BARNSTABLE – Nominations are now being accepted for the 17th annual Mercy Otis Warren Cape Cod Woman of the Year Award.
Committee member Judy Walden Scarafile, explained some of the qualities potential candidates should have.
“A wonderful leader involved in education, business, the arts. Volunteerism is a real big component,” she said.
Warren, born in 1728, was part of a West Barnstable family with thirteen children. She has been referred to as “The First Lady of the American Revolution”.
Scarafile points out that she pursued areas that were, for the most part, not available to women of the time.
“Mercy wanted to be educated. She wanted to write and make a difference. She did a lot of that behind the scenes with her dad’s and brothers’ help. She did some of it under a different name,” said Scarafile.
In comparison, her brothers were being openly tutored, with the goal of attending Harvard.
She became a pioneer of women being involved in politics and published writings, in various forms, which challenged British authority and encouraged resistance.
She also put forth her opinion that a Bill of Rights should be included in the debate over the Constitution.
Warren is acknowledged as one of the most influential women of all time.
Nominations are due by April 16th, Patriots Day, and must be no more than one page. Forms are available at the Barnstable County and Tales of Cape Cod websites, libraries and town halls.
The presentation of the award will take place at the Olde Colonial Courthouse in Barnstable village on June 5th.
More information can be found by emailing [email protected].
Past recipients have been: Marion Villeumier (2002), Jean Gardner (2003), Eugenia Fortes (2004), Felicia Penn (2005), Bonnie Snow (2006), Lynne Poyant (2007), Josephine Ives (2008(, Mary LeClair (2009), Gloria Rudman (2010), Susan French (2011), Judy Walden Scarafile (2012), Dorothy Savarese (2013), Mary Lou Petitt (2014), Michelle DeSilva(2015), Ann Williams (2016) and Dolores Daluz (2017).
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