Saturday, June 17, 1944
Manhattan, New York
Alice is on cloud nine.
Despite the ongoing war, which now involves the United States. Despite the coolness between Teach and her, now that Alice put her foot down about wanting to be with Joe.
Though Teach still doesn’t know about Alice getting married.
Not explicitly, at least.
Shortly after becoming Mrs. Joseph Crowley, Alice received a bouquet of flowers and a note from Marion Davies. How that woman found out about Alice’s secret wedding is a mystery.
Happy you’re happy.
Teach saw the note.
Teach likely surmised about the marriage too.
But no words were exchanged between athlete and coach in the days following Alice’s nuptials. Nor in the many months that have since passed.
Partly because the marriage isn’t supposed to be talked about. Joe warned that a German spy could think to kidnap Alice as leverage against him, which felt like something out of a film. But the greater reason Alice hasn’t revealed this huge life milestone to Teach is because not much has changed in Alice’s day-to-day. She still practices. Still plays at bases. Still volunteers at the military hospital. Still steals time with Joe whenever he’s on leave, which isn’t very often. They haven’t yet honeymooned, nor have they made any progress in their clandestine baby-making operation, a dream Alice has wholly embraced. She’ll have to tell Teach after that mission is complete.
The one new thing going for Alice, however, came about rather unexpectedly. At her new office at 480 Lexington Avenue, Alice winds her pencil between each of her fingers, thinking back to the night she got the surprise gig. She’d been at a party and struck up a conversation with a man named Max Gaines.
“What do you do when you’re not dressed as a penguin, Mr. Gaines?”
He had laughed good-naturedly. “I produce comics.”
“And I whack a ball. It appears we both have childish interests.”
Mr. Gaines chuckled again. “It appears so. But we have good fun, don’t we?”
“That we do. Would I know any of your work?”
He smiled coyly. “Green Lantern, Hawkman, the new Wonder Woman, to name a few.”
“Impressive,” Alice said. “I do love the idea of having these heroes to look to.”
“Inspired by real people, no less. William Marston, who writes Wonder Woman, has quite the interest in the suffrage movement. Margaret Sanger in particular. She’s the inspiration there.”
“Fascinating.” Alice sipped her drink, contemplating. “Now . . .” She sipped again. “Wouldn’t it be neat to have a similar comic where real-life wonder women are featured?”
“As in?”
“As in women who have made history.”
“Such as?”
“Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Dolley Madison. I could go on.”
“You could—and I’m embarrassed to admit it—but I likely wouldn’t know those women either.”
Alice clinked his glass. “The exact reason why this comic is needed.”
Mr. Gaines took a big pull of his drink, holding the liquid in his mouth before a large swallow. It’d given him time to contemplate. “What if you were to do some research, Miss Marble? Rough out some dialogue. Show me what these wonder women of history could look like in comic form.”
Alice nearly spilled her drink from excitement. Hadn’t she once thought having her own column could be a hoot? Hadn’t she once sat beside the great-great-grandson of Emma Willard and thought everyone should know her story?
And thus she drafted, got the green light to go on, and soon after settled into her own desk on the ninth floor, home of the All-American Comics offices, as the new associate editor of the Wonder Women of History series.
So far she’s written about Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, Edith Cavell, Lillian D. Wald, Susan B. Anthony, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Joan of Arc, and Sister Elizabeth Kenny, and now she is tapping her pencil against her lip, contemplating how to begin the introduction to her ninth installment.
Jane Addams of Hull House
1860–1935
In a time when women lacked the right to vote, a remarkable woman reshaped the landscape of American society. This courageous, brilliant, and captivating figure was none other than Jane Addams, who fearlessly stood up against
Alice crosses out stood up against, searching her brain for a stronger wording. Confronted.
who fearlessly confronted the most influential politicians and business leaders in the nation to put an end to the scourge of child labor. And eradicate it she did. Jane Addams, the passionate advocate for the marginalized, unquestionably stands as one of the most remarkable Wonder Women of History!
Alice smiles, happy with what she’s written. And thank goodness for that. She checks the clock on her office wall. She has a few short hours before she’s set to endure a battery of needles. The inoculations are necessary before leaving for a military base in Panama. Each jab will be worth it in the end. Alice is set to play at bases for a few weeks—and, in the final week, Joe will be coordinating his leave to meet her there. Finally, they’ll be getting their honeymoon. And Alice won’t allow herself to feel guilty that she’s relieved Teach won’t be making this trip, freeing Alice from her coach’s eagle eye.
But for now . . . the comic. She draws a box where the illustrator will bring to life what she writes.
Jane was only six years old when she first glimpsed poverty with her own eyes.
Jane speech bubble: Father, are those homes abandoned? Or do people live there?
Father: Yes, people less fortunate than us.
A new box.
Jane speech bubble: When I grow up, I promise to help people who live in houses like those. I’ll have a big house right in the middle with an open door.
Alice then writes a jump in time and leans on snappy dialogue to bring Jane’s story to life. She begins with how Jane’s memory of that day faded, along with her promise. She graduated from Rockford Seminary for Women with top honors. But to Jane’s horror, those honors didn’t equate to a degree, like they would have for a man.
Alice knows a little something about that . . . about having to hold her own to get the same opportunities as a man. And she did.
But back to Jane. She’s determined to fight injustices, and in 1882, the seminary’s name is changed to Rockford College. Jane is issued the very first degree. When a man named Rollin falls in love with her, she tells him she’s not ready to be married. She has important things she wants to accomplish first, even if she’s not certain what that entails yet. Maybe medicine, Jane ponders. Yes, she earns a degree in that too.
Only, Jane suffers from poor health. Alice can sympathize with that all too well.
Jane’s doctor suggests a trip to Europe. Fancy. No big surprise, but Jane’s open to the idea, especially after she realizes she doesn’t want to practice medicine after all. The trip will be her muse.
In London, Jane sees a large crowd of less fortunate people vying for half-rotten food. Jane is floored by what she witnesses, but also learns there’s a hall that offers free food to the poor. She visits the public kitchen and is encouraged to find that the hall does more than feed the poor. There are classes and clubs. Jane is inspired to start something similar in America.
She calls it Hull House, and also realizes she’s come full circle: keeping the promise she made when she was six years old.
Jane throws a grand Christmas party. She’s shocked when the children don’t want the candy she offers them. They claim they can’t look at the stuff after working fourteen hours every day at a factory that makes the confections. Jane is appalled. Such long days. Making only four cents an hour. At their young ages. It’s criminal, and come hell or high water, Jane will bring forth a law that puts a stop to it.
Of course she’s met with resistance from the factory owners. But the conditions cannot be ignored, especially after a child with smallpox is seen working. It could lead to an epidemic. Still, Jane’s proposed labor laws are rejected. Jane keeps fighting. It’s not until 1899 she’s victorious. Children under fourteen can no longer work for more than eight hours a day.
Alice writes a conclusion, reinforcing Jane Addams of Hull House as a certified wonder woman. Then Alice signs her name.
That’s always her favorite part.
Checking the clock, she sees there’s no time to edit or proofread. But her editor can help with that. She smiles, the same way she does every time she completes one of her comics. Women’s stories need to be told.
Though, at the moment, this woman needs to get her butt to the hospital for her inoculations, even if she’d rather be confronting factory owners than getting jabbed. It’ll be all worth it to see Joe.