McAninch Arts Center (MAC), located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage, hosts New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kate Moore at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24. Moore will talk about her acclaimed book “The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear,” featuring the harrowing true story of Illinois’ own Elizabeth Packard who inspired significant changes in rights for women and the mentally ill. Readers may also know Moore for her previous work, “The Radium Girls.”
Moore's “The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear” is the dark but ultimately uplifting true-life accounting of a woman whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women’s rights and exposed injustices. It was 1860 and Packard, a housewife and mother of six, was placed into an “insane asylum” by her husband after he grew threatened by her intellect, independence and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. Packard’s refusal to be silenced and quest for justice challenged the medical science of the day and ultimately led to a leap forward in women’s rights.
The magnitude of Packard’s achievements was publicly honored as recently as this past summer when Governor JB Pritzker announced the McFarland Mental Health Center on the south side of Springfield would be renamed the Packard Mental Health Center.
“I could not put this book down,” says MAC Director Diana Martinez. “Parts are horrifying but Packard’s story is ultimately an inspirational one of strength and resilience and something everyone regardless of age or gender, will find fascinating.”
“The Woman They Could Not Silence” has been featured on NPR’s “Summer Reading Recommendation,” BBC Radio 4’s “Woman’s Hour” and Time.com and has been selected as COD all school read. It is published by Sourcebooks, LLC, an independent book publisher located in Naperville, Ill.
Moore’s additional works include the novel “The Radium Girls,” which won the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award for Best History, was voted U.S. librarians favorite nonfiction book of 2017, and was named a Notable Nonfiction Book of 2018 by the American Library Association. Other works include “Felix the Railway Cat,” “Full Steam Ahead Felix,” “Roses Are Red,” as well as novels that were ghostwritten by Moore, “Tortured,” “Teacher’s Pet,” “You Can’t Run,” Toby and Sox,” “The Girl in the Shadows,” and “Catching a Serial Killer.”
In advance of Moore’s talk, the MAC will host the Adade Wheeler Woman of Distinction Award presented by College of DuPage Women’s Studies Department at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend. The Woman of Distinction Award, given annually since 1983, recognizes residents, workers or volunteers within Community College District 502 who have made significant contributions to the personal and professional advancement of women through education, advocacy and motivation.
Tickets
McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage, presents Kate Moore, author of “The Women They Could Not Silence” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24. Tickets are $20. For tickets or more information visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000. Box Office is open noon–6 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday and two hours prior to performance.
In advance of Moore’s talk, the MAC will also host the Adade Wheeler Woman of Distinction Award presented by College of DuPage Women’s Studies Department at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Admission is free.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and a versatile black box Studio Theatre), outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by Bank of America, Brookdale Senior Living Glen Ellyn, the DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville, Anonymous, Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, Frank Modruson and Lynne Shigley, The DuPage Foundation, Ball Horticultural, Clayco, Enjoy Illinois, Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; JCS Arts, Health and Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation; Wight & Company, WDCB 90.9 FM and College of DuPage Foundation.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.