Founding Mothers
Claire Gallery
St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church
Hartford
Oct. 23, 2026
The Claire Gallery’s final exhibition in its series featuring voices left out of the nation’s founding went on display last week. Titled “Founding Mothers: 250th Anniversary,” the set of 13 posters designed by students at Merrimack College in Massachusetts features “women who helped found this country through their tireless work, strength, ingenuity, command and commitment to freedom for all.”
The gallery also has a cool interactive component, where visitors are asked to submit answers to four questions about the exhibit:
- Which women do you admire and why?
- Are there any women’s stories that make connections to your life?
- Where do we see unexpected displays of power and courage?
- If you were to write one of the women a note, what would you say to them now?
Those responses will be added to the exhibition. In that spirit, I chose the story of Margaret Corbin to answer the questions.
I admire Corbin because she was committed to the cause of revolution despite the discrimination she faced. She joined the Continental Army as a nurse. When her husband was killed, she stepped up and took over as cannoneer, becoming the first woman to fight for the Army and suffering severe injuries of her own.
Reading about her choice to begin fighting was surprising to me because I’d never heard her story before. Of course, there’s never been a war where women haven’t participated, at least unofficially. But the stories of women soldiers in the American Revolution have not been widely shared. Even now, it took modern women to tell the story of their forebears who should be celebrated by everyone.
And if I were writing to Corbin today, here’s what I’d say to her:
Dear Margaret Corbin,
I visited an art exhibit that paid honor to 13 incredible women who helped the American Revolution. I was moved by their stories of courage and perseverance, including yours. But to be completely honest, the exhibition left me feeling incensed because of the consistent denial of equality the women faced. This behavior was based on assumptions about women, biology and sex that were obviously wrong and outdated even in the Revolutionary era. It may have been possible (but still wrong) to maintain these sexist assumptions as the majority of women weren’t allowed to participate in public life.
But the women of the exhibition broke those taboos and showed they were just as capable and talented as men, even in warfare, and were still treated as less than. You fought for freedom, lost your husband and nearly your own life, and got half a pension for it. If I may, the question I would ask you is: what were those men like? Did they manage to look you in the eye while they were treating you as less than? How did the Founding Fathers, these “great men”, find such misogyny in their hearts to justify that kind of hatred? And how did you deal with them?
We owe you a debt, both for the brave actions you took and for the mistreatment you endured. Hopefully this gallery, and these words, are a small step in repaying that debt.”
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Founding Mothers will be on display at the Claire Gallery through Dec. 13.
Jamil goes to Black Eyed Sally’s to see Neal and The Vipers.
