Sown in the Past, Harvested in the Future

Sown in the Past, Harvested in the Future^‍

^{by Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei}

The stories of American and Norwegian women have unfolded like two rivers winding through history. Sometimes they flow together, sometimes they run in separate valleys, but always towards the sea of justice. Their history is one of courage, of perseverance, and of women who refused to give up.

America, 1776: Abigail Adams, a visionary and sharp-witted, writes to her husband, John Adams. "Remember the ladies!" she demands. "Or we will rebel." She saw far ahead, further than most. Norway, 1814: Men gain the right to vote. Women? Once again excluded. But they do not wait. In 1818, the first midwifery school is established, paving a new path. Women push forward where they can, a quiet revolution in everyday life.

1848, Seneca Falls, America: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott gather 300 people, raising their voices. "Women have rights!" They write it down, they proclaim it aloud. Meanwhile in Norway: Unmarried women gain the right to conduct business, but married women remain without legal rights. And just a few years later, Camilla Collett sits at her desk, gazes out the window, sighs deeply—and sets her words free in The District Governor’s Daughters.

1851: Sojourner Truth gets to her feet and asks: "Ain’t I a woman?" The world holds its breath. In Norway: The unshakable Aasta Hansteen takes the floor in Paris. Both speak for those who have been silenced. They know that words can move mountains, and they sow seeds that will germinate and cause stone structures to crumble.

1865, America: Maria Mitchell, a pioneer in science, becomes a professor of astronomy at Vassar College (New York). She clears the way for women in academia, proving that knowledge knows no gender. It takes another 18 years before, in 1882, Norwegian universities open their doors to women. They step into spaces once closed, lifting themselves into a future where learning belongs to all.

1879: Henrik Ibsen sets off a storm Norway with A Doll’s House. Nora walks out the door, and she does not look back. She has finally realized she cannot live a life that is not her own. Ten years later, in 1889, Norwegian matchstick workers strike for better wages and working conditions. They had been the ones lighting candles for others, but now they refuse to let themselves burn out.

1920: American suffragists win their battle. The right to vote! In Norway, women have already been voting since 1913. Two nations, two paths, but the same struggle. Step by step, stone by stone, the groundwork for a freer future is laid.

Then come those who shatter boundaries. Amelia Earhart flies across the Atlantic in 1932, soaring above old expectations. A half-century later, Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Norway’s first female Prime Minister, opening new horizons. That same year, Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed as the first female Supreme Court justice in the U.S. New doors open, new possibilities emerge.

The 1960s: Feminism flourishes in the U.S., Betty Friedan writes The Feminine Mystique, and women begin to see themselves. In Norway, women fight for reproductive rights, equal pay, and the right to be themselves. Title IX in the U.S., the Gender Equality Act in Norway. The future takes on new colors.

Then comes #MeToo in 2017, a wave of voices, a force stretching from Hollywood to the Norwegian Parliament, from Washington to Oslo. Women say, "Enough is enough." Kamala Harris becomes U.S. Vice President in 2020, a historic moment in a long journey. In Norway, women have held positions of power for decades. Two paths, the same direction.

The story is not yet finished. The glass ceiling is cracked, but not completely shattered. "When there is no ceiling, the sky is the limit," Hillary Clinton once said. Perhaps it is true. Perhaps the future will look back on these women not just as pioneers, but as those who laid the foundation for a world where equality is a given—both in the U.S. and in Norway. This is a tribute to those who came before and a reminder that history is continuously being made.

_{Image for Illustration: The Women's Rights Meeting in 1902, organized by the Norwegian Women's Sanitary Association. Opening in the University’s old ceremonial hall by Fredrikke Marie Qvam. Photo: Severin Worm-Petersen / Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.}