Former First Lady of Michigan, Helen Wallbank Milliken died today. Wife of Michigan's longest-serving governor, William Milliken, Helen Milliken was a strong advocate of women's rights and environmental issues. In a 2006 interview by the Associated Press she said, "Nobody ever saw anybody burn a bra; they're too expensive, but the myth has survived. There have been excesses, but the goal has always remained the same: equal opportunity for women." Ms. Milliken is survived by her husband, William and son, William, Jr.

Today President Obama created a new council whose mission will be "to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families." Its goals include improving women's economic security and healthcare, and preventing violence against women - both home and abroad. The full text of the executive order can be found here.

So why not check out a historical mystery series featuring a strong female character? One of my favorites is Miriam Grace Monfredo's Glynis Tyron, an advocate for women and slave rights living in Seneca Falls, NY where the first women's rights'convention was held in 1848.  In Seneca Falls Inheritance, Glynis Tryon, the town's librarian, agrees to help organize the Women's Rights Convention of 1848 expecting controversy and opposition, but not murder!