By the time Jane Applegate took her place in the Los Angeles Times’ newsroom during the 1970s when women were still rare but no longer writing only about fashion or food, famed civil rights heroine Rosa Parks had already rejected the back of the bus.
Now local resident Applegate and collaborator Alice Look are bringing to prominence Remarkable Women whose stories have been undersung. Most faced substantial obstacles and naysayers, but plowed on. Ultimately, they achieved successes well worth heralding. The list has over 375 names and counting, from all over the world.
Applegate lives in Cortlandt Manor, and Look in Connecticut. Together they have initiated a blog, a book, a television series, and more elements of the project. The overseas component, created with Finnish company Greenlit Productions, operates separately; the American work is under the “Remarkable Women” nonprofit umbrella.
Applegate, who entered journalism during the post-Watergate years, was an ambitious reporter who wanted to write about hefty issues. She got an investigative financial crimes beat that took her wherever the story led pursuing criminals. “If you were escaping, I would be on the same plane,” said Applegate, during an era when newspapers would foot the bill.
Following the L.A. Times, Applegate entered the film industry as a line producer, and began writing books about business. Eventually, Mike Bloomberg recruited Applegate for his startup television network, and after a year of bi-coastal living, the then California resident moved her family to New York.
When the pandemic hit, Applegate left Brooklyn and crowded into the dilapidated Verplanck mansion her daughter had bought, and both generations, and a live-in carpenter, hunkered down while restoring the place. Meanwhile, she taught, mentored, and produced, while being a motivator, promoter of women, and clearer of obstacles – the kind of advocate and supporter she wished she had had early in her own career. “I vowed if I ever got anywhere I would help younger women,” Applegate said. She is proud to have seen protégées flourish.
Now “Remarkable Women” is taking precedence. For both Applegate and Look, “Remarkable Women,” which Applegate calls her “legacy project,” is meant to inspire and encourage. This spring, they plan to be in Dublin for a Summit just prior to International Women’s Day.
What is a “remarkable woman,” according to Applegate? Someone with passion, persistence, and professionalism. “These women never gave up. If they hit an obstacle, they said, ‘we’re going over it, under it, or around it.’”
One example especially close to former journalist Applegate’s heart is Martha Gellhorn, the fearless war correspondent. Married to Ernest Hemingway, her enterprising work began to conflict with his desire to be at the forefront. In a move that would spell the end of their marriage, he horned in on her assignment with Collier’s Magazine, which dumped Gellhorn in favor of Hemingway, thus stripping her of press credentials. Not to be squelched, Gellhorn used a nurse’s uniform to move around a hospital ship on which she had stowed away, reporting on D-Day. “She was bad-ass,” says Applegate.
Opal Lee is another especially inspiring figure, who walked from Texas to Washington DC to advance the cause of Juneteenth as a national holiday.
Charity Adams Early, an African-American army major, led the 6888 and untangled a seemingly hopeless mess of mail during World War II, a great victory for soldiers’ morale.
Air Force Major General Jeannie Marie Leavitt was the first American woman pilot of a combat plane, rising through the ranks, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, and inspiring filmmakers who wanted a template for their female superhero in the 2019 film, Captain Marvel.
Look points out how many transformational inventions have come from women whose names are obscure, including the dishwasher and windshield wipers. One Connecticut mother, exasperated with cloth diapers, experimented repeatedly and eventually sold her patent to the company that would become Pampers. Look relates that Marion Donovan got $1 million in the 1950s – “worth $10 million today, so not a bad payday.”
In contemporary times, the persistence of Dr. Katalin Kariko, awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2023, is a shining example. Kariko was the first person Look, a former journalist and A&E/History Channel producer, chose to profile in her “Remarkable Women” blog, a foundation for the newly printed “Remarkable Women” book and other efforts. And, says Applegate with amusement, they got the news about the Nobel just as the book was about to go into production. “We actually had to scream, stop the presses!”
Applegate and Look have each contributed indispensably to the whole. According to Look, Applegate “really deserves the credit for planting the seed.” Applegate produced a film about six women who supported James Joyce through trials and tribulations with his book Ulysses. The film helped germinate the idea of remarkable women overlooked in their time. Look has been the principal researcher and writer for the blog and book.
Who does Applegate feel was particularly ill-served by history? Ann Axtell Morris, an archaelogist who died tragically young, was the wife of Earl Morris, and was left in his shadow while he became a template for “Indiana Jones.” “When she went on these digs, even though she had a degree in archeology…she was told her job was cooking and taking care of the children,” said Applegate. But she said no, and did the work, producing remarkable paintings to document sites. Applegate and Look are helping to right the wrong.
Both Applegate and Look pay tribute to their own mothers as lodestars. Applegate’s mother, a former teacher and powerhouse, is still alive – and now, in her ‘90s, wants to be a standup comedian. Applegate doesn’t scoff. Look celebrates her immigrant mother, who was a bridge between Chinese people in the U.S. and their families in Hong Kong, acting as a translator and scribe. The storytelling heritage is strong for each woman.
Applegate will be at the HoliYAY celebration in Peekskill on Sunday, December 15, ready to share stories and offer the Remarkable Women book for sale. The paperback book will be wrapped and for sale at $20 a slight discount of the $22.95 list price.The hardcover edition is $32.95. Proceeds will help support their 501(c)(3) nonprofit continuing to identify and celebrate the women in history who deserve to emerge from the shadows.
