Find out what radical and surprising activities Houston women were up to in the early 1900s when local historian and author Betty Chapman presents Breaking Out of the Box: Conventional Women Embarking on Unconventional Paths. Included in the discussion is suffragette and philanthropist Annette Finnigan, who was head of both the Houston Suffrage League and the Woman’s Political Union. Finnigan attended Wellesley College (70 years before a girl named Hillary Rodham would enroll there), managed her father’s business interests and was a major contributor to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Houston Public Library when both institutions were still in their infancies. Chapman will also discuss Edna Saunders, a well-known impresario (her portrait hangs in Jones Hall’s Green Room), and the women behind the Tri–Fin Oil Company, founded in 1922. Celebrate Women’s History Month today at noon. Heritage Society, 1100 Bagby. For information, call 713–655–1912 or visit www.heritagesociety.org. The lecture is free; lunch is available for $10.

Thu., March 20, 12-1 p.m., 2008

This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2008.