Celebrating Women’s History Month on Social Media
Throughout Women’s History Month 2014, we shared stories of remarkable women from around the world on our Facebook page. In case you missed any of the posts, we have rounded up all of the entries here. We hope you enjoyed the series.
March 1 – Congresswoman Beverly Byron: Represented Maryland’s Sixth District from 1979 to 1993. Born in Baltimore, she graduated from Hood College in Frederick, MD. In the early 1960s she became involved in politics, and in 1970 her husband, Goodloe Byron, was elected to the House. Congressman Byron died in office in 1978 and Beverley ran for his seat, receiving 89% of the vote at the next election. A champion of our military, Congresswoman Byron served on the House Armed Services Committee and was Chairwoman of the Military Personnel and Compensation Subcommittee. Congresswoman Byron was the first woman to serve a prominent role on the Armed Services Committee and the first woman to fly on board the U.S. Air Force’s SR-71 Blackbird. After her political career, Bryon served on the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, where her expertise on defense issues was especially useful. She was awarded the President’s Medal in 1993 and appointed to the Maryland Technology Development Corporation by then Maryland Governor Glendening in 2000.
March 2 - Susan B. Anthony: Today’s entry is Susan B. Anthony, a prominent leader in the women’s suffrage movement. In addition to being a suffragist, she was also an abolitionist, education reformer, labor activist, and temperance worker. Anthony was born in 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts and was brought up in a Quaker family where women and men were considered as equals. She joined the women’s rights movement in 1852 and later established the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. Along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony was a co-founder of the weekly publication, The Revolution. The newspaper’s motto was: “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” In 1869, Anthony helped to found the National Woman Suffrage Association, pushing for a constitutional amendment to allow women the right to vote. Anthony died in 1906 in Rochester, New York. In 1920, 14 years after her death, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was finally passed, giving all women the right to vote. The U.S. Treasury Department recognized Anthony’s great achievements by putting her portrait on dollar coins in 1979, making her the first woman to be honored in such a way.
March 3 - Marie Curie: Chemist and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. Curie was born in Poland in 1867 but relocated to France attending school there and becoming a nationalized French citizen. Curie met her husband, Pierre Curie (a fellow scientist and coworker), in France and their affinity for science brought them closer together. Curie began work with newly discovered X-rays and uranium. Curie did not have an established laboratory to conduct her work, so she was forced to perform research and experiments in a shed adjacent to a school. Curie is credited with discovering radioactivity, which lead to her Nobel Prize. Additionally, Curie and her husband discovered two new radioactive elements. Sadly, in 1934, Curie died due to symptoms thought to be associated with excessive exposure to radiation and X-rays. Curie’s contributions to science remain to this day unprecedented, as she is still the only person to win the prize in multiple science categories.
March 4 - Elizabeth Blackwell: Today’s Women’s History Month Profile is Elizabeth Blackwell, the first women to receive a medical degree in the United States. Born in England in 1821, Blackwell was 11 years old when her father moved the family to the United States. Active in the abolitionist movement, Blackwell became exposed to medical texts while lodging with a clergyman and, coincidentally enough, a physician, to save money to attend medical school. In 1847, Blackwell was officially accepted to Geneva Medical College in New York. Her admittance transformed the program, forcing the typically unruly men in the program to behave during lectures. Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College in 1849 becoming the first women to obtain such a degree. She broke down gender barriers in a profession exclusively dominated by men. She opened her own practice in New York and contributed medical assistance during the Civil War.
March 5 - Eleanor Roosevelt: The longest serving First Lady of the Unites States, who transformed the role with her active involvement in public policy. She was later called the “First Lady of the World” by President Harry Truman in honor of her human rights achievements. Eleanor was born in 1884 in New York City and married her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1905. She held the position of First Lady from 1933-1945, serving through both the Great Depression and World War II. When her husband was stricken with polio and became permanently paralyzed in his legs, Eleanor stood by his side. She was the first presidential wife to hold press conferences, write a daily syndicated newspaper column, and speak at a national convention. She also travelled around the world and gave lectures and radio broadcasts. Roosevelt advocated for expanded roles for women in the work force, the civil rights of African Americans and Asian Americans, and the rights of World War II refugees. She later served as the first chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights and played an active role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor died in 1962 and was buried in Hyde Park, New York next to her husband. Her funeral was the first to be attended by multiple First Ladies, establishing a precedent for those who died after her.
March 6 - Ella Fitzgerald: American jazz singer who was often referred to as the “First Lady of Song” and the “Queen of Jazz”. Fitzgerald was born in 1917 in Newport News, Virginia. She was first discovered singing at an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in 1934 and went on to become a top female jazz vocalist for more than 50 years. Fitzgerald had a flexible, accurate, and wide-ranging voice, with a vocal range spanning three octaves. She worked with other famous jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. Fitzgerald performed all over the world to a diverse group of audiences that included people of all races. In 1958, she became the first African-American woman to win a Grammy Award. Throughout her career, she won 13 Grammys and sold more than 40 million albums. Fitzgerald recorded more than 200 albums and about 2,000 songs in her lifetime. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Ronald Regan, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H.W. Bush, and the NAACP Image Award for Lifetime Achievements. Fitzgerald died in 1996 at the age of 79. Her personal music collection is stored at the Library of Congress and archived material from her career is stored in the Archives Center at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
March 7 - Shirley Chisholm: The first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968. Chisholm was born in 1924 in Brooklyn, New York to immigrant parents. She attended Brooklyn College where she joined the debate team. When African-American students were denied admission to a social club at the college, she formed her own club called Ipothia, In Pursuit of the Highest In All. Chisholm was elected to the New York State Legislature in 1964. Four years later, she decided to run for a seat in Congress and became the Representative of New York’s 12th District in the U.S. House. During her second term in the House, Chisholm, decided to run for the 1972 Democratic nomination for presidency becoming the first major-party African-American candidate to do so. Although she did not win the nomination at the Convention, Chisholm received 151 of the delegates’ votes. Chisholm served for seven terms in Congress, from 1969-1983. During her time in office, she helped to establish the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971, was appointed to the House Rules Committee in 1977, and introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation. Chisholm died in 2005 in Florida and was buried in Buffalo, New York. In honor of her memory and great achievements, the Shirley Chisholm Forever Stamp was issued in 2014.
March 8 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The second female justice and the first Jewish female justice appointed to serve on the Supreme Court. Ginsburg was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. Before becoming a judge, she was a law professor at Rutgers University from 1963-1972. In 1970, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal to focus solely on women’s rights issues. Ginsburg later taught at Columbia University from 1972-1980 where she became the first tenured female professor. During the 1970s, Ginsburg served as the director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, in which she argued six major cases on gender equality before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1980, Ginsberg was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and served in this position for 13 years. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court and took the oath of office in 1993. As an Associate Justice, she is considered to be an advocate for gender equality, the rights of workers, and the separation of church and state. In 1999, Ginsberg won the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for her contributions to gender equality and women’s rights.
March 9 - Etta H. Maddox: The first woman to graduate from the Baltimore Law School and the first licensed female attorney in Maryland. Maddox was born in Baltimore, Maryland around 1860. She attended Baltimore public schools and studied voice at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. After graduating from Baltimore Law School, Maddox went to the bar exam, but was denied because of her gender. She took her case to the Maryland legislature and requested that the state legalize the admission of women to the Maryland bar. This bill was passed and became law in 1902. That same year, Maddox passed the bar exam and became the first licensed female lawyer in the state of Maryland. She practiced law for several years and became involved in the women’s suffrage movement. Maddox founded the Maryland Suffrage Association in 1894 and drafted Maryland’s first suffrage bill during the 1910 session of the General Assembly. While the bill was rejected by the state of Maryland, women nation-wide were later successful in obtaining the right to vote in 1920. Maddox died in 1933, after a long life devoted to fighting for women’s rights. In 2001, she was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record.
March 10 - Jane Addams: Today, we focus on Jane Addams, often regarded as the first social worker. Born in Cedarsville, Illinois is 1860, Addams was one of the most important and significant reformers of the Progressive Era. After a trip to England where she studied reform efforts, Starr co-founded Hull House in Chicago. The goal of Hull House was to be a center of Social Reform. Eventually, Hull House would grow into a 13-building complex. Hull House included a public kitchen, classrooms, an art gallery, gymnasium, and space for clubs and civic organizations to meet. Addams was an advocate for social justice, women’s suffrage, peace and diplomacy and children’s rights. In 1931, Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American Woman to win the prize. Addams donated the prize money to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Addams died on May 21st 1935, but her legacy lives on today. Thank you to Renne Burgan of Hagerstown for the suggestion.
March 11 - Allison M. Macfarlane: Chair of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). She was nominated by President Obama for the position and sworn in on July 9, 2012. Dr. Macfarlane is a scientist and an expert on nuclear waste issues. Macfarlane has a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Rochester and a doctorate in geology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before becoming the Chair of the NRC, Dr. Macfarlane was an associate professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University. From 2010-2012, she served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. This commission was created in order to provide advice on national strategies for handling the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. As chairman of the NRC, Dr. Macfarlane helps to ensure the safety and security of existing nuclear reactors and nuclear facilities. She is the third woman to serve as chairman and the only individual with a background in geology to serve on the Commission. Dr. Macfarlane currently resides in Bethesda with her family.
March 12 -Mary Edwards Walker: The only women ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration in the United States. Walker was born in 1832 in New York. She received a medical degree from Geneva Medical College in upstate New York graduating as the only woman in her class in 1855. She married a classmate at Geneva Medical College and they started a medical practice together. Walker volunteered as a civilian in the Civil War and was present for many major battles during the Civil War on the front lines as a surgeon. Shortly after being appointed assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry, she was captured by the Confederacy. Walker was eventually freed during a prisoner transfer and continued to serve with the Union as a supervisor of a female prison. Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and George Henry Thomas recommended Walker for the Medal of Honor and President Johnson signed a bill in 1865 to present Walker the highest military honor. Following the war, Walker was active in the women’s suffrage movement and a vocal proponent for women’s rights as a writer and speaker. Walker passed away in 1919 but left behind a powerful legacy. During World War II a ship was named in her honor, the SS Mary Walker.
March 13 - Rosalind Franklin: Today’s Women’s History Month Profile is Rosalind Franklin, a British scientist whose work in the discovery of DNA structure was long overlooked. Franklin studied chemistry at Newnham College, Cambridge, and upon completion of her program began work researching the porosity of coal. Franklin was eventually appointed to work with a scientist named Jacques Mering. While working with Mering, Franklin learned X-ray diffraction, which would lead to her contributions on the Watson and Crick DNA project. Franklin refined her X-ray diffraction skills at Kings College, where she worked as a research associate in 1951. Franklin applied her skills to her work on DNA, and famously discovered there were two types of DNA. Franklin’s research was used by Watson and Crick to construct the infamous double helix model of DNA, a revolutionary breakthrough, which lead to a greater understanding of genetics. Her work was uncredited for some time due to her untimely death caused by cancer, but Watson and Crick attributed her research as a keystone to their model and discovery. Franklin died in 1958 at the age of 37 but her research is ingrained in history and greatly contributed to the evolution of modern science.
March 14 - Sheryl Sandberg: Today’s Women’s History Month entry is Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook and American businesswoman. Sandberg attended Harvard University graduating summa cum laude in 1991 with an economics degree. Following Harvard, Sandberg worked at the World Bank as a research assistant under her former Harvard professor and mentor Larry Summers. In 1995, Sandberg graduated from Harvard Business School with highest distinction. Sandberg followed Summers when he became Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton serving as his Chief of Staff. In 2001, Sandberg began working for Google Inc. as Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations responsible for advertising and online sales. Sandberg was hired in 2008 by Facebook to become the Chief Operating Officer and immediately began to make the new company profitable. She was the first female to be named to the Board of Directors at Facebook. Sandberg’s first book, Lean In, focuses on helping women achieve personal and professional goals.
March 15 - Clara Barton: Today’s entry is Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Born in Massachusetts in 1821, Barton spent the early part of her life as a teacher, but grew frustrated by the limited opportunities to advance in education as a woman. In 1855, she moved to Washington and began working as a clerk in the US Patent Office. By 1862, her attentions had turned to medicine and the war effort, and Barton began an initiative to gather medical supplies for injured soldiers. She was eventually granted access to the front lines, tending to the wounded at several battles, including a number in Maryland. After the war she ran the Office of Missing Soldiers and gained national renown speaking about the war. Barton learned about the burgeoning Red Cross movement. She met with Red Cross members in Switzerland and assisted in preparing military hospitals in Europe. When Barton returned to the U.S. she continued to work to promote the Red Cross movement, including meeting with President Arthur. In 1881 she held the first official meeting of the American Red Cross. Barton continued to be involved in medical care during war time, but also oversaw the organization’s efforts to help in civilian causes, such as flood relief and responses to the yellow fever epidemic of the time. Barton retired to Glen Echo, where she spent her final years. Glen Echo is now the home of the Clara Barton National Historic Site.
March 16 - Billie Jean King: Today’s Women’s History Month Profile is Billie Jean King, a tennis champion and advocate for women’s rights. Born in California, King attended California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and learned her tennis skills on the public courts in Long Beach. During her long professional career, King won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 12 singles, 16 women's doubles, and 11 mixed doubles titles. Off the tennis court, Billie Jean King has been a champion for equality. She fought for equal prize money for both men and women in 1971, and became the first female athlete to win over $100,000. Her 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” – a match against Bobby Riggs, in which King prevailed – was a media sensation and a landmark moment in the development of women’s sports in America. In 1974, King became the first President of the Women’s Tennis Association was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. After her career she became an advocate for women’s rights and ending discrimination against LGBT Americans. In 1990 she was named by Life Magazine one of the 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century and in 2009 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
March 17 - Mary Robinson: Today’s feature is Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland. Robinson was born in Ballina, County Mayo, in 1944. Robinson studied law at Trinity College and Harvard and later became a professor at Trinity. She was first elected to the Irish Senate in 1969. In the Senate, she campaigned for a variety of issues, including the right of women to serve on juries and to remove the requirement that female civil servants in Ireland must be married. In 1979 she was also elected to the Dublin City Council. In 1990, running as an Independent aligned with the Labour Party, she was elected Ireland’s President. Robinson served as President from 1990 to 1997 and is credited with reviving the duties of the office. In 1997 she became the UN Commissioner for Human Rights and in 2009 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. Upon her election in 1990, Robinson said, “I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system.”
March 18 - Rosa Ponselle: Legendary opera singer and a member of the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame. The daughter of Italian immigrants, Ponselle was born in Connecticut in 1897. By the time she was 17, Ponselle was singing at the San Carlino theater in New Haven on a regular basis and performing on the vaudeville circuit. In 1918, she made her operatic debut, quickly becoming a sensation. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s she was a major international star, performing in London, Florence, and New York, where she was renowned as a soprano. Over the course of her career, Ponselle performed lead roles in Carmen, William Tell, The Legend, Don Carlos, Norma, to name a few. Ponselle moved to Baltimore in 1936 and continued to sing in her home for guests for many years. Later in life Ponselle worked with young singers at the Baltimore Civic Opera. Luciano Pavarotti visited her in 1976 and raved about the quality of her voice, which was considered one of the most beautiful of the 20th century.
March 19 - Lucretia Mott: Today’s Women’s History Month Profile is Lucretia Mott (b. 1793-1880). Born in Massachusetts, Ms. Mott attended the Nine Partners Boarding School and became a Quaker minister. She was an active member of both the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, protesting injustices against around the country. Mott was also a strong advocate for women’s rights. In 1848, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she organized the Seneca Falls Convention, credited as one of the most influential civil rights gatherings of the nineteenth century. In 1864, she was involved in the creation of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. In 1866 she became the first president of the American Equal Rights Association and published Discourse on Women. Late in life, when asked about her achievements, she said women’s right’s was “the most important question” of her life.
March 20 - Gladys Noon Spellman: Today’s entry is Congresswoman Gladys Noon Spellman. Spellman was born in New York City in 1918, but after graduating from George Washington University, she settled in Prince George’s County, where she became immersed in the public school system as an educator. While devoted to her service as an educator, Spellman also took on the responsibility as the chairman of the National Mental Health Study Center, and in 1962 she became the first woman elected to the Board of Commissioners of Prince George’s County. Spellman would serve as a chair and member of Prince George’s County Council. In 1972, Spellman’s success as a councilwoman was recognized when she was the first woman elected President of the National Association of Counties, a title that held much prestige nationally. In 1974, Spellman was elected to serve in the House of Representatives, representing Maryland’s 5th District. As a member Spellman ardently advocated legislation against discrimination based on marital status, disability, or old age. Tragically, Spellman suffered from a devastating heart attack in 1980 that would leave in a coma until she died in 1988. She was succeeded in office by Rep. Steny Hoyer. To this day an elementary school in Prince George’s County is named in her memory, along with the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
March 21 - Abigail Adams: Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, she was to become the second First Lady of the United States and President John Adams’s “dearest friend.” A self-educated woman, she was our second president’s greatest confidant. Adams was also our nation’s first Vice President, and during that time Abigail became a close friend of the Washingtons, assisting Martha Washington with the heavy requests placed upon the first Administration. Her correspondence with future President John Adams throughout the Revolutionary War provides an outstanding look into publicly debated issues, the psychology of our nation’s leaders, and the reality of the time. As First Lady, her opinions were frequently discussed in the press and came up in town hall meetings around the country. Her political prowess was well known among her peers. In her letters, she was a fervent proponent of equal rights for women and was an inspiration to future leaders.
March 22 - Rose Kushner: Health care advocate. Rose Kushner was born on June 22, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland. By the time she was ten years old her parents, who were both Eastern European immigrants, had passed away. Kushner had a successful career as an acclaimed journalist; however her legacy is distinguished by her advocacy for breast cancer, particularly for breast cancer patient’s rights and treatment alternatives. When Kushner was herself diagnosed with breast cancer in 1974, her activism for breast cancer patients began. By 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Kushner to serve a six year term on the National Cancer Advisory Board of the National Cancer Institute. She would later serve on the American Cancer Society National Task Force on Cancer, which granted her the opportunity to lobby Congress for their funding and support toward breast cancer research. Kushner was awarded two highly prestigious awards in the medical community, the Gold Medal of Honor from the American Cancer Society in 1987 and the James Ewing Layman Award from the Society of Surgical Oncologists three years later. Kushner was not merely an advocate and activist for breast cancer, but for womankind. Her work has helped implement breast cancer research as a national priority and has encouraged individuals to gain agency in their fight with cancer through education and research. In 1990, Kushner lost her personal battle with breast cancer her fight lives on. Margaret Mason from the Washington Post wrote, “She gave us our voice. And, now we cannot be quiet, not when someone dies of breast cancer every 13 minutes in the U.S. And, not when we know that while 57,000 men died in combat in the Vietnam War, during that same 10 year period, 333,000 women died of breast cancer.”
March 23 -Sadie Kneller Miller: Born in Westminster, she graduated from Western Maryland College and began writing for the Westminster Democratic Advocate. Miller later moved to Baltimore and was soon covering the Orioles for the Baltimore-Telegram. Miller gained attention for her photography when she took photos of naval activity in preparation for the Spanish-American War, earning her a permanent position with Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly. Over the years Miller was an eyewitness to history, both at home abroad, covering national conventions, the inauguration of President Taft, meetings with President Roosevelt, the building of the Panama Canal, the Yukon Gold Rush, Czarist Russia, events in Cuba and Germany, and the sinking of the Maine. Miller also covered the women’s rights movement and took the last photograph of Susan B. Anthony in 1906. One of her last major reports was an interview with Pancho Villa in Mexico in 1916. Miller was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1988.
March 24 - Margaret Brent: A Maryland woman ahead of her time. Brent pushed the boundaries of colonial Maryland with bravery and cleverness and was noteworthy for her status as the first woman to demand the right to vote in a colonial assembly. Born in England in 1601, Ms. Brent migrated to St. Mary’s City in Maryland in 1638. In less than 10 years, she became a prominent businesswoman and landowner. In 1645 she was appointed to execute the will of Governor Calvert and she later petitioned the Maryland General Assembly for the right to vote as a landowner. Though she was not granted her request, she still worked to settle Governor Calvert’s financial matters, which included paying soldiers who were camped out around St. Mary’s. Brent was able to navigate the situation by eventually raising proceeds to pay the soldiers by using her authority as executor to sell the late Lord Baltimore’s cattle, thus halting a potential uprising.
March 25 - Phillis Wheatley: Born in Africa in 1753, Wheatley was brought to Boston as a slave in the early 1760s. Wheatley was taught to read and write and as a young woman began to write poetry. In 1773, her poems were printed and gained a wide audience on both sides of the Atlantic. The quality of her poems astonished white audiences and challenged stereotypes. According to Henry Louis Gates, Wheatley became at this time “the most famous African on the face of the earth.” Wheatley’s poems are rich with classical and religious allusions and are grounded in Wheatley’s strong Christian faith, which she argued was universal and applied equally to all races. After her 1775 poem to George Washington, Wheatley was invited to meet with Washington in Cambridge, which she did in 1776. In 1778 she achieved her freedom, but due to the limited opportunities available to women of color at the time, she could only find work as a maid. Struggling with illness and poverty, Wheatley died at the young age of 31. However, her work is considered foundational to African-American literature in the United States and her bold and feeling voice continues to be heard today.
March 26 - Bernice Smith White: Civic leader and equal rights advocate. Born in Maryland in 1924, Smith White grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Coppin State College, receiving a degree in education. Smith White became active in the Baltimore Urban League, researched dropout rates and improving job opportunities for community youth, and served as the first Director of Community Education and Relations of the Baltimore City Community Relation Commission. Her experience as a civil rights advocate in Baltimore occasioned her appointment as the first female Insurance Compliance Specialist for the Social Security Administration. In 1969, she was appointed as one of just three full time National Directors of the Federal Women’s Program, established by the President. Smith White authored a weekly column titled “It’s Not A Man’s World” for many years and was active in countless civic and civil rights causes, including initiating efforts to include gender in Baltimore’s anti-discrimination laws. She is a member of the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame and was awarded the Governor’s Citation from Maryland Governor Parris Glendening.
March 27 - Sandra Day O’Connor: The first female to serve on the Supreme Court. O’Connor was born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas and spent much of her childhood on the ranch her family owned. O’Connor attended Stanford University for her undergraduate studies in economics and again for law school graduating in 1952. O’Connor found it difficult initially to gain employment due to her gender. Her first job was Deputy County Attorney in California, where she offered to work for no pay and with no office. O’Connor persevered and from 1965-1969, she served as Assistant Attorney General for Arizona. She would be appointed to fill a vacancy in the Arizona State Senate and years later would become the Majority Leader, making her the first women to hold this position. O’Connor was elected to Superior Court in Arizona in 1975 and was appointed to the Appeals Court of Arizona in 1979. President Ronald Reagan nominated O’Connor to serve on the Supreme Court in 1981 and her confirmation vote in the United States Senate was 99-0 making her the first female jurist on the nation’s highest court. O’Connor retired from the Court in 2005 and was succeeded by Justice Samuel Alito. O’Connor is revered as a trailblazer on the Supreme Court paving the way for the three additional female justices who currently serve on the Supreme Court now.
March 28- Martha Washington: Born in Kent County, Virginia, Martha Washington married her first husband, Daniel Parke Curtis, a wealthy plantation owner, at 19. It was here that Martha refined her skills in management and crop sales. Seven years later, Martha was widowed. A year later, at 27, Martha married Colonel George Washington, then of French and Indian War fame. During the American Revolution, she helped encourage women to volunteer to help the Continental Army any way they could. During the war she organized support for hospitals and persuaded society ladies to donate their napkins and tablecloths to make bandages and uniforms. She also famously made rounds during the bitter winter at Valley Forge, routinely giving soldiers any food she could spare, and sewing garments such as socks for them. In their appreciation, soldiers came to call her “Lady Washington.” As First Lady, she continued to support Revolutionary War veterans and established many of the charitable traditions henceforth followed by future First Ladies.
March 29- Francis Perkins: The first woman appointed to the United States Cabinet. As a cabinet member, she was also the first woman to enter the presidential line of succession. Perkins was born in Boston and graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1902 and Columbia in 1910. Perkins gained prominence as the head of the New York Consumers league, which lobbied for better working conditions and employee rights . In 1929 then Governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Perkins Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor. Four years later, President Roosevelt appointed Perkins as Secretary of the Department of Labor, a position she held until 1945, longer than any other Secretary of Labor. She was instrumental in implementing the nation’s first overtime and minimum wage laws, as well as the creation of Social Security. Perkins also worked to combat child labor and improve workplace safety. Following her time at Labor, she taught at Cornell University until her death in 1965.
March 30- Sojourner Truth: Born in New York state around 1797, Truth was originally named Isabella Baumfree and grew up a slave. In 1826, she escaped and gained her freedom. In 1843, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth, a reference to her religious faith and belief that she must travel the country to make a difference. Truth began preaching across the states on the topic of abolitionism and she gained fame as a speaker. In 1851, in Ohio, she delivered her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, which connected the causes of abolitionism and women’s rights. During this time, Truth met with Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and other abolitionist leaders. In 1853, when confronted by a group of men who did not like what she was saying, Truth responded, “You may hiss as much as you please, but women will get their rights anyway. You can't stop us, neither." After the Civil War, Truth unsuccessfully lobbied the federal government to provide land grants to former slaves, meeting with the President in 1870. Truth died in Michigan in 1883, and more than 3,000 people attended her funeral. In 2009 she became the first African-American woman honored with a bust in the US Capitol.
March 31 - Mercy Otis Warren: Warren was born in 1728, the daughter of James Otis, a leader in the Patriot movement and an opponent of British rule. Mercy married James Warren, who would also become politically active, and in this environment Mercy became connected to many of the leading figures of the day, forming friendships with the Washingtons, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Thomas Jefferson. Warren published five plays in the 1770s, all dealing with political themes. According to the Heath Anthology of American Literature, her plays “focus on the moral evil of the Tory administration in Massachusetts, its hypocrisy, crass ambition, warmongering, and the invidious policies of its arch villain, Governor Thomas Hutchinson.” Warren was also an active pamphleteer and political writer who advocated for a Bill of Rights during the constitutional debates of the 1780s. After the war, she published a three-volume history of the period, the History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson said of her history, “her truthful and insightful account of the last thirty years will furnish a more instructive lesson to mankind than any equal period known in history.”
Judith P. Hoyer: Education advocate. Hoyer was raised in Suitland, where she met her husband, future House Majority Leader and current Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. The couple married in 1961. The same year, Judith began her teaching career after earning her bachelor’s in early childhood education from Towson University. In 1978, Mrs. Hoyer became an education resource teacher for early education for Prince George’s schools and designed a multisensory language-arts curriculum for kindergarten, first-and-second grade students. She was appointed Prince George’s supervisor for early childhood education in 1986. Three years later, Hoyer became the coordinating supervisor, overseeing the curriculum for one of the largest school districts in the state. Outside the classroom, Hoyer was active in charitable programs such as the Salvation Army, the Epilepsy Foundation, the Prince George’s County Arts Council, and the Doctor’s Community Hospital in Greenbelt. Hoyer passed away in 1997, but she will be forever remembered for her significant work in early childhood education in Maryland. Regarding her accomplishments, Governor Glendening said her work was of “everlasting importance to all of us,” and that “she devoted her life to children. Her significant work -- particularly in the field of early childhood education, such as Head Start and pre-school programs -- was often invisible to the public eye; but it had an enduring impact on our children.” Her legacy continues through the Judy P. Hoyer Foundation, which promotes early childhood education and family services and through Judith P. Hoyer Early Child Care and Family Education Centers, which were established by the State of Maryland in 2000. Judy Centers provide a central location for early childhood education and support services for children and their families across Maryland. Judy Centers are unique because they collaborate with community-based agencies, organizations, and businesses.