Women Who Inspire: Stories from Collington
Women throughout history have made extraordinary contributions across every sphere of society. Yet too often, their achievements have been overlooked, minimized or relegated to the margins.
Established in the 1970s, Women’s History Month in March serves as a national recognition of those enduring contributions. Whether bold or behind the scenes, women’s accomplishments have created lasting change, their impact rippling through generations.
Those ripples reach all the way to Collington, where women residents have exerted great influence in various roles throughout their lives and for whom Women’s History Month is personal.
Two such women are Bonnie Cronin and Marilyn Haskel.
Bonnie Cronin: Aspirations Outside the Home
“The two questions women were always asked when applying for a job were ‘How fast can you type?’ and ‘What are you going to do about childcare?’” said Bonnie, noting that it was always assumed that a female job prospect would get married, get pregnant and quit her job.
While Bonnie is personally most proud of raising a “really good human” (her son), she never lost sight of career aspirations outside the home.
“It’s important not to be seduced into thinking that all your value is in your children,” avowed Bonnie, noting with dismay the “tradwife” (traditional wife) movement that is currently encouraging women to define themselves primarily through marriage and motherhood.
National Public Radio
After teaching, Bonnie moved to Boston where she began a career with Boston University’s premier NPR news station, WBUR, eventually leading to station manager and an elected position on the NPR board. “That was an interesting time,” said Bonnie, as NPR was just getting off the ground. In those days, she remarked, men didn’t think people wanted to hear women’s voices on the radio.
Entrée into Politics
Politics came into the picture when Bonnie got a job with John Anderson’s 1980 presidential campaign as deputy scheduler. Hired by a woman, Bonnie maintains that the job helped her realize what she was truly capable of. “I worked longer and harder than I ever thought I could.”
Later, what was supposed to be a six-week stint handling logistics for John Kerry in the Democratic State Convention turned into 15 years working with the former presidential nominee. “That was the longest six weeks ever!” Bonnie quipped.
With Kerry, Bonnie served as deputy manager for his successful 1984 Senate campaign and later as director of operations, overseeing the establishment of his Washington, D.C., office. After a year and a half on Capitol Hill, she returned to Boston as executive assistant and liaison between the Boston and Washington offices. She also embraced work in legislative education, guiding local special interest groups in navigating government processes and effectively presenting their concerns.
Nonprofit Development
When it was time for a new chapter, Bonnie shifted her focus to nonprofit development, serving as director of development in support of immigrants seeking small business loans. She remained in that position for three years before moving on to the USS Constitution Museum, home to the oldest warship still afloat in the world, where she worked for six years. She retired from the museum, closing out a career defined by exemplary public service and community engagement.
“I’m proud of having a reputation as someone who will carry through beyond ideas and actually do the work,” Bonnie said.
Still Doing the Work
At Collington, Bonnie’s work is not finished. She is busy writing a history of the Collington Foundation Board, as Collington is nearing its 40th anniversary, and singing in the Collington Singers.
Marilyn Haskel: Following Her Heart
“I did as I was told,” she recalls, having spent six years in a role that was not for her. Yet even then, she was listening to her heart, which ultimately led to her position as a career church musician, encompassing organ, choral conducting, composition and liturgy.
A Life in Sacred Music
Marilyn’s professional path was shaped by mentorship, opportunity and persistence. She studied with Alice Parker (whose legendary partnership with Robert Shaw shaped a golden age of choral music), admiring her music, teaching and endurance. “She had five children; I don’t know how a woman of her generation was still working well into her 90s,” said Marilyn, reflecting on Parker’s balance of family and career during a time when women often did not have both.
A trusted Episcopal priest also recognized Marilyn’s talent, recommending her for early positions that led to her work at Church Publishing, where she served as music editor for fifteen years, preparing three major hymn collections and guiding countless worship publications.
Music for All
Marilyn chaired the Standing Commission on Church Music of the Episcopal Church, overseeing the popular hymnal supplement Wonder, Love, and Praise. As a founding member of Music That Makes Community, she helped pioneer programs teaching congregations to sing without printed materials. She also held leadership roles in the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.
“I labored long and arduously in the business of church music,” she reflects, noting the perseverance it took to sustain a full-time career in a field where women were often offered only part-time roles.
Her final professional chapter was at Trinity Wall Street in New York City, where she served as organist, choir director, composer, arranger and program manager for liturgical arts and new initiatives. Looking back, she values not only her accomplishments but her self-sufficiency.
“I’m proud of the fact that I could be a musician all my life and not starve!” said Marilyn.
A Collington Coda
At Collington, Marilyn is the director of the 60-voice Collington Singers, serves as organist for Episcopal services, is a member of the Drama Committee and collaborates with student musicians from the University of Maryland in Collington’s Artists-in-Residence program.
Marilyn will also soon be celebrating her second wedding anniversary with her new husband, whom she met at Collington.
The Fight Is Not Over
For all they and other women have accomplished, both Bonnie and Marilyn agree that the fight for equality for women is far from over, especially in an era when the tide seems to be going backwards.
According to Marilyn, who remembers feeling a door had opened when she was allowed to have her own credit card, “We fought in the feminist movement decades ago, but we’re still working on change for women.”
Why Collington?
As inspiring as both Bonnie and Marilyn are to others, it was equally important to them to be moved by those around them. That’s why, when asked what they enjoy most about living at Collington, both responded without hesitation: “The people.”
“You can’t swing a cat without hitting an academic,” joked Bonnie, though she is quick to acknowledge the humility of such accomplished residents (among them the first female admiral to command a fleet).
Agreed Marilyn, “You can sit down with people you don’t know and learn their fascinating stories, their expertise…but only if you ask them. They don’t toot their own horn. The camaraderie is just wonderful.”
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