Debbie Dimitre, a Pacific Northwest storyteller known for her stirring one-woman shows about women and young girls in American history, will bring her presentation about Alice Paul, a suffragist and co-author of the 1923 Equal Rights Amendment, to Vashon at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Vashon Presbyterian church.
In the show, Dimitre shape-shifts to embody Paul — one of the most influential members of the 20th-century women’s rights movement, who fought not only for women’s equality in America but also, throughout the world.
Paul was a key player in the effort to incorporate language affirming the equality of women in the United Nations Charter in 1945, as well as the effort to create a permanent U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.
Dimitre’s one-woman show about Paul is part of her wide repertoire. She appeared on Vashon in a one-woman show about Emily Dickinson in 2019, and as Eleanor Roosevelt, in 2018. In 2017, she brought one of her most acclaimed shows, about Grandma Moses, to Vashon.
According to Dimitre’s website, the performer was inspired to create her far-ranging series of shows after realizing, 30 years ago, that her children’s school books were practically devoid of information about the contributions, courage and bravery of mothers and daughters in American history.
Carving out her own niche as a working performer dependent only on her own carefully researched writing, a trunkful of costumes and audiences eager to hear the untold stories of inspiring women, Dimitre has performed at schools, community colleges, churches, libraries, bookstores and history museums, as well as more traditional venues including the Seattle Folklife Festival.
Appropriately enough, Dimitre’s Oct. 22 presentation about Paul is being presented as a fundraiser by one of two Vashon chapters of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO).
The organization, founded in 1869, is an international women’s nonprofit that helps girls and women achieve their educational goals through scholarships, grants and loan programs, as well as its own institution of higher learning, Cottey College.
To date, these international programs have helped assist well over 100,000 women with more than $344 million in funds for educational assistance.
The Vashon members of the organization — which has had a presence on the island since the early 1980s — also give out their own scholarships to island girls via the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation.
Sherri Shull, a local member of P.E.O. Chapter GW, said that she and other PEO members had been thrilled to bring Dimitre annually to Vashon, pre-pandemic, and is now excited to welcome her back.
“She is an extremely talented storyteller who brings historical women to life with mesmerizing acting,” Shull said.
Tickets to the show, $20, may be purchased at the door on the day of the show. For more information about Dimitre, visit debbbiedimitre.com.
Disclosure: Editor Elizabeth Shepherd is a member of PEO Chapter GW, on Vashon.
