By Kelly Gifford of the Courier and Press

Several community leaders, educators and activists will pay homage to historic Evansville women and the contributions they made to the city on Thursday.

Stepping Up will present “Her Story: Evansville Women in the 20th Century” — a free performance commemorating the accomplishments and impact of historic Evansville women from the 19th and 20th century — at 6 p.m. Thursday. The performance is the fourth since its inaugural production about 15 years ago and at Eykamp Hall at the University of Evansville Ridgway Center. Audience members will have a chance to share their own stories of influential women in their lives at the conclusion of the show.

“Her Story” was created after the Evansville Bar Association received a grant to create a Women’s History Month program. Susan Helfrich, longtime executive director of the association, Patricia Weinzapfel and former journalist Roberta Heiman got together to write a script featuring women making a significant impact on Evansville. The trio also searched for area women to portray those historical figures during the production.

Heiman updated the script for this year’s performance to include several new women. Some of the historic figures include Ethel McCullough, first director of the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library; Marjorie Soyugenc, former Welborn Hospital President and CEO; Sally Stewart, founder of the Club for Young African American Women; Tamar Althouse, first female attorney in the region and Albion Fellows Bacon.

The cast is made up of about 20 women, with Heiman the moderator introducing each woman and giving background on each. She said the show offers a firsthand look at the women who helped shape Evansville, many of whom don’t always get the recognition for their contributions to the betterment of the city.

“It’s something that every woman can relate to, and most men as a matter of fact,” she said. “Women’s history is social history. What happens to a woman happens to everybody. What we do affects our children, partners and community. It’s a story for everybody.”

The women portraying the Evansville influencers serve several different roles in the city today. Some of the women participating include LaNeeca Williams, diversity director for the University of Evansville; Pat Bateman, chief development officer for the Girl Scouts of Southwestern Indiana; Pat Lowery, CFO of the Surgery Center; Jan Davies, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Southwestern Indiana and Lynn Miller-Pease, executive director of Leadership Evansville.

Charlene Tolbert, a former editor at the Courier & Press, is portraying someone a little more familiar than her counterparts — her mother. During World War II, Tolbert’s mother was a riveter working on airplane wings and other machinery in Evansville, a role not normally offered to women.

Tolbert said her mother empowered her growing up to be whatever she wanted and didn’t need to be confined to the typical roles of women at the time, unless she wanted that.

“Her experience gave me the courage to pave my own way, and I always had her support in doing whatever I was capable of,” Tolbert said. “It’s imperative that we remember that these women we are honoring have been instrumental in giving all of us the chance to do whatever we think we are big enough to do.”

Stepping Up is a committee of Women’s Equality Day which encourages women to hold leadership roles in the community.