The Legacy of Bethel's Women
Ellie Heebsh introduces our 2025 devotional
Our Women’s History Month devotional will start publishing on March 1st, one week from today. This introduction to the project comes from Ellie Heebsh, a Digital Humanities and History major and a 2024 Edgren Scholar at Bethel University.
Whenever I feel incapable of something, my mom loves to tell the story of when she learned to drive. A high-school-aged Krista Wiemiller dragged her feet and didn't want to learn, but that is certainly not the way that her mother rolled. My grandma told my mom that she would never be, “a strong, independent woman of the ‘90s” if she never learned to drive.
From a young age, my parents encouraged my strong-willed nature and pushed me to go out and explore the world, to seek opportunities for myself. As a result, I have often ventured out alone, preferring my friends to be singular and spread out.
Last summer, as we conducted oral history interviews with nearly three dozen Bethel women, I heard a very different message: We are meant to be in community with one another. Women, who were often singular in their departments, spoke of the joy that blossomed from their relationships with women colleagues. Despite being spread far and wide in the university, they found happiness when coming together to learn, to laugh, to support each other — to live in community with one another.
And so, while I am grateful for the independence instilled in me by parents, without which the entire Edgren Scholars project wouldn’t have been possible, it is with the revival of the Women’s History Month Devotional that I hope we may continue the legacy of these earlier Bethel women. A legacy of sharing in the triumphs and hardships that have been found in this, our Bethel community. To hear truth and wisdom from each other that God has intended for us to share.
It is my hope and prayer that we build a lasting foundation of guidance for each other, a reminder to carry with us when we are all alone, that there are many remarkable women around us, carrying God’s flame and lighting our way.
I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to:
• Dr. Chris Gehrz and Professor Sam Mulberry, my professors and Edgren Scholars partners, who have endlessly supported and encouraged my ambitious goals in pursuit of shining a light on the notable accomplishments of women at Bethel University. Thank you for believing in me!
• The many “strong, independent women,” who have supported me throughout my life. I realize now the community I’ve had around me this whole time, but perhaps did not always see. I love and cherish each and every one of you. Thank you for letting me light your life, as well!
• All the women of Bethel University, who have made this a place of love, wisdom, truth, and most especially, a home.