The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening aims to bear witness to the widespread impact that the women’s movement had in the United States, not only in major cities but also in smaller centers scattered across the continent, which have escaped the attention of most.
These pages intend to preserve the memory of a decade of activity shared by a small group of women who remained independent from any major feminist organization. Through the evocation of a place and a historical moment, the account of what took place in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, reveals how revolutionary women’s vision of the world can be, even among those who do not define themselves as radical and do not identify with the feminist movement.
Retracing the events of those years will allow for a better understanding of the path that the movement began then and a more accurate assessment of what it means for us today.

Angela M. Jeannet taught Italian and French language and literature at various colleges and universities in the United States. In 1970, she formed a working group, “Lancaster Women’s Liberation,” which remained active until 1982 and was instrumental in founding an organization for the prevention of domestic violence against women and a shelter for victims. In 1971-72, she served as vice president of a civil rights organization for women that helped secure the passage of an Equal Rights Amendment by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the 1990s, she served on the Board of an organization dedicated to helping women victims of domestic violence establish and manage small cooperative enterprises.