March is Women’s History Month and the 2023 Women’s History Theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.”
According to the Library of Congress, Women’s History Month originated in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 creating “Women’s History Week.” This continued every year until 1987 when Pub. L. 100-9 was passed designating the entire month of March “Women’s History Month.”
For some, hearing the word “history” connotes homework, lectures, and boredom. But your local librarian has found some titles, available in physical and digital formats, which celebrate women’s contributions to history in an exciting way: covert operations and spying.
Virginia Hall’s life is examined in Code Name Badass by Heather Demetrios.
Hall dreamed of adventure as a child in the early 20th century, learning how to shoot, speak multiple languages and pushing herself, and society’s expectations, to become a spy during WWII. Demetrios keeps the tone light and conversational. But that does not make this tale of a civilian who became one of Nazi Germany’s most wanted spies any less riveting.
Wise Gals, by Nathalia Holt, examines the lives of five women from their WWII service into their work during the early days of the CIA and the Cold War. 
One works with Ukrainians to infiltrate the Soviets while another tries to do the same from the Middle East; another works on covert, ‘007’-style, communications systems. Throughout, we see the sexism, misogyny, and struggle for equal pay these government workers experienced. Holt includes diary entries, letters, and declassified documents as fascinating sources.
Josephine Baker is well-known as the African American entertainer who took France by storm. Damien Lewis explores her lesser known, but just as important, accomplishments in Agent Josephine.
It should come as no surprise that someone who grew up encountering racism in America immediately recognized the threat of Nazism. Baker became one of the most successful WWII spies by hiding in plain sight, chatting up Axis military personnel after her performances.
Model, aristocrat, Office of Strategic Services code breaker; just a normal American doing her usual thing. So goes the life of Aline Griffith in Larry Loftis’s The Princess Spy. 
Griffith was an American-born Spanish aristocrat who married into the Spanish nobility. She used her position, rubbing elbows with the Kennedys, Hepburn, and other royals, to spy for the OSS and then with the CIA. Loftis retells Griffith’s life with plenty of twists and turns as well as with some romance.
In the coming weeks the La Mesa Branch will have some unique programs, part of the Seeds and Sustainability Project made possible by the Sustainable California Libraries Grant. These events are supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
On March 14 at 4 p.m., 6th-12th graders can design and decorate reusable tote bags.
On March 25 at 2 p.m. is the “Container Gardening Class”; adults can learn the basics of container gardening and decorate a pot to take home. Children can paint their own flowerpot to take home on March 30 at 10:30 a.m.; registration is required.
Check sdcl.org/events and click “La Mesa” for all the details.
