Women’s History Month originally started as Women’s History Week in Sonoma in 1978 and later became nationalized in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. It became a month-long celebration in 1987.
For the last 10 years, History Professor Dr. Lynn Hawley has been instrumental in putting on events for Women’s History Month until this year as her end-of-semester retirement nears.
“Particuarly now, Women’s History Month is a critical celebration, and recognition that women have had a unique experience in this country that need to be celebrated, but we also need to bring awareness because some of the policies and laws that are being pushed… are not about creating a new reality for women but trying to bring an old reality,” Hawley states.
Delta College has honored women alumni and historical figures from Stockton by naming buildings and areas after them.
Helen Danner had a long history with Delta College — then named Stockton Junior College — from 1936 to her death in 1970. She started as a Spanish instructor, gaining tenure the next year and then later moving on to an administrative role, with her last appointment being the associate dean of students.
In sabbatical report materials done by history professor Dr. Sarah Seekatz about the names of buildings on campus, Delta President Superintendent Joseph Blanchard spoke about Danner to the board of trustees around the time Danner Hall was named in her honor. Danner “was a dedicated and effective member of the staff concerned most directly with the students and their activities for many years,” Blanchard is quoted as saying in a memo to the board preserved in Goleman Library’s Special Collections.
Hanner was one of two women with buildings originally named after them.
Tillie Ehrlich-Weisberg Lewis, the “Tomato Queen of San Joaquin” is the second woman with a building named after her. The Tillie Lewis Theater was named after her death in 1977. She was a business woman who created a tomato empire company in the San Joaquin Valley. She built her company, Tillie Lewis Foods, and received the title “Business Women of the Year” from the Associated Press in 1951.
More recently, the Child Development Center on campus was formally renamed the Hazel Hill Child Development after Dr. Hazel Hill in 2016, after her passing in 2015. Hill had a 35-year career at Delta College as dean of Career Technical Education and Workforce Development and was an advocate for vocational education. She pushed Delta to create a childcare center on campus and opened its doors in January 1994.
More than buildings are named after influential women, as well.
Dolores Huerta was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 and in 2019 she was honored with a plaza named after her on the main Delta campus.
Huerta is a graduate of Delta College who got involved in the civil rights of farm workers and became a co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association. Her activism helped lead to the passage of the Agriculture Labor Relations Act in 1975. She later served on the U.S. Commission on Agricultural Workers, founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation and was inducted into the National Woman’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
Some other notable women at Delta college include Dr. Janet Rivera, the longest-serving member of the board of trustees. She is retiring this term as previously reported by The Collegian. Dr Rivera was inducted to Stockon’s Mexican American Hall of Fame in 2002, and helped students throughout her career.
Gina Johnson is one the latest of the greats at Delta College, as head coach of the women’s basketball team. The team recently won the state championship this year as reported by the Collegian. Johnson has been the head coach at Delta for 30 years and this is her team’s fourth time in state championships.
“I think as coaches we help inspire each other and we have great teams to be better than next year,” Johnson said.
