The purpose of one Workshop entitled together we can make it was to promote a dialogue between urban and rural women and that Workshop or mcraven's a social worker from Hennepin County told those attending that real women should concern themselves with the problems of the inner cities for one thing many of their own tax dollars are going to fight those problems Cravens also said that many of the young mothers that she sees on public assistance were originally from rural areas and don't know how to cope in an urban environment Judy Blancher a writer for the Lake Region, press of Alexandria told the workshop that many of the problems once considered Urban have now become real ones as well because of my job. I have an overview of what's happening on the farm. And also what's happening within that small community and as I thought about the title for this particular workshop together we can make it.And trying to pick out some of the things that perhaps we can come to grips with and and come together on. I don't think that that rural and urban are so drastically different. I think that their concerns in a rural or Urban that perhaps we don't see the magnitude of but we still have some of those concerns and just let me use a few things as reminders crime is no longer a big city phenomena crime is in the rural areas of my folks are in a small town and they were part of everybody in those small towns and never used to lock their doors that were you always could get into the house and that was the case with my parents until maybe 5-10 years ago. Somebody walked in the house and broad daylight and walked out the door with all the goodies and and the door is locked now, and I am being lost in the countryside trying.Find Farms every once in a while. I can talk him into a lot of five years it if nobody's home the doors are locked and I think that that's something that is happened in rural areas. Say within the last 10 years. Another thing that that is not unique just to the urban area is drugs and chemical dependency counselor on alcoholism for Douglas County, which is the county that I am associated with tells me that that she sees alcoholism is the number one problem for women. And that is it that she's dealing with real woman. She's dealing with women who live on the farm. We live in a city and you know, there's a need for help their Judy Blancher also told the workshop at the most serious problem facing the real Community was the loss of their schools without them as the focus for Community involvement many small towns would die. So glad you encourage women to become active in the play.And preservation of their schools but in a workshop on the changing role of women in rural communities Norma Hanson president of the Minnesota Business and Professional Women's clubs said women have been involved in Community Affairs for sometime. The problem is they have not yet achieved positions of leadership, you know, we still find ourselves swimming in areas where we are traditionally have always been the secretary of the PTA the ladies Aid and these kinds of things but we must let it be known that we want to serve in more important rules the decision-making rules.How do we go about this? Often we attending meetings, but never say anything. So you have to become verbal. I let people know that you are concerned about the issues. Maybe we'll take one certain one and stand out on that one and speak your ideas. Princess if you were going to run for the school board as it came out in our local women in local government Workshop this morning. It seems like that women have to be better informed more knowledgeable and portray themselves and you much higher level than men do should they be running for office? So we thought maybe we should attend school board meetings. So we learn all the inside ropes of how things went at those kinds of meetings. If you're interested in Township officers. You would go to your Township officers meetings same way with your County Commissioners. Now, we have the public open meeting law. We can't get into these meetings. And therefore I feel that we should be participating more in these kinds of roles as women. And as I mentioned earlier the men do not have the time. To attend these kinds of meetings they are so wrapped up in their business, but are we not also busy? If we are Partners in agriculture. We have the same kind of role to play in that kind of business as their husbands do. But often I have heard if you want the job done get a woman to do it. But then when we get there and there are some job openings and so forth. Then we are giving those kinds of roles as the secretary or a member of a committee but never in that decision making rule or we can carry some clout. And there will be a change in time. For you will see more women serving on County Commission Township boards school boards, and they'll end up being presidents are the chairperson or chairwoman. Whatever you want to call him of local community. Organizations have to Norman Hansen address the workshop some of the participant suggested that women in agriculture. We should start referring to themselves as Farmers instead of farmers wives others were told how to compile resumes for unpaid experience and how to obtain college credit for their past work doors mcilvaine from the national Farmers organization told the group that many Homemakers urban and rural alike had no self-confidence and their leadership skills, but I think real women have been slower to come into a leadership position at as a general group. It would be unfair to say that Rural America has kept pace. With Attitudes of of the changing role that women can play I thinks it's a rural areas are far more conservative. Then the urban areas in accepting women in too many of the leadership positions. I think this is true, but I think that by and large farm women have tremendous abilities. They are truly Partners in agriculture is a situation that exists today. I think that it would be extremely difficult almost as difficult for a farmer to operate without a good wife partner as it would be in the early stages of a wife having to cope through widowhood or something like that the kind of support that has to be there in in terms of of management and and filling in here and there you have to have an awful lot of adaptability besides some confidence in being able to do what you want to do Doris mcilvaine a public relations consultant for the national Farm organization speaking before a workshop on the changing role of women in rural areas during the Minnesota women's meeting the Council on the economic status of women held public hearings for real women. There were two basic concerns that women living in rural areas did not have access to the same social services that women in urban areas did and that farm women who had worked alongside their husbands on the Family Farm could easily lose that property when their husbands died. The first testimony came from a farmer from McLeod County Luella song to Garner husband began with $2,000 of Used Machinery in some wretched Farmland after more than twenty years of hard work. They now own 300 acres of land and their farming operation is estimated to be worth $500,000 yet. If her husband died will Alessandra. I will probably lose that land. I had a dream we both had a dream my husband ever. He weighed discussed everything at all times. What I'm going to say, we always there was always a discussion. He never forced me to do this hard work. Like I say I'm stronger and I love my work outside. I I love the management of different things and I'm thankful that he given me the opportunity to do is do these things because that's what I love because of her husband's poor health. Luella sondergaard is done over 50% of the physical labor and their farming operation. She also raised two children ran the household and worked in a local Factory to supplement the family's income yet. If her husband died, she would probably lose the farm because she couldn't afford to pay the inheritance taxes. Well Farm women may think of themselves as full working Partners. They're not considered economic Partners Under The Inheritance laws when their husbands died Farm women have to pay a federal estate tax and estate inheritance tax on the appraised worth of all the land buildings and Machinery there are some tax exemptions. But according to Elizabeth Redman also of McLeod County. The price of Farmland is so inflated women must pay substantial taxes, even on small farms. They inherit she would be taxed on $250,000 which would make it a credible estate after the inheritance tax purposes right now as the situation stands with a $500,000 estate no matter what the exception is under Minnesota law. I can't see anybody ever reason for farmer in southern Minnesota is a small estate. Minnesota has always been all for the family farm and I guess that I would like to see them do something to maintain the family farm in situations like this 1976 Minnesota inheritance laws were revised and now there legal action that can be taken to lessen the taxes and help Farm women hold on to their property. But the problem is that most Farm couples don't make any arrangements to protect a wise investment before the husband dies. And in some cases, there are those who will take advantage of their ignorance sondergaard told the story of another Farm woman from McLeod County who would work alongside her husband yet is lost such farm when he died. And I know if this happened 5 years ago and someone has said she still gets very upset. She didn't Ricci promise to give me a testimony, but she didn't call back and I heard that. I just know part of her situation. She had some property and some money and she lost her husband. This Banker was a friend of the family and I Give her a hope all these papers to sign. I'm sure there's a lot of papers you have to sign that you have to sign but all her property. She found out later was signed over to the spanker and when she asked him why he did this to her. He told her some silly answer. You should have known better. So in all today, she's on welfare, Luella sondergaard testifying before the Council on the economic status of women during the Minnesota women's meeting to prevent Farm women from being forced off their land because of their inability to pay inheritance taxes a resolution was approved later by the participants at the meeting that resolution call for property and inheritance laws to recognize marriage as an economic partnership realizing of the contribution of each spouse is of equal importance and value that resolution would also help Homemakers like Joan harmsen from Lake Wilson. My husband is Rural mail carrier and as we approach retirement. I found out that my services as a homemaker. We're not value very highly because when he retires if he dies. My pension is the pension will be cut in half. If I die it retains its it goes on the same with him. And if I marry I lose the pension he does not I know that this has to be changed to the public service law but this is another unfair thing the whole pet pension system in the Social Security System needs to be overhauled. I think we all recognize that. I have a friend who had a railroad pension. She doesn't marry the man. She just don't think she lives with him, but they have a relationship with you less is less than desirable if she could have married him because she has to lose your pension and Housewives. Well, they do should be recompensed for the work they work. I mean if my husband choose to throw me out, I'd be on the job market at 52 years old have a few skills. Not as many as he has because I've given my life to the community and it says to me you're less of a person. It's put me down. I didn't think he supported me. I thought we went into this thing as a team and he said the reason the pension is the way it is is because many years ago that the Spanish-American War these girls were just marry me for all Spanish American veterans and they were dying of Noah collecting a lot of a lot of Pensions. But I feel that I earned that pension just as much as he did and it should not be cut in half when he died chilling harmsen from Lake Wilson the complaint raise most often during the hearing. What was that many of the social services that women and their families take for granted in urban areas are not even available in rural areas Mario run hold of Marshall told the council that there was a severe lack of facilities for the handicapped in the out state regions of Minnesota from my region alone, which comprises the 20 counties of southwest Minnesota. There are presently 396 persons from ages 1 to 21 being referred to Gillette in the Twin Cities. This is by no means the total population of those in services for there are many who go elsewhere for services. Are there are many at home who get no Services myself. I drive 600 miles a month to take my son to therapies at the UN. versity of Minnesota in Minneapolis I feel that out State Minnesota desperately needs Regional rehabilitation centers in these centers can be administered either by private mode nonprofit or by a Cooperative service with the economic sees me the educational Cooperative service and the medical community or as an outreach program by the University of Minnesota or whatever. And these rehab facilities should provide Physical Therapy occupational therapy speech therapy and whatever restorative therapies are needed for a particular region another area where I think therapies could be expanded is through the Public Health Service presently in our area physical therapy is offered as a home visit program, but there is no occupational therapy under this service and I would like to see this expanded another area of concern is the young adult not mentally retarded, but severely physically handicapped. This type of individual in our region now is isolated in his or her home or in nursing homes. This is not the appropriate setting in my feeling for these individuals. Therefore. I would like to see some adapt adaptive housing built in out State Minnesota similar to crude Center or travilah that you have in the cities. And this will bring this these young adult together Under One Roof. The center should provide appropriate counseling vocational training restore restorative therapies and psychiatric care for these particular individuals and it would be dedicated to providing conditions and opportunities which allow these individuals to achieve their potential. At present time in the 20 County region of Southwest Minnesota. There are 77 severely handicapped not mentally retarded person's age is 16245 and 99 severely physically handicapped nonmetal retarded persons from ages 5 to 15 who would potentially service these adaptive housing units Mario run home from Marshall. She also suggested that a reciprocity agreement be worked out among neighboring states for the payment of fees for therapeutic facilities and treatment and its way patients could spend the money they receive from their respective States closer to home and avoid long and expensive trips. Dorothy Perry is from Morrison County and for several years. She has been researching the rights of women and children in the various Services the community provides them. She told the council about the services that were lacking in her area birth control still not available to women in our area three women are three groups of women of fertility age that are still discriminated against in some degrees are the real women the poor women are the women of poverty and the teenage or unmarried woman. We have difficulty promoting by ability of services and getting information out to the people who need this type of service the second area that I like to talk about is child abuse and neglect several years ago. I did a report for the a human relations class in our area and I did a study of child abuse in Person County and the difficult thing and the thing that upset me after I had done this study. Why is that after interviewing police welfare all the different agencies who would be involved in this type of problem. There was no coordinating effort or joint effort between organizations and I would like to recommend that in the real area each County have a child abuse detection and treatment team such as Ramsey and Hennepin County do have this morning at one of the workshops a sergeant from the Ramsey County Police Department said that they have people available to train People in every County. However, the difficult thing gets to be what group law enforcement social service or medical take the initiative to a secured this type of group for our area. The third to mention is trained Personnel in the variety of problems that people face in addition to child abuse battered women sexual assault type of things Brainard St. Cloud off and get the centers and we're 30 miles from each one and often we do not have trained people for an immediate crisis situation Dorothea Perry from Morrison County during the testimony members of the Council on the economic status of women pointed out there were federal and state funds available to provide services in the area fan. We planning battered women and child abuse, but the women said in many cases the County Commissioners either do not seek funding for or will not Implement such programs some side of the conservative nature of many of Commissioners either. They didn't believe the problems existed or they didn't feel that the government should be involved in such family concerns one woman who lives near Roseau said there was a total lack of government-funded social services in her area Nikki Holmgren testified that she and other women who would organize seminars to even discuss social problems were openly harassed after describing the type of resistance that she had received from County and Community officials Holmgren was asked why she had ever moved to such a rural area. It's just so embarrassing. I was an executive an advertising executive for 7 years. My husband was an executive for for quite a while. We got tired of that we decided to to be back to the Landers. We're building a log cabin. My child was going to go to a country School a very idealistic. Very I am north of everywhere those problems weren't going to affect us anymore and see you think that because I thought that way too that's why I moved and I would I think we would be safer in the city. I'm beginning to wonder and it's you know a dream that I hate to have Crush by Nicki homegroup from Roseau. Most of the women who testified before the council were happy with the rural environment and it lived there most of their lives somewhere concern though about the slow rate of Economic Development pointing out of the economic status of women is the first to be lowered whenever an economic slowdown occurs, and that women are the ones who are usually forced to take the low paying low benefit jobs at the real Community offers. What are the problems we have in the rural areas and it's probably should be addressed to the private sector ride in the public sector would you represent as Jobs? This is just an economic factor that just simply doesn't work out there. Any jobs does a surplus of Labor the people are being taken advantage of I worked in this one and this one community and this man thinks that he's doing the community tremendous favor by having a factory where he pays some of those people be working there for 10 years. You don't even make $3 an hour. They have at their supporting families on this experience bookkeeper extra 10 years experience head bookkeeper. Maybe you get to 60 an hour to sort of thing. They drew is company Drew up a bunch of rules. If you get if you refuse to work overtime, you can be fired if they didn't have the rules didn't make the rules with the employees. They just arbitrarily made the rule that was John harms them from Lake Wilson. She also testified that the lack of well-paying jobs was retarding the growth of the entire real community that we're neglecting to develop. They got to have jobs and they got to have well paying jobs and I don't mean some Factory that goes out there and employs women with your second income women for 2:50 and I are the sort of thing you're forcing the people to move to the metropolitan areas because they can't find jobs Johansson testifying before the Council on the economic status of women during the Minnesota women's meeting floors McLaren in a farmer from Tenny told the council that the easiest way to raise the economic status of farm women as well as those living in small towns was to see that farmers receive a good price for their agricultural products conomic stability of farm prices does affect the availability of jobs for women in Rural America for instance of 1973 farmers in Minnesota received 100%. Which means that they received the same amount for a bushel of grain that cost him to reduce it. So 1973 a hundred percent purity of egg. Cultural products cause the following according to statistics of John we fold compiled. He's our Minnesota secretary of agriculture. We had brought 1.4 billion dollars to the Minnesota economy. This was added and over and above it was earned income New Wealth It was like adding 1400 brand-new Industries to Minnesota with a million-dollar payrolls. Now I can you see the jobs at this would this is going to carry through it added 18% construction increases in Minnesota. It got 16% job increases so this accordingly will help women the first amount it was the first time in Minnesota for many many years at a big amount of overtime taxes were received and that we had a surplus tax space to work on since that. We have spent that I guess but we didn't have it for a couple years. And this was in the million dollars, by the way, so it wasn't a small amount this parody price. I'm almost a very small amount to the consumer that buys it I will offer a diploma for bed when Casa consumer if he were to get parody today. It's worth saw the farm products in a poem or for better with 2.3% 2.3 cents in this little that cost 36 to $0.40. If it were to receive a. T price the price will go up to 4.3 sensitive. Now that is nothing that will break any consumer and it doesn't cause any inflation but it will take away inflammation. And so this is why we feel it so important and so misunderstood so by saying this edition of earnest money or a new wealth added to the Minnesota economy in 1973, when can easily say the economic repercussions on jobs for women are schools for instance were able to hire AIDS business is added additions and the hired women because they're they available work for us and we're all America. They are also need to bring an extra cash would I just need cash in the farm even though we're supposedly worth a lot of money. We never have any cash. And so I just need cash to pay bills. So the wives work for their Farm husbands to help them on Flores McLaren infant any the council was told that besides the scarcity of jobs that real women also have to contend with a disproportionately high percentage of substandard housing Mary Palmer from Marshall testified that in rural areas. The condition of existing housing is a special concern in rural areas. The percentage is very high of substandard Housing and I'm sure that it's going to be helped by the extension of the building code over the entire state that will affect new construction. But there must be something done. I believe about existing housing that is substandard and then often passes from one party to another. perhaps contract for deed kind of thing that doesn't pass through the hands of a realtor who wouldn't many cases may not want to handle it because of these substandard nature sold the recommendation that I thought might help would be Under this study that of the standards that are going to be recommended. It's I understand next year by the legislature. It would be some kind of compliance. For existing buildings existing residences that they'd have to have some kind of inspection before they passed from party to party. And so that there wouldn't be any obligation unknown to a buyer. And so that is the gist of the recommendation that I would make. And I guess I've become a particularly interested in housing because I work for Community Action Agency and they are administering the mhfa program of Home Improvement Grants, which a larger part of that is for the older residents in substandard homes. I think 62 years of age and older and although I mean there are other people too and I think the the thrust of it is energy conservation, although there are other Things about livability and repair of Hazards and this is been remarkable to one of the young women who is a Vista worker working to our agency on this program because she's an urban person and she had no knowledge of the conditions in the rural Countryside which in our case is the three-county area of Lincoln lion and Redwood. and she feels too that no matter how we turn around new construction by the extension of the State Building Code still because of the extent of substandard housing that now exists and passes from person to person there will have to be some mandatory standard 4 bringing this property into compliance so that we don't lose Mall more ground right along as far as the condition of housing in Minnesota is concerned Barry Palmer from Marshall. Finally the director of the southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council Mary Martin told the council about the special problems that plagued real women who are involved in the Arts. Perhaps the best way to summon up is to say that being an artist and being a woman in Southwestern Minnesota Canby or in rural. Minnesota can be a very lonely thing in regions that are sparsely populated. There are not very many artists around and very often. It's difficult to find those other artists in the region or in the state because communication networks are not set up. It's difficult to call people because it's a tone call involved in people hesitate to do that are there are very few Role Models around there are few professional performing groups. There are few professional artists of any kind working and living in rural, Minnesota. There are few performing spaces available to or exhibition spaces available to artists in rural regions. It's difficult to set up a show or any kind of event because sometimes there simply are not the facilities to do that kind of thing. I think the legislature this past session has done a wonderful thing for the Arts in Minnesota. And especially for the Arts enrollment is soda with the regional Arts task force Concept in the regional Arts council's that are being formed all over the state of the increased money that will be available to rural areas will help women in rural areas to have access to More arts programs in areas that are a long way from the Twin Cities. There will be additional money available for touring by Metropolitan groups, which will provide a lot of access for people in rural areas to the Arts. If you live in Marshall or in Pipestone or Laverne while you're looking at a two-day trip, if you want to go into the metropolitan area to participate in some of the Arts activities that are available in the states. So increased Roy money will be very helpful. Money available for people who want to do projects locally in this also will help the Arts Community. If you can't have the the urban arts groups out all the time you have to make do with the resources that you have in your own community. So there will be more money available. Now for local groups to do projects local community Theatre's local orchestras this kind of thing and I would like to say that I think that this is really going to be a wonderful thing for the people in our state and I would like to see continued support for the Arts from the legislature very Martin director of the southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council testifying before the Council on the economic status of women during the Minnesota women's meeting. One of the basic purposes of that meeting was to draft resolution select delegates. That would be sent to the National Women's meeting later this year in Houston before the participants that even arrived in St. Cloud though. They were predictions that a fight between the pro-life anti-abortion forces and the right to Choice Pro abortion forces with permeate the election of delegates as well as the drafting resolutions and disrupt the me to some observers were saying that the abortion issue was being fought along real urban lines. I person was really upset in the fact that it divided into a battleground of pro-abortion pro-life and Rural people got chalked up as being pro-life whether you were or not, you know, and that It's it was it was Urban versus Countryside and it was chalked up on that basis. There were some women. However who were using Urban rule differences as part of their argument in opposing abortion. They maintained at abortion was just another symptom of the overall organization of America and argue that urban women favorite abortion mainly because of their fear of overpopulation to these real women maldistribution was the problem and by living in the countryside they could see there was still room for Left 4 more people. I asked Farm woman Dolores McLaren and if she thought the issue of abortion was being fought along real urban lines, I think in most cases it is cuz someone was living in a rural area you end up you have to be you can see the connection between nature and life and I guess we just don't think about abortion as the way out we can see where we have room. We don't have to fight all the people all day long and say boy, this is too many people. We need people say I'm looking for people and we have a quality life to offer them. So we feel that we have got choices that we can make and we just want to preserve the choice and that's what we're working so hard for his what is being eliminated and we would like to see you city kids be able to come out and do farmers just as well as having to inherit the land while many of the real women attending the meeting were opposed to abortion. They were many others including Farm women that were strong Advocates of a woman's right to choose an abortion Mary all of sudden lives in the real community of carrot and she doesn't feel that the mail distribution of population can be used as an argument to oppose abortion. I think that we all have to really get together on it. I don't think it's definitely an us and them are we have plenty of room. I really think that is in real life. We don't have plenty of room. We are all in the world and the room is decreasing is wrong with the energy and everything out. There is just a finite number of people that are going to be able to make it here. I would think that you have a lot of real people who are really Very conservative and have a a really feeling a really alienation towards the city. I know in Minnesota. I know a lot of people are for my area that have the feeling with some other than Northern State boundary ends at Forest Lake. You know, I think it's kind of it's not really splitting on the abortion issue of crusade splitting is just bought their fourth and we're going to be against because it must be bad not really looking at it. I think it's really a need for cooperation between all and I don't think that's happening Mary Olufsen from Carrick early in the meeting it appear that the issue of abortion my divide the real caucus and diminish their chances for electing delegates as it turned out the issue did not have much effect every one of the 26 elected was on the Slate of candidates screen beforehand by nominating committee six of those women were from rural areas. And while the controversy over abortion may have emerged in other Workshops the real women stuck to the business at hand and were United in their resolutions, which address Problems facing women in rural communities Mary and Justin a farm woman from Randall headed the committee that it planned the workshops after they were all over I asked her and other members of the committee if I thought the workshops have been effective in Bridging the Gap between urban and rural women. I thought it was a very good learning session for them if they didn't want to take advantage of it as far as offering them. I am real proud of what we offer and I think the lorises and Bill are I think all of us are on the committee are proud of what we did have to offer. And I don't know if we failed and really reaching out to them. I don't know if how many I don't know how many were here and I thought we got a real rapport with both of them. And I think that by the time we passed our decisions are resolutions unanimous a on the floor we did get a good moral life feeling around that we hadn't had before. I think I feel better about it afterwards because I feel Urban America did understand problems and I had many people stopped at the table and really expressed concern and help know. What can we do to help you? So Louis McLaren and preceded by Marianne Justin to other members of the committee Karen song Garth from Nelson and Lil Orton doll from Osakis. We're disappointed that more urban women had not attended the real workshops. I think they were Roman workshops are very well put together, but I don't think enough of the urban women wear their the ones I was then we didn't have her in any there to to gain the benefit. What we had to say there were a few but not not nearly. The number I would have liked to have seen I would agree with that. I think the real women's Committee in the subcommittee's work very hard to provide materials for our own. We're all women, but also a benefit to Urban and we did want a dialogue and back to of the workshops were set up for that main purpose. I agree with Karen I do I think that handles wise very few came. the couple that I was saying Most of the audience most participants were real women themselves just a couple from the urban. How can we dialogue if there's no one to dialogue with? Yes, we learned and we shared amongst ourselves, which is good. But we also didn't get a chance to really cross over even if he's real women weren't able to converse with as many urban women as they would have like they still felt that some progress was made a group entitled women for the survival of Agriculture will grow out of that meeting its purpose is to involve women were actively in the political and economic issues surrounding agriculture in Orton doll holds that the group and form a coalition with business women in small communities. I'm a small business woman and a grocery store owner cold Corner Grocery Store. We work together in the small communities I could just as well be a hardware lady or the lumber lady or whatever in our local community. The small towns the small businessman needs the farmer the farmer needs that Farmers do not want to go 50 miles to get their parts their Hardware their groceries and so on just like we want them to buy from us because when they buy on the grocery store, then I can introduce Pandit about 7 places in the community or State Bank their money in town then the bank or can buy food hardware and so on and so forth. So we work together as a team. And as you know in the past few years, we lost many of our small small communities because of a variety of things and especially the railroad systems the movement of people into the urban area and now they are coming back. There's a great Transit back to our rule communities and a mini are living in those abandoned houses or substandard housing and are trying to upgrade or revealed in this kind of thing in this is good our population and growth has stayed the same or in some cases even gotten up a little bit. So we're not all Farmers either and that's something in the dialogue which we would have been able to explain if we have more in the in our workshops to visit with I think there was over there. We got a good dialogue but we didn't have the numbers little Orton doll from Osakis other real women attending the Minnesota women's meeting were critical to Coordinating Committee and the real workshops to them. They did too heavily with egg issues and farm problems. These women wanted to see workshops that address these specific problems of women living in rural areas some of the farm with encountered by saying they already felt liberated and were that concerned with the feminist movement for women's issues. They were there to tell urban women about the economic problems of their family farm and small communities. Lori Miller from Camp holiday was one of the six real women elected as a national delegate and I asked her why so many of the real women seem to be unconcerned over the traditional issues of feminism. I think it depends on whether they're real women that are attached to men or whether they're single real women that are trying to make it on their own most of the women that are attached to men get involved in the farm. They're involved in real life. But most of their life seems to Center church activities that sort of such things that aren't radically pro-feminist. But I don't think that they're aware of is that the urban women? I think that they need to work together, you know, the real women can't just say we're already feminists were already liberated. They need to help the urban women find out what they want anything in return the urban women should try to relate to the rural and and and you know trying to get them to help if they think that they need whatever it is also said that many Farm within might change their attitudes towards the women's movement and their Community if they ever lost their Farms or their husbands the problems, you can't find jobs at the other jobs are handed down from generation to generation practically and it seems that Unless you're in a feminist Community which most of it at least Northern rural communities aren't you can't find a job. I try to get a job painting houses. I try to find jobs. No working woodworking shops. That's got that I'm qualified to do can't do it because I'm a woman I won't talk to you because you're a woman so I don't think that a lot of these women are aware of having to go out and find a job outside of being a waitress which is really easy to do. I don't think that they tried to find a man's job yet. That's the only thing I don't think there were that they're so concerned with their Farms which is fine so long as I have them if they lose their Farm have to find a job there going to be in trouble. I'm afraid Laura Miller one of the six real women who will attend the national women's meeting later this year in Houston presenting the concerns of Native American as well as real women and she feels with the conference Overlook the problems of small-town women. There's a lot of things that plague Us in Marshall Town of 10,000 and yet we really I guess in a sense. Could not say we're really rule because you live in a town of 10,000 in yet in terms of the way. They do defining rural which was farm and non-farm and if you feel hated yourself as real they automatically assumed you were a farmer and asked you those kinds of things. I know, you know, there are there some other problems that affect us small-town women employment. For example, you know, what kinds of employment can you get in Marshall Minnesota? If you're a woman who has just a high school education. It's very limited having to go to the factory kinds of things or industry or other. You know what agencies Are there you know to help me xcetera. Those are things we need to know and we need some things done about. But they they were concerned about Nido milk prices the price of cattle. Yeah, that's what they assumed real women should be concerned about the world workshops during the Minnesota women's meeting. I asked her if she thought they were dealing too heavily with farming shoes. I definitely think I'd like to see more things going on in like support groups for real women real women finding out that you know, it is against the law if your husband punching you out and you don't have to stay there are alternatives and I think that's really really a shame because there are a lot of other Social Service Alternatives that aren't being discussed. You know, I'm not I guess it's probably my interest. I'm not a farmer and I got that worried about, you know prices like that, but I think we're here to discuss Women Marry Olufsen from Carrick following a meeting a group of women from Marshall who had attended got together to discuss their experiences. I asked her a nice Turner how those women felt about the conference. I think our biggest concern was that it was a very political machine. It was it was more like going to a dfl caucus or an independent Republican caucus a whole lot of importance being placed on who was elected. What's going to happen when they go to Houston is another thing but there seem to be more concerned about that. And then everybody started during toward that rather than coming to talk about you shoes that concern us is Minnesota women. I think some of us were some of us were, you know, rather upset I came home. I know. I'm feeling like you know, any any thing that I went there for in terms you should kinds of things say I didn't come away with another one of those instances where if we as Native Americans and Chicanos and black women didn't walk out. Our concerns would not have been noticed because they were too busy fighting amongst themselves. And and I guess you know, if they want us to become a part of the women's movement as third world women, then they have to be concerned about the issues and knock off the white woman fight between pro-abortion vs. Pro-life women to wear a coalition of groups, including pro-life forces of taking legal action to prevent resolutions that were approved on the last day of the meeting from being forwarded to the National Commission on the observance of Women's year they claim that sent a quorum was not present during the last session that the approval of the resolutions by the body was invalid. I'm only 150 resolutions in question was what one would call for property and inheritance laws to recognize marriage as an economic partnership. This would help Farm women as well as Homemakers and Edition all the resolutions formulated by the real caucus are now being questioned but Secretary of State John grow who chaired the meeting says according to the rules set down by the national commission itself any resolution which was passed out of the workshop will automatically be sent on to that commission some observers believe the legal action to invalidate. The resolutions is just another tactic by women to wear to disrupt and discredit the Minnesota women's meeting. Regardless of such controversy the meeting still offered Minnesota women rule in urban of all ages races political Persuasions and socio-economic backgrounds a chance to come together and discuss their concerns. Yes, it is bad ugly fight for roses.