CELEBRATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH AND MOLLY WILLIAMS
CELEBRATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
AND MOLLY WILLIAMS,
FEMALE FIREFIGHTING LEGEND
A GUEST POST/Q&A BY DIANNE OCHILTREE
“Each time a girl opens a book and reads a womanless history, she learns she is worth less.”
~ Dr. Myra Pollack Sadker, researcher, educator, and author of Failing at Fairness: How America’s Schools Cheat Girls (Scribners)
Knowing our history helps us discover who we are, and where we want to go. But when we don’t know our own history, or ‘herstory,’ this is a difficult task. Not knowing our past can limit our power today, and hinder our dreams for tomorrow. The National Women’s History Project initiated Women’s History Month 35 years ago to address this issue, and their mission remains to ‘write women back into history.’ In honor of Women’s History Month, I’d like to re-visit an author interview focused on a heroic woman whom I am very glad to have discovered and why I HAD to record her story for young readers.
When my picture book, Molly, by Golly! The Legend of Molly Williams, America’s First Female Firefighter, was released, I did several interviews for bloggers. One of the nicest was this one with Debbi Michiko Florence for her blog DEBtastic Reads. It was a pleasure ‘talking’ with her about this book of mine, which went on to win the bronze medal in the 2013 Florida Book Awards, was named to the 2012 ALA Amelia Bloomer Book List for Feminist Literature, and more recently, was included as a 2016 Selection on the Top 100 Recommended African-American Children’s Books by AALBC.com (African-American Literature Book Club).
Q: Congratulations on the release of your newest picture book, MOLLY, BY GOLLY! The Legend of Molly Williams, America’s First Female Firefighter (Calkins Creek), fabulously illustrated by Kathleen Kemly. You first became interested in Molly when you came across her legend while researching another book. What inspired you to turn this into a picture book?
A: First, it was the great spirit of volunteerism that is at the heart of Molly’s legendary tale. What Molly lacked in experience she more than compensated for with her courage and strength. It was a great opportunity to inspire future firefighters and other community helpers. Second, it was a chance to show kids how fires were actually fought in early American times. I was meticulous in my research of these details, and so was illustrator Kathleen Kemly—the firefighting history experts who double-checked our efforts were equally meticulous—because we all wanted to present as accurate a picture as possible. Kids will certainly get an appreciation for the modern equipment we have today. Third, Molly’s legend was filled with the type of action and emotion sure to inspire fabulous illustrations…which is just what happened!
Q: I was fascinated to learn how intensive and exhausting firefighting was in the 1800s! What part of your research for this book surprised you the most?
A: The biggest surprise was learning that the earliest pumper engines were not transported to the scene of a fire by a team of horses as I’d always assumed—PEOPLE did. The cobblestone streets were very narrow and bumpy, and it was often easier and safer for humans to maneuver the heavy pumper in tight spots. Also, since there were no paid fire companies at the time, there were no funds for buying, feeding and housing horses to help fight fires. There were no firehouses as we know them today, either. The volunteer companies only had equipment sheds for their very basic tools. No “sliding-down-a-fire-pole” fun for these early firefighters!
Q: Molly was a cook for firefighters. You share some delicious-sounding dishes in the book! What are some of your favorite comfort foods?
A: My favorite comfort foods: Pad Thai Noodles, Salted Caramel Ice Cream and Carolina Pulled Pork—but not all in the same meal! I had a wonderful time researching early American cookery, and just loved the quaint-and-quirky names of dishes that Molly might have fixed for her ‘fire laddies’.
Molly, by Golly! The Legend of Molly Williams, America’s First Female Firefighter
Written by Dianne Ochiltree
Illustrated by Kathleen Kemly
Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills Press
Ages 7+ / $16.95-Hardcover / ISBN: 978-1-59078-721-2
- 2016 Selection, Top 100 Recommended African-American Children’s Books by com(African-American Literature Book Club)
- Winner of the Bronze Medal in the Children’s Literature category of the Florida Book Awards
- 2013 Book Award Honor for Language Arts Grades K-6 from International Society of School Librarians
- 2012 ALA Amelia Bloomer Book List for Feminist Literature
