JoAnn Fritsche
A graduate of Duquesne University, JoAnn Fritsche received her
master's degree in English and counseling from the University
of North Carolina, and her Ph.D. in English from Case Western
Reserve in 1972. In the same year, she became Director of Equal
Opportunity at the University of Maine. Holding that position
through the summer of 1986, she was a strong advocate for the
personal, professional, and educational development of women,
minorities, and the disabled. An educator and policymaker, Fritsche
started the University of Maine's Children's Center in 1974,
and in 1981 founded the women's development Program to address
the economic and personal development needs of women and girls
in Maine, and the Women in the Curriculum Program to promote
the inclusion and equal representation of the scholarship, values,
contributions, needs, and perspectives of women in the University
of Maine curriculum. In her handbook, Toward Excellence and Equity,
she discusses the problems of developing and implementing a balanced
curriculum and promoting equity for campus women. Fritsche was
Director of Capital Support for KQED in San Francisco, one of
the five largest producing stations for Public Broadcasting systems
in the country. Because of JoAnn Fritcshe's contributions, the
University of Maine and other academic institutions around the
country are more humane places in which to study and work.
Joan Benoit Samuelson
A Cape Elizabeth native and 1979 graduate of Bowdoin College,
Joan Benoit Samuelson has set standards and broken records from
the beginning of her career. Named "Outstanding Girl Senior
Athlete" at Cape Elizabeth High School in 1975, she won
the Falmouth Road Race the following year, repeated the victory
five times, and in 1985 set the course record. In 1979 she won
the Women's Division of the Boston Marathon and the Paavo Murni
medal as the best female distance runner in America. After receiving
the gold medal for the three-thousand meter run at the Pan-Am
games in Caracas, Samuelson went on to win the first Olympic
Marathon for women, in the 1984 Los Angeles games. She was a
member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame and recipient of the
prestigious 1985 Sullivan Award given to the outstanding amateur
athlete in the country. A quote from the Omaha World-Herald speaks
of Samuelson's Olympic victory, but actually describes the qualities
which make her an inspiration to women: "We honor our Olympic
heroes and heroines, and that's good. We should recognize and
applaud great feats. But Joan Benoit's marathon victory means
more than an Olympic gold medal. The lesson of her race is one
of great fulfillment--through planning, desire, perseverance,
confidence, mental preparation, and work."
Dorothy Clarke Wilson
Born in Gardiner, Maine, Dorothy Clarke Wilson graduated from
Bates College in 1925. Writer, lecturer, and humanitarian, she
is the author of more than seventy religious plays and pageants,
twenty-six novels and biographies, and numerous articles and
short stories. Her book, The Prince of Egypt, winner of the Westminster
Religious Fiction Award, was used as a resource for the film, "The
Ten Commandments." Her books champion the cause of women
by depicting them as individuals who make significant contributions
to our world. Works such as Take My Hands, Lone Woman, Queen
Dolley, and Stranger and Traveler portray the power of women
to effect positive social change. Her books Bright Eyes, Ten
Fingers for God, Hillary, and Handicap Race explore the problems
men and women encounter as they fight social injustice and reflect
Wilson's interest in travel and India. Her only book set in Maine,
The Big Little World of Doc Pritham, traces the life of a doctor
who practiced in Greenville for sixty-five years. Overcoming
the handicap of stuttering, Wilson has taught, conducted workshops,
and lectured on writing across the United States and the world.
Recipient of the New England United Methodist Award for Excellence
in Social Action in 1975 and the Distinguished Achievement Award
from the University of Maine in 1977, she continued to speak
compellingly on the social issues for many years. Dorothy Clarke Wilson passed away in 2003 at the age of 98.
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