THE ROADS WE'VE TRAVELED

A former debutante turned United Nations worker who declined a supper invitation with Eleanor Roosevelt in favor of a date. A woman who traveled for miles and miles in the middle of the night looking for shelter that didn't say "whites only" on the front door. A promising ballerina who danced at the Metropolitan Opera before turning her life over to God as a Catholic missionary.

These are just a few of the fascinating stories brought to life in a new two-part series, "THE ROADS WE'VE TRAVELED: PHILADELPHIA WOMEN RECALL THE PAST CENTURY," to be broadcast on WHYY-FM on Monday, March 13 and Monday, March 20 at 9 p.m. in honor of Women's History Month. (There will be repeat broadcasts Thursday, May 4 at noon for part 1 and Thursday, May 11th at noon for part 2.)

Hosted by RADIO TIMES' Marty Moss-Coane, the program will feature six area women and their personal remembrances of the 1900's. All of the women are now between 75 and 100 years old. Giving their stories a larger context during the series will be Temple University history professor Dr. Bettye Collier-Thomas, who serves as director of the school's Center for African American History and Culture, and Dr. Andrea Taylor, assistant director of Temple's Center for Intergenerational Learning.

The stories that Moss-Coane, Collier-Thomas and Taylor will comment on are as diverse as the women who tell them, crossing neighborhoods, race and socio-economic status.

The series' first part will explore the memories of Helen Love, a homemaker from North Philadelphia who had to wait 35 years to realize her dream of teaching young children; Ella Russell Torrey, a former debutante from Chestnut Hill who went into international relations after losing a brother in World War II; and Sister Peter Claver (nee Hannah Elizabeth Fahy), a 100-year-old Catholic missionary whose grandmother's Georgia home was used as a Civil War headquarters.

The March 20 broadcast will feature remembrances from Eleanor Herbert of Port Richmond, Eunice Price of Mt. Airy and Trudy Fuchs of Germantown. Listeners of both segments will be able to click onto the WHYY web site (http://whyy.org) to read longer excerpts from the women's interviews, view their photographs, and add their own memories and stories for others to read.

The series was inspired by WHYY-FM station manager and executive producer Anna Kosof, who wanted to celebrate the end of the century and millennium by talking with older Philadelphia-area women about how significant events of the 1900's impacted their lives. Pulling the project together were WHYY producers Laura Jackson and Maiken Scott, who spent more than 30 hours culling through interviews with the six women to bring out the most interesting stories, and production assistant Emily Topper.

Do you have a story of an extraordiary woman age 75 or greater? Tell us about it!