CEO of Chick History, Rebecca Price, to Keynote High-Tea Event by AAUW Murfreesboro

Rebecca Price, CEO of the organization Chick History, is a rising star specializing in the history of Tennessee women and will give the keynote address at Equali-TEA, a high-tea fundraising event hosted by the Murfreesboro chapter of the American Association of University Women.

The “hats optional” high tea will celebrate the economic contributions of women in the workforce at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11 in the Miller Education Center, 503 E. Bell St. in Murfreesboro.

The high tea is a fundraiser for scholarships for MTSU women students who are returning to college to complete degrees. The event is at capacity. Rebecca Price, who will deliver the keynote address at the tea, is the president and chief executive officer of the Nashville-based nonprofit organization Chick History, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rebuilding history one story at a time by focusing on women’s history.

“Rebecca Price takes a fresh look at and deep dive into the stories of Tennessee women to make them relevant to our experience today. Attendees at Equali-TEA will find her work compelling given that she addresses one of our most perplexing chapters of history, the push for women’s economic equality,” said Dia Cirillo, president of the Murfreesboro branch of the AAUW.

Price will speak on Equali-TEA: A Historic Brew of Women, Work and Wages. She will tell the uncompromising story of bold heroines, enduring obstacles and surprising opportunities encountered along the way to equal pay. “At the heart of Chick History is the belief that every great story has not been told, and more importantly, what we’ve been told isn’t the whole picture. Women’s history is all around us, we just have to dig it out and put it back in place, one story at a time,” Price said in an interview with The Tennessean in 2016.

Price’s address will be a nice complement to the main fare, awarding scholarships to this year’s recipients, Clelie Peacock and Keira Crutchfield, both students at MTSU.“Our women students need every penny they earn and receive in scholarship awards,” states Barbara Scales, Director of the MTSU June S. Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students and co-chair of Equali-TEA. “We know that women students end up with more debt over time and pay it off slower than male students in part because of the pay gap. These scholarships help to reduce that debt.”

The 2017-2018 recipients of the Ruth Houston Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship and the Butler- Fouts Memorial Graduate Scholarship also will receive their awards at the event. Both scholarships provide $2,000 for the year, or $1,000 each semester. Clelie Peacock, an undergraduate student in anthropology, is the recipient of the Ruth M. Houston Memorial Scholarship.

In its 51st year, the scholarship is named for Ruth McNabb Houston, who served as chapter president from 1951-1953. She was very active in welcoming newcomers to Murfreesboro and in promoting AAUW in the community. In 1983, the branch scholarship for undergraduate students was named in her honor.

Keira Crutchfield, who is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration, is the recipient of the Butler-Fouts Memorial Graduate Scholarship. In its first year, this scholarship is named for Mattie Raybon Butler and Leola Page Fouts. Butler was a long-time educator who began her career at Bradley Academy and taught in Murfreesboro City Schools until her retirement from Bellwood Elementary School. Fouts was also an educator who retired from McFadden Elementary School in Murfreesboro after many years of teaching. A graduate of MTSU, she was an active member and former president of the Murfreesboro branch of AAUW.

Eligible applicants for the Houston scholarship are nontraditional female undergraduate students, age 24 and older, who demonstrate academic promise and financial need and who have successfully completed their freshman year at MTSU.

The Butler-Fouts scholarship is available to female graduate students from underrepresented ethnic or racial groups who demonstrate academic promise and financial needs. Butler-Fouts applicants must currently be enrolled in or accepted into an MTSU graduate program. Preference is given to applicants who are close to completing their degrees.

Tempest Award

AAUW Murfreesboro will also present the Tempest Award, which honors an individual in Middle Tennessee who has taken action to address the systemic barriers to equity for women and girls. The inaugural award will be presented to former Murfreesboro mayor, Tommy Bragg, for his work on furthering women’s equality during his time in elected office.

As mayor, Bragg shepherded the city through an era of unprecedented growth and helped lay a base for future economic growth with the development of The Gateway and Medical Center Parkway. He also worked to raise awareness on the importance of women to the local and national economy.

Bragg also worked to strengthen the relationship between MTSU and the community at large. To that end, he enacted three proclamations raising awareness of the need to advance equity for women and girls.

The proclamations were the mayoral proclamation for equal pay in April 2014; the celebration of the centennial for AAUW Murfreesboro in March 2013; and the proclamation for Nov. 28, 2006, as American Association of University Women Day in recognition of the national organization’s 125 years.

Co-sponsors include the MTSU June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, MTSU President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Foy Law Firm, SunTrust, Susan T. Andrews, MD of Family Practice Partners, Deloitte, Sexton & Associates of Ameriprise Financial, Friends of AAUW Murfreesboro, Cultivating Coworking, Olive Branch Church and Timmons Properties Inc.

For more about Chick History, visit chickhistory.org.