Powerful history lessons from those who lived it highlight 2024 women’s symposium

Powerful messages about the enduring human spirit overcoming unthinkable challenges provided the perfect backdrop for the theme of the Mavericks’ third-annual Women’s Symposium.

Strength in sisterhood.

Experiences from a 95-year-old Holocaust survivor and a Native American who suffered through horrific boarding-school abuse had some 250 attendees at Monday’s event at the Dallas Arboretum riveted to the history that they were hearing – along with providing hope for how to keep it from ever happening again.

Numerous high-profile women from the world of television, philanthropy and business took part in panel discussions.

The highlight came as Mavericks’ CEO Cynt Marshall moderated a conversation with Magie Furst, who was torn from her home in Germany at the start of World War II as a frightened 10-year-old and saw the realities of concentration camps; and Dora Brought Plenty, who lived in a boarding school that tortured kids mentally and physically.

This wasn’t history from a book. This was history from the people who lived it.

And it was uplifting for those at the sold-out event who drew strength and inspiration from the stories they heard.

Furst said the advent of Nazi Germany hit fast and hit hard.

“First of all, we were isolated,” she said. “As soon as Hitler came to power, I did go to kindergarten, where I did have German friends. The little town we lived in, if you sneezed, they knew it in the next town.

“As soon as Hitler started, it was almost immediate. It was unbelievable the (public relations) they had. It spread like wildfire. It was so difficult for us. My mother had to sell the business and I don’t think she got very much for it. We were Jews. They didn’t have to pay us.”

Then, things got worse.

“We moved to a larger town and that was like moving from the frying pan into the fire,” Furst said. “We had to find lodging in a Jewish house. And we had to share it with another family.

“All the men were taken off to concentration camps. My cousin, who was only 14 1/2, I saw him being dragged off to a concentration camp. One of my uncles was taken off the street in Frankfort and sent to one of the concentration camps. Some of the men came back in hours. Some were never heard from again. Some returned after weeks and weeks.

“That’s when my mother decided that it was too dangerous for us to stay in Germany. We had to find a way to get out.”

That began an odyssey that would lead Furst to America via Holland, Great Britain and a circuitous trip across the Atlantic in a ship that had to avoid German U-Boats.

It was a lot to process for a girl who was 10 years old when she was forced out of her home.

The same happened to Dora Brought Plenty, who was just 4 when her childhood turned tumultuous and abusive.

“At age 4, my mother was murdered and once that happened, I was awarded to the state,” she said. “I am Alabama-Coushatta, Sioux, Canadian Assiniboia and black. I was born out of wedlock. My father was in the military. So when my mother was murdered, I was awarded to the state. So I stayed on a reservation with my grandma and grandpa.”

She started school there at 6. But that did not last long.

“Two men came in the day school with black suits, black ties and white shirts,” she remembered. “They talked to the teacher and I saw her point at me. And the man came over and grabbed me by the arm. And the other one came on the other side. They walked me out the door and threw me in the back of this black car. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know what I did wrong. But I was scared.”

They took her to Pierre, S.D., to a boarding school for indigenous people.

“(A matron) cut my braids off right under my ear and threw them at me,” Brought Plenty said. “I didn’t know anything about the school or where I was.”

She knew nothing of where she was, a horrifying feeling for anybody, but particularly if you are only 6 years old.

They gave her standard-issue clothing, but Dora protested.

“I said I want my clothes back and she said: I’m going to teach you not to be defiant,” she said.

They gave Dora a number – No. 199. She was no longer Dora Brought Plenty. She was 199. And they took away more than just her identity.

“The matron told me, you will not speak your language and you will not use your name,” she said. “All the clothing they gave me, they put 199 on it. I got beat several times because I did respond to my name and I even used my name myself because that’s what I was used to. But they beat you every time you used your name. So you start responding to 199. I got beaten because I used my language. I tried to whisper to the other girls.

“Then they set up a system there where they would pit us against one another so you couldn’t even trust the other children there. They would beat you, make you scrub floors.”

Such was life for kids when hate ran rampant decades ago.

The stories of Dora and Magie left many symposium-goers emotional.

“Oh my gosh, to hear women who endured what they have endured and to still be able to be positive about life and share the beauty of their story in a way that isn’t just about what they suffered, but what they learned to give more to others, it’s amazing,” said Susan K. Younger, who was at last year’s symposium and said there was no way she was missing this one.

She also drew inspiration from the first panel of the morning, which included NBC 5 co-anchor Deborah Ferguson, WFAA reporter and anchor Tashara Parker and Rebecca Lopez, senior crime and justice reporter for WFAA.

“Every single one of them didn’t necessarily talk about business-women, but about their mothers or grandmothers, somebody who wasn’t highly educated, but was still brilliant about life and shared wisdom that allowed them to move forward and achieve more than they could have achieved on their own,” Younger said. “And always wanting the next generation to have more, not less. We all need to remember: we’re trying to make the world a better place.”

Among the other highlights from the uplifting morning and afternoon:

• Ferguson described the road that led her to becoming a news anchor, but also said the most fulfilling parts of her life are not necessarily telling the news. “My mother has a second-grade education. In the third grade, I wanted to be a reporter. And I was able to attend TCU because they offered scholarships and it was a no-brainer because it was 10 minutes from my house. In our jobs, we get to do a lot of community events. So I got invited to tour this new school in the Fort Worth ISD – Young Women’s Leadership Academy. I walked through the hallways and I saw me. I saw these little girls who were coming to that school because they knew it was a college preparatory school. Hook, line and sinker they had me. We had to raise money for this school. And I don’t know how to do a non-profit. That’s when you ask for help. And it happened. By that time I built a relationship with your CEO, Cynt Marshall. And I told her, ‘This is Deborah Ferguson coming to you, but not Deborah Ferguson the news anchor. This is a woman that simply wants to help girls become all they can be. And that’s kind of how the partnership started. And these girls are all over the country and doing really, really well. All because I saw myself in them.”
• Tashara Parker drew supportive applause for her work in the media, but also for her support for the CROWN act, which is a house bill that became law in 2023 and champions natural hairstyles, particularly among blacks, when it comes to hiring discrimination. “It’s one of my greatest feats as a journalist,” she said. “Testifying on behalf of house bill 567 was something that I’ll always cherish. And I know there are a lot of young girls who are looking up to me who also know the importance of showing up with your natural hair. They feel more comfortable doing so – to show up as their true selves.” Parker got massive support from WFAA in supporting the cause.
• The respect of parents and grandparents was strong at the symposium. Rebecca Lopez recalled growing up in Odessa and listening to the words of her grandmother. “My grandma would sit there and she told me, don’t be dumb like me. She didn’t get an education. She was forced to quit in grade school. We were fourth generation Texan. But even so, my grandma was forced to drop out of high school.” That’s when Lopez decided to throw her support behind Literacy Achieves, a school designed to equip non-English-speaking adults and their young children with English literacy and life skills to promote self-sufficiency and overall well-being. “I was amazed when I toured their campus,” Lopez said. “They take people from different countries that come here for a better life that do not speak English. Some of them don’t know one word of English when they get here. And Literacy Achieves begins to teach them. There could be 10 different countries represented in one classroom. You have to be able to speak English to really thrive in this country. And it was important for me to volunteer to teach people like my grandma and people who remind me of my grandmother how to speak English.”
• Dora, who now lives as an artist (Brought Plenty Artwork) said the key to turning so much hate that she endured as a child into love requires latching onto something that you truly love. “At boarding school, I didn’t really learn anything, except that I was going to get beat,” she said. “I didn’t really understand math. One of the teachers would put me up at the chalk board and ask me to do math questions. And I’d end up getting beat with the ruler, constantly. But I was in one class where there was a teacher, and I would always doodle. And she had caught me a couple times, but she didn’t punish me. Sometimes she’d crush the paper up and toss it in the trash. They started recognizing that I could draw, so she had me draw whatever they needed to help teach the class. Sad to say, but at age 6, you learn how to manipulate the system. I knew if I drew what they wanted me to draw, it would mean I got less beatings. I always say that art saved me. It saved me from beatings in school.”
• Awards presented during the program included the SupportHER honor to Greg Nared, the Mavericks’ senior vice president for player relations, Mavs Academy and Mavs Gaming; and Ken Lambrecht, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Dallas; The Unsung Hero award to Natalie Crittendon, principal of Adelle Turner Elementary School; and the Diamond Award to Carol Pierce Goglia, president and CEO of Catch Up & Read.
• The final panel of the day featured leaders from some of the sponsors of the event. Caren Lock is regional vice president and associate general counsel of government relations for TIAA; Ashley Fillinger is director of human capital and culture for Bedgear and Shauna Williams is executive director of communications for Choctaw nation of Oklahoma.
• Fillinger was a hit with the crowd for trying to explain: how to be successful when you don’t know (anything). She elaborated: “If I fail, it’s just one more step closer to success. When it comes to working to grow a network, it’s about putting yourself out there. You have to find ways and places you can interact with people and places that aren’t always comfortable. Sometimes, one-on-one conversations are the easiest way to do that or joining that working group where you have the opportunity to be among a lot of people. But me doing this right now is another example of me not knowing (anything). I can’t answer the questions. But if it will help inspire somebody else to be more comfortable today, then I’m happy to do it.”
• Lock spoke extensively about something she suffers from: imposter syndrome, which is the feeling of doubting one’s abilities, particularly high-achievers who have trouble coping with their success. “Part of why I’m able to handle my imposter syndrome is because I have a sisterhood of people who support me,” she said. “When I sent out that I was speaking here, my colleagues at TIAA, I knew they were there to support me. But I do feel like Find people who support you and believe in you. Conversely, give back and support those people who believe in you.”
• Williams, who could relate to Dora Brought Plenty for wanting to use her native language as a kid, said her work with the Choctaw nation is proof that being a woman is no drawback whatsoever. Far from it. She started at the nation as an intern. Now she is an executive director of communications. “Everyone in this room is privileged today,” she told the group. “We’re very privileged to have the opportunity to experience this event and hear the amazing women and meet all of the people here. Now, how do we take that privilege and share that experience with those that are less privileged? And how do we become a voice for someone who is going through things in their careers, in their personal lives?” And, the biggest message of all, which came from Dora and Magie, was that you can overcome incredible hardships. “Hearing what they went through, hearing some of the challenges they had to overcome – those little conflicts that come up at work aren’t really that big of a deal anymore.”
• As Magie Furst said, if we don’t pay attention to where we’ve been, we endanger our world of repeating history. “It’s just unbelievable. Anti-semitism since Oct. 7 has increased 800 percent in the U.S. It’s just like Hitler started,” she said. “It’s unbelievable what’s going on here. I can’t believe this is the United States of America. I hope we’re not going to a dictatorship. But it sure looks like it.” And, as Cynt Marshall said: “We can all stand up to hate that’s going on, not just in this country but around the world. Anti-semitism, Anti-Asian hate. You name it, there is hate out there. But there is nothing but love in this room.”

X: @ESefko