CCWH Prelinger Award Winner

Midori Green (2008)

The Coordinating Council for Women’s History is pleased to announce that Midori Green has been awarded the eleventh annual CCWH-Prelinger Scholarship Award of $20,000. Ms. Green is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota to complete her dissertation on, “Sec’s Appeal: The Secretary in American Popular Culture, 1900-1964.”

Her dissertation examines the visual and material world that female clerical workers interacted with on a daily basis,” from sexy secretaries depicted in advertising, films, and cartoons, to the new work, leisure, and living spaces in the modern city. “With this in focus, she explores the ways images, she explores the ways images, objects, and environments were instrumental in shaping a new identity for women in the 20th century, that of working middle-class women.  She also considers the ways the material world became instrumental in either advancing or deterring women’s success in the workplace. The award committee was particularly impressed in Green’s interest in women’s workplace culture and believed that this study will show how these working women impacted—both culturally and physically—on office culture, the shaping of new urban spaces and redefinition of “middle-class.” 

Midori Green entered college in the falloff 1982 and she graduated in 2002 in liberal arts and a minor in art history.  She worked as a file clerk making $4.50 an hour in order to pay for her tuition. That July she was injured in a bus accident. Recovering from the accident proved a difficult process. Due to her injury and a lack of financial support she left school after the first year. She began working in offices in various positions, eventually giving up the idea of going to college and focusing on office work to support herself.  Over time she became dissatisfied with the work and limited possibilities and in 1996 she decided to work toward a B.A. in liberal Arts.  As a working student she was able to take only night courses.  During this period she also worked as a docent at a historic house museum. Although she received her B.A. degree in 2002, it was also one of the most difficult years for her. In September 2002, she protested the treatment of women in her workplace and she suddenly found that her job has become superfluous and she became involved in a difficult sexual harassment lawsuit. However, she managed to apply to graduate school and was accepted by the Department of Art History at the University of Minnesota with a five year teaching fellowship which allowed her to become a full-time student and pursue her graduate studies.

The Prelinger Award Committee was impressed with Ms. Wilson’s activism and  believes she is a good example of the non-traditional academic career path which the award was established to honor.

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The Coordinating Council for Women in History, an organization for women in the historical profession, is committee to exploring the diverse experiences and histories of all women. Its primary goals are to educate men and women on the status of women in the historical profession and to promote research and interpretation in the areas of women’s history.

Information about the Prelinger Prize and other CCWH awards is available here.