Breaking Free From Rigid Boxes: From the Outside Looking In
Marion Helland was known to her family as a teacher and a civil rights advocate, but the extent of her activism became more fully evident after her death. When she died, she left behind fifty boxes of memorabilia from her 91 years of life. Her nieces, Diana and Pam, studied, organized, and learned from the contents of these boxes, ultimately writing “Breaking Free From Rigid Boxes.” Because of my friendship with Diana, I was drawn to attend a presentation at our local public library given by her and her sister/co-author Pam. Their program centered on their aunt’s life and her lifelong passion for human rights. Hearing about this amazing woman and the impact that she had on her students and those around her prompted me to purchase the book on the spot!
“Breaking Free From Rigid Boxes” is the inspiring story of Marion Helland’s dedication to building a better world through her teaching and social activism. As a teacher, she “encouraged her students to celebrate individual differences, and she equipped them with the tools to dismantle hatred and ignorance.” The book chronicles the remarkable life of a woman who made a difference, and it is packed with dozens of photos, letters, and official documents which bring her story to life.
In 1965, in response to an article in a teachers’ newsletter, Marion spent a summer in Alabama helping establish a Freedom School to assist with voter registration. During that summer and the next spent in the South, Marion and others did much more than register voters, including “integrating the local playground, tennis court, library, laundromat, and theater.” Marion used what she learned from these experiences to develop curriculum to complement the information in the textbooks used in the Minnesota school where she taught.
Marion’s entire life was spent promoting human rights. She traveled to Washington, D.C. for the Poor People’s Campaign, worked with the American Indian Movement in Minnesota, and worked with the Minnesota prison system to rehabilitate hate crime offenders through Reducing and Eliminating Hate Behavior (REHaB), to name just a few of the activities driven by her passions.
You will be inspired learning about a fascinating woman who embraced and advocated for individual differences and acceptance of all people throughout her entire life.
The book is available for $6.00 from Amazon.