Dorchester residents are invited to take a “virtual walk” with Anita Danker via Zoom on Sat., March 9 at 3 p.m. as she guides participants through the presentation “On the Trail of Women’s History: From Uphams Corner to Savin Hill.”

Through a collaboration of the Dorchester Historical Society (DHS) and the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, Danker, a professor, writer, and local historian, will be sharing the key roles that 18 women have played in Dorchester history.

“I think my main qualification for doing this, besides the fact that I do local history, is that I am from Dorchester,” said Danker. “I feel really close to the material. When you’re originally from Dorchester, you kind of never leave – or it never leaves you.”

Danker became involved in this project after her friend and Trail advisor, Katherine Dibble, worked on a similar trail in Hyde Park. After realizing her neighborhood did not have one of its own, Danker teamed up with Dibble and DHS President Earl Taylor to establish one.

The trio discovered that numerous Dorchester-based women have made important contributions to the cultural history of the neighborhood.

“Many of these [women were in] areas that kind of belonged mostly to men,” Danker said. “For instance, somebody being a doctor, it isn’t really a big deal, but it was a big deal for women in the 1800s.”

Going along with this year’s Women’s History Month theme of women who advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, the women on the trail worked in a diverse range of fields. The 18 stops on the first trail represent the different areas where the women lived or worked during their lives.

Since Dorchester is geographically large, the entirety of the trail has been divided into three sections. This first section, which Danker will discuss on Saturday, begins at Dudley and Howard streets. The section covers Upham Corner, Jones Hill, and Savin Hill.

While Danker looks forward to sharing the stories of all 18 women, she is especially excited to discuss the singer, philanthropist, and American Civil War nurse Elida Rumsey Fowl; the Boston-born civil rights activist and associate editor of The Boston Guardian Geraldine Pindell Trotter (pictured here); the founder of the Animal Rescue League Boston Anna Clapp Harris Smith; and the public reader and teacher of elocution Elizabeth Stanton Chadbourne.

The second and third sections of the trail are expected to take another year to complete. The second will include Meetinghouse Hill, Fields Corner, and Clam Point, while the third will cover Neponset, Lower Mills, and Grove Hall.

Earl Taylor added that people should attend Saturday's meeting because “the history of women is not just about women. It’s a pathway into all aspects of Dorchester history and you can learn through their lives.”

Like Taylor, Danker hopes many people will join her remotely. “There are Dorchester women we should learn more about. This is not the end this is just the beginning of this history,” she said. “Hopefully, we will continue to highlight these women every way we can and keep the project going in that way.”

Those interested in attending can register online at dorchesterhistoricalsociety.org.