about so many bright, strong women who should be in all of our history books!…You did a masterful job of organization and short, memorable descriptions… If only they had been listened to in their time, I wonder what our society would be like today.” — D.R.
Photo Credit: Christine Zamarra
“Yesterday at the library I learned about women in history. I learned that there is hope, and that the troubles we face right now are difficult, but women like Abigail Adams and Sojourner Truth and so many others worked very hard, faced major adversity, and that was difficult too. Learn from them. I encourage you to read and learn about the past and that will help you find hope and courage to fight in the future.” — C.M. (Girl Scout mom)
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Remembering the Ladies: From Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates (based on her book of the same name). Carol Simon Levin portrays Abigail Adams — who famously wrote to her husband John asking that the Continental Congress “remember the ladies” when drafting new laws for the new nation — something the new Congress definitely did not do! “Abigail” then looks forward in time to tell the stories of courageous and tenacious women of all colors and creeds who fought to enhance women’s political participation — from Dolley Madison to the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote and the pioneering female activists and politicians who’ve worked to extend women’s economic, social, and political rights into the 21st century.
Programs on Women in S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math):
2023 marks the 140th anniversary of the Brookyn Bridge — learn more about this engineering marvel and the overlooked woman behind it’s construction:
Bridge Builder in Petticoats: Emily Warren Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge bridgebuilderinpetticoats.com
Carol Simon Levin impersonates Emily Warren Roebling to tell the story of the woman who helped manage the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was considered one of the most amazing technological achievements of its time, the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Later she helped design the family mansion in Trenton, studied law, organized relief for returning troops from the Spanish American War, attended the coronation of the Tsar of Russia and even took tea with Queen Victoria. At her death, she was called “the most famous woman in New Jersey” and “one of the most noted women in the country,” yet today almost no one knows her name!
Many books and films have featured the Brooklyn Bridge and millions of people have crossed it. Built between 1869 and 1883, without modern machines or even electric light, it was one of the most amazing technological achievements of its time. Yet few people know that a woman helped manage much of its construction. After her husband was bedridden, Emily Roebling became his liaison to the project – eventually communicating with the engineers and suppliers so well that it was rumored that she had become the Chief Engineer herself! Later she helped design the family mansion in Trenton, studied law, organized relief for returning troops from the Spanish American War, attended the coronation of the Tsar of Russia and even took tea with Queen Victoria. At her death, she was called “the most famous woman in New Jersey” and “one of the most noted women in the country,” yet today almost no one knows her name!
Nobody Owns the Sky: Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Female Aviators
nobodyownsthesky.wordpress.com
Carol Simon Levin portrays Elinor Smith Sullivan to tell the stories of some of the early female pilots who risked their lives in flimsy wood and canvas aeroplanes but whose ground-breaking exploits were lost to history after Amelia Earhart’s famous disappearance. Executing audacious acrobatic aerial maneuvers, soloing across the English channel, setting records, barnstorming and buzzing beneath New York’s bridges, they were determined to show that anything that men could do, they could do too!
Carol Simon Levin tells the story of the amazing Women Airforce Service Pilots through the eyes of Ann Baumgartner Carl, the Jersey girl who trained as a WASP, test-flew experimental planes during the war, and became the first American woman to fly a jet airplane!
During World War II, more than one thousand women volunteers completed the WASP military pilot training program. They endured terrible Texas weather, snakes, spiders and scorpions, as well as the hostility of some male instructors. Graduating WASPs piloted every kind of military aircraft, tested new and overhauled airplanes (some with defective parts or dangerous reputations), delivered more than 12,000 planes, and flew over 60,000,000 miles (sometimes towing targets that soldiers shot at with live ammunition!) Thirty-eight of them died serving their country. Then they were told that men needed their jobs and they were dismissed and forgotten. Hear Carol Simon Levin bring their story back to life.
“Crazy Daisy”
Juliette Gordon Low: Intrepid Founder of the Girl Scouts
Carol Simon Levin impersonates Juliette Gordon Low and tells how an impulsive, nearly-deaf, eccentric and fun-loving transatlantic socialite founded an inclusive movement which has empowered tens of millions of girls worldwide.
“Juliette Gordon Low” visiting World Thinking Day 2019, Basking Ridge NJ
(photo credit: Nicole Smith)
Please click on the links for more information about these programs.
Schools, Libraries and Scout Troops:
Check out the hands-on Bridge-Building and Flight Maker Programs.
Keep up on the latest news on books & performances at www.facebook.com/TellingHerStories
Silent Partner: Building the Brooklyn Bridge. Photo Credit: Patricia Hart Zachman.
“Thank you again for a wonderful program last night! I am still haunted by thoughts of Emily….you made her come so alive…..and I learned more about the Brooklyn Bridge than I thought I would ever know in my whole life!” — Nora, Ocean County Library
“Thank you for presenting a wonderful program that was so informative and enlightening. Your knowledge and creative storytelling fosters uncovering the truth of our past heroines.” — Nancy, Somerset Run Singles
Re-enactor Carol Simon Levin performs at the Montville Township Public Library to tell the story of WWII WASP Ann Baumgartener Carl Photo Credit: Melissa Benno
“I was somewhat skeptical when Lilyan invited me to your program. As a pilot for many years I thought that I knew I everything about women pilots. What a surprise. Your program taught me so very much and your presentation was outstanding. I am sending your information to as many women as I can. I know that anyone who attends your program will be as excited as I am.” — A.L.
“Fascinating to learn of women who were so successful and we never heard of them!” — W.M.
“Very interesting subject presented well with slides and humor — very knowledgeable historian.” — S.P.
“Thank you for coming to Wayne Public Library to present your program “Nobody Owns the Sky.”…This is a wonderful program about the most amazing women. What athletic prowess — for some even into their nineties!… highly recommended. — D.R., Adult Services Librarian
If you love women’s history, I also highly recommend the podcast “The History Chicks“
Telling Her Stories: Fascinating Women History Forgot 
Watchung Library’s patrons and staff had the privilege of meeting both “Emily” and “Elinor” during Carol’s very engaging, fact-filled programs. Discovering what these women accomplished is amazing, and realizing that they have been overlooked for so long is as jaw-dropping as their feats. Thank you, Carol, for restoring these missing chapters to our collective history, and doing so in such an informative and creative way. Brava!
We just saw your story on the wasps at the middletown library and enjoyed it very much. Thank
you again for a delightful evening and educational evening….
We have presented two of Carol’s programs at the Long Branch Free Public Library in the last two year – the Emily Roebling program and the WASP program – and both were successful and enjoyed by our patrons. Carol Simon Levin is a professional and reliable performer, whose “in-character” storytelling programs are very well- researched, presented in a fun, informative manner and entertain while they educate on historical topics many may not be very familiar with these days. There are good Powerpoint presentations accompanying her narratives,and they are full of interesting images to complement her tales of strong, accomplished women who have broken traditional role expectations. I highly recommend Carol and her programs, especially for Women’s History Month. I’m looking forward to seeing what she will develop next!
Carol brings to her presentations great enthusiasm, knowledge and joy in and of the presented topic. Wonderful mixture of lecture and slide show.
The Ringwood Public Library was fortunate to have Carol Simon Levin’s program “Nobody Owns The Sky” during this November’s National Aviation History Month. Carol’s electric energy and historic knowledge combined to make a most enlightening presentation on the early days of aviation and the brave women who were right there in the thick of it right from the start. I am eager to cruise through her other program offerings so we can delight our patrons with more of Carol’s sensational and true tales of accomplished women who have not made it to our mainstream history books.
Fabulous, Carol, I’m thrilled st the work you’re doing. Keep it up!!
Could you tell me the cost for the programs?
Gwen, I try to work with organizations to be affordable. Please contact me directly via my email cslevin (at) gmail.com or call me at 908 361-6519 and we can discuss details. :)Carol
It was so nice to meet you with my kids (Eyad and Alaa) at Warren County Library. Today I started read your book ( amazing American women) . It is so imaging .
Thank You
Yosr Elsobky
I am looking for a speaker for an AAUW Freehold meeting for Feb. 13th 3020. I was impressed by your website, and would like to know what you charge, and if you are available. You are exactly what I was looking for.
Elizabeth, sorry I just saw this. Please email me at cslevin59@gmail.com and I’d be happy to discuss this. February 13th is still available on my end if you haven’t already filled it.