The Extraordinary Women of the East Bay Exhibit is coming to Warren for the month of February. Created by RWU archivist Heidi Benedict, the exhibit celebrates the lives and contributions of 60 historical women from the East Bay. The exhibit will be shared by George Hail Library, 530 Main Street, and Sprout CoWorking, 489 Main Street, and will be displayed from Feb. 3-27. The exhibit is free and open to the public during the regular business hours of both venues.

The exhibit recognizes the achievements of women from seven East Bay communities and includes activists, suffragettes, educators, spiritual leaders with careers that span from athlete, to lighthouse keeper, to social worker to sailmaker. Spanning three centuries of local history, the exhibit features banners with images and biographies of this diverse group of women. Local libraries, museums and historical and preservation groups contributed biographical information for the exhibit.  

Two Warren women are featured in the exhibit. The “Queen of Baseball”, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Murphy is a well-known local figure who was among the first women to play professional baseball with men in the 1920s. Warren resident Mary Jolls Merchant DeWolf was the first woman to register to vote in Rhode Island when the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920. A database featuring full biographies of each women is available at www.rwu.edu.  

Sprout CoWorking is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. George Hail Library is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For additional information contact darby@sproutcoworking.com or George Hail Library at 401/245-7686.