I remember sitting in high school history class, learning about
our founding fathers and being in awe of what they were able to
accomplish. I also remember thinking, “What did women do?” There
were so few profiles and I was curious to know more. Thus began
my quest to find female heroes—in and out of history books. That
was over forty years ago, since then I have “met” many inspiring
women—Rachel Carson, Francis Moore Lappé, Jill Ker Conway just
to mention a few. Then, several years ago, I was introduced to a
remarkable woman from my community. This month, Women's History
Month, is a particularly appropriate time to take a look at this
local woman's significant and ongoing contribution. Allow me to
introduce you to Marion Stoddart. In the 1960s, Marion
spearheaded the environmental clean-up of the dying Nashua
River. The short form of Marion’s story focuses on the tasks she
directed to save one of the world’s most polluted waterways. The
larger picture unfolds to reveal a woman who overcame gender
roles of th