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MORE THAN 150 YEARS OF WOMEN’S HISTORY

March is Women’s History Month. The Women’s Rights Movement started in Seneca Falls, New York, with the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848.Out of the convention came a declaration modeled upon the Declaration of Independence, written by a woman named Elizabeth Cady THE WOMEN WE HONOR Stanton. They worked inside and outside of their homes. business and labor; science and medicine; sports and It demanded that women be given They pressed for social changes in civil rights, the peace exploration; and arts and entertainment. all the rights and privileges that belong movement and other important causes. As volunteers, As you read our mini-biographies of these women, they did important charity work in their communities you’ll be asked to think about what drove them toward to them as citizens of the United States. and worked in places like libraries and museums. their achievements. And to think how women are Of course, it was many years before Women of every race, class and ethnic background driven to achieve today. And to consider how women earned all the rights the have made important contributions to our nation women will achieve in the future. Seneca Falls convention demanded. throughout its history. But sometimes their contribution Because women’s history is a living story, our list of has been overlooked or underappreciated or forgotten. American women includes women who lived “then” American women were not given Since 1987, our nation has been remembering and women who are living—and achieving—”now.” the right to vote until 1920. women’s heritage every March during National Of course, your generation will write the next chap- Women’s History Month. Every year, the U.S. House ter of women’s history. Look around your classroom. of Representatives and the Senate have passed a joint Who knows? Some of your classmates could be in the resolution declaring March Women’s History Month “next” wave of women achievers. and calling upon the people of the United States to in the News observe the occasion with special programs, cere- WOMEN’S HISTORY WARMUP monies and activities. How many men’s names from American history can 1. Look in your newspaper for mentions One way to celebrate women’s history is by celebrat- you mention in one minute? How many women’s of women. In small groups, see how ing the lives of the individual women who have played names? Your teacher will be the timekeeper. Compare many you can find in each of these important roles in our nation’s story. your answers. What do the results reveal about your sections of the newspaper: News, This supplement, “Women in History,” is a celebration knowledge of women’s history? Business, Sports, and Entertainment or of 20 individual women from government and politics; Features. List them on a separate sheet. Then make a bar graph to show the results of your survey.

2. Women not only make the news— WHO SAID...? they cover the news. In teams or as a class, go through the paper and read “Your time is now, my sisters... New goals and new priorities — the bylines at the top of stories. Bylines tell who the writer of a story is. How not only for this country, but for all mankind — must be set!” many of the bylines are women? How WRITE THE NAME HERE many are men? ————————————————————————————— First Black Congresswoman (Need a hint? Use the profiles on the facing page to identify the speaker.) WHO SAID...? HALL OF FAME INFORMATION “... Thomas Jefferson and Did you know that you can nominate someone to be in the National Women’s Hall of Fame? The Women’s Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 in Seneca Falls, N.Y., the site of the first Women’s Rights Convention in James Madison would be turning 1848. There are many women in the Hall of Fame. They range from former Congresswoman Bella Abzug to golf champion Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Some of the most notable members are listed on page 3. over in their graves right now, New honorees are elected every year to the Hall of Fame. You can read more about the nomination process and download nomination materials at http://www.greatwomen.org/nominate.php. The basic but let’s hope Abigail Adams guidelines are that nominees must be citizens of the United States, living or dead. Their contribution must be of national and lasting importance. The judges also consider: would be pleased.” • the value of the nominee’s contribution to society, significant groups within society or the progress and freedom of women. WRITE THE NAME HERE • the significance of the national contribution to art, athletics, business, ————————————————— government, philanthropy, humanities, science and education. First woman chosen for the U.S. Supreme Court (Use the profiles on the facing page to identify the speaker.) • the enduring value of the nominee’s achievement. 3

Here are thumbnail profiles of some of the members of the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Others are profiled elsewhere in this section. The Hall celebrates the wide range of achievement for women in many fields. Pick one you would like to know more about and research her life.

BELLA ABZUG — Civil rights and labor CATHERINE EAST — Leader in creation of HELEN KELLER — Deaf, blind and mute as KATHERINE SIVA SAUBEL — Founder of attorney, congresswoman from New York City, the National Organization for Women. a child, Keller learned to overcome these handi- the Malki Museum at the Morongo Reservation advocate for women and the poor. caps and became a spokesperson on behalf of in California, the first museum founded and run MARY BAKER EDDY — Only American the capabilities of others with problems. by Native Americans. ABIGAIL ADAMS — Urged her husband, woman to found a lasting religion — The President John Adams, to “Remember the Church of Christ (Scientist). NANNERL O. KEOHANE — First BETTY BONE SCHIESS — Leader of Ladies,” and permit women to legally own contemporary woman to head both a major 1974 effort to have women ordained as priests GERTRUDE BELLE ELION — 1988 property. women’s college, Wellesley, and a research in the Episcopal Church in America. Nobel Prize winner who has spent a lifetime university, Duke. JANE ADDAMS — Created Hull House in creating drugs to combat leukemia, gout, PATRICIA SCHROEDER — Elected to the the Chicago slums, starting an American settle- malaria, herpes and other autoimmune diseases. BILLIE JEAN KING — Dominant women’s House of Representatives from Colorado in ment house movement to provide help for the tennis player for more than 20 years, winning 20 1972. GERALDINE FERRARO — First woman poor. Wimbledon titles, 13 U.S. Open titles, and more. nominated by a major political party as a candi- ELIZABETH BAYLEY SETON — First MARIAN ANDERSON — First Black singer date for Vice President of the United States MAGGIE KUHN — At 65, after a forced native-born American woman to be canonized a to perform with the Metropolitan Opera. (with Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984). retirement, Kuhn became founder of the Gray saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Panthers for senior citizens. SUSAN B. ANTHONY — Women’s move- ELLA FITZGERALD — World-renowned MURIEL SIEBERT — First woman to own ment’s most powerful organizer whose work jazz singer and the first pop musician awarded BELVA LOCKWOOD — First woman to a seat on the NewYork Stock Exchange (1967). with Elizabeth Cady Stanton paved the way for the Lincoln Center Medallion. practice law and argue a case before the United BESSIE SMITH — One of the nation’s women’s right to vote. States Supreme Court (1879). BETTY FRIEDAN — Feminist and activist greatest blues singers. CLARA BARTON — “Angel of the whose book The Feminine Mystique triggered JULIETTE GORDON LOW — Founder of MARGARET CHASE SMITH — U.S. Battlefield” in Civil War, and founder of the the contemporary women’s movement. the Girls Scouts of America in 1912. American Red Cross. Senator from Maine who was first woman MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE — MARY LYON — Founder of Mt. Holyoke, the nominated to be presidential candidate at a — Black Co-author (with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE first college for women, in 1837. national convention. teacher who began a school to help educate Susan B. Anthony) of the History of Women’s young Black women. Leader of the National Suffrage and leader of National Women’s WILMA MANKILLER — First woman elect- ELIZABETH CADY STANTON — In 1848, Council of Negro Women. Suffrage Association. ed Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. she and others convened the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. ANTOINETTE BLACKWELL — First ELLA GRASSO — First woman elected a MARGARET MEAD — Anthropologist With Susan B. Anthony, Stantonwrote and American woman ordained a minister by a state governor in her own right, in Connecticut whose book, Coming of Age in Samoa, caused argued for women’s equality through the right recognized denomination (Congregational). in 1974. scientific and social rethinking of adolescence. to vote. GWENDOLYN BROOKS — Poet and MARTHA WRIGHT GRIFFITHS — CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY — GLORIA STEINEM — Feminist leader, novelist and the first Black woman to win the Congresswoman from Michigan best known Attorney and jurist who became the first black writer and social activist who founded Ms. Pulitzer Prize (1949). for successfully adding sex discrimination as a woman named to the federal bench. Magazine. prohibited act in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. PEARL S. BUCK — Novelist whose writing LUCRETIA MOTT — Quaker anti-slavery HELEN STEPHENS — Winner of two gold on Asian culture won the Pulitzer Prize and the FANNIE LOU HAMER — Mississippi advocate and leader in the women’s rights medals in track and field at the 1936 Olympics. Nobel Prize for Literature — the first American sharecropper and organizer of the Mississippi movement. woman to do so. Freedom Party, challenging the white domina- NETTIE STEVENS — Research biologist tion of the Democratic Party. SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR — First who determined that the “X” and “Y” RACHEL CARSON — Zoologist whose woman named to the United States Supreme chromosomes determined the sex of humans. concern for the damage of pesticides and other ALICE HAMILTON — Physician specializing Court. poisons paved the way for the environmental in industrial diseases and who forced protections LUCY STONE — Anti-slavery and women’s movement of today. and reforms in the workplace. ROSA PARKS — “Mother of the Civil Rights rights advocate who founded he Women’s Movement” who refused to give up her seat on Journal. WILLA CATHER — Newspaper- woman HELEN HAYES — Actress in live theater, a public bus to a white man in Alabama in and editor who became Pulitzer Prize winning films and radio for more than 50 years. 1955. HARRlET BEECHER STOWE — Author of novelist. the best-seller Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, DOROTHY HEIGHT — President of the FRANCES PERKINS — First woman to which became a factor in the drive to end slav- — First Black National Council of Negro Women. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM hold Cabinet office, secretary of labor under ery. woman elected to the U.S. Congress. President Roosevelt in 1932. GRACE HOPPER — Math and computer SOJOURNER TRUTH — Slave who later JACQUELINE COCHRAN — First woman pioneer, known for pioneering “user-friendly” ESTHER PETERSON — Activist in the became a Quaker missionary, antislavery aviator to break the sound barrier and first computer software to make computers more labor, women’s and consumer movements and advocate and women’s rights leader. woman to pilot a bomber across the Atlantic accessible to business. First woman to attain the force behind creation of the first Presidential Ocean. rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. Commission on Women in 1962. HARRIET TUBMAN — Slave in Maryland who later was leader of Underground Railroad EILEEN COLLINS — First American HELEN HUNT — Philanthropist who used ELEANOR ROOSEVELT — Wife of that led black people to freedom. woman to pilot a spacecraft., the shuttle her own resources to create women’s funding President Franklin Roosevelt, leader of reform Discovery. institutions. movement, U.S. Delegate to the United Nations LILLIAN WALD — Nurse and activist who and chair of the first Presidential Commission organized public health nursing services for poor; EMILY DICKINSON — One of the world’s ZORA NEALE HURSTON — Novelist, on the Status of Women (1961). creator of the Public Health Nurses. greatest poets. anthropologist and folklorist who worked to preserve African-American folk traditions. WILMA RUDOLPH — First American FAYE WATTLETON — First black person DOROTHEA DIX — One of the nation’s woman to win three gold medals in the to be president of the Planned Parenthood earliest and most effective advocates for better ANNE HUTCHINSON — First woman in Foundation. care for the mentally ill. America to insist on practicing her religious faith Olympics, in track and field. as she chose; she was expelled from the JOSEPHINE ST. PIERRE RUFFlN — SARAH WINNEMUCCA — Activist who ELIZABETH HANFORD DOLE — Massachusetts Bay Colony, as result. fought to return lands taken by the govern- Cabinet officer for Presidents Reagan and Bush, Black leader from New England who fought ment to Native American tribes. past president of the American Red Cross and FRANCES WISEBART-JACOBS — Force slavery and founded several organizations for Senator. behind the concept of today’s United Way. black women. ROSALYN YALOW — First American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine ANNE DALLAS DUDLEY — Leader of MAE JEMISON — Physician, engineer and FLORENCE SABIN — First woman who was trained in America. campaign to pass the 19th Amendment to the astronaut — the first black woman astronaut in graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of United States Constitution, giving women voting space, traveling on the shuttle Endeavor. Medicine and the first woman to teach there. GLORIA YERKOVICH — Founder of Child rights. Find, a nationwide organization that helps BARBARA JORDAN — First black woman MARGARET SANGER — Nurse, reformer locate missing children. AMELIA EARHART — First woman to fly elected to Congress from the South since and campaigner for birthcontrol. across the Atlantic Ocean, and also the first to Reconstruction. fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME • 76 Fall Street • Seneca Falls, New York 13148 • 315/568-8060 4

For many years, women who wanted to work for change in America had to do it from outside the system. They couldn’t hold elected office. And for many years, they could not even vote. Often, they became involved in politics through social issues like the women’s rights move- ment or the anti-slavery movement. Since winning the right to vote, women have come to play an increasingly influential role in government from the inside. On these two pages, you will read about the first woman congresswoman and a power- Jeannette Rankin, First Woman in Congress (1880 - 1973) ful government official. You’ll also read about two women— one from the 19th century and “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war. I vote ‘no.’ ” one from the 20th—who tried to bring about change Jeannette Rankin earned a spot in the history books in 1916 World War I was raging in Europe. President Woodrow in other ways. when Montana voters elected her to the U.S. House of Wilson and most Americans felt America should help in the Representatives. She was the first woman elected to Congress. fight against Germany. Rankin was one of 50 members of And she was elected at a time when all American women did Congress who voted against the war, but she was singled out not yet have the right to vote. for most of the criticism. The New York Times said she “had women in office Perhaps it was no surprise that Rankin was a trailblazer. The justified distrust of her judgment and of her opinions.” Go to the American Women in Politics website oldest of seven children, Rankin grew up on a Montana ranch Rankin lost her bid for re-election two years later. But she (http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/) for some cur- where the pioneer spirit was part of everyday life. Women were did not leave politics. She spent the next 20 years working rent statistics about women in elective office. expected to be strong and courageous. Young Jeannette’s for social reform and peace in Washington. Draw a pie chart graph to show the numbers. father encouraged her independence, taking her along with him Rankin was re-elected to Congress in 1940. Her anti-war from day to day as he inspected the ranch and his sawmills. views were popular again because another war was raging in WOMEN IN THE U.S. CONGRESS Like many women of her time, she wanted to be a social Europe and many Americans were opposed to U.S. involvement. • Women hold __ of the worker. But when she went to New York for training, she dis- People changed their minds when the Japanese bombed 535 seats in Congress covered the women’s suffrage movement for voting rights. She Pearl Harbor in December 1941. This time, Jeannette Rankin • ___ of the 100 seats in the Senate was inspired to become involved in politics. She hoped that was the only member of Congress to vote against the declara- • ___ of the 435 seats in the once women got the vote, government would do more to help tion of war. She was hissed and booed. House of Representatives. the poor and the needy. Rankin retired from politics when her term ended. But that • Of those ___, ___ are women of color. When Rankin ran for Congress, women in Montana and sev- didn’t mean she gave up her pacifist views. When she was 87 eral other states had already won the right to vote from their state years old, Rankin led the 5,000-member “Jeannette Rankin WOMEN IN STATE OFFICES lawmakers. Rankin campaigned across her state on foot, by train, Peace Brigade” in a Vietnam peace march in Washington. • Women hold ___ statewide elected and by horse and buggy. She promised that she would work for executive offices national women’s suffrage, for an eight-hour workday for women, • Women hold ____ of the ____ TO THINK ABOUT and for improved health care for women and children. When Jeannette Rankin voted against the war resolution for state legislator seats in the U.S. Just days after she took her seat in Congress in 1917, World War II, was it a courageous move or the wrong thing to • ___ of ____ state senate seats Rankin was put to a test. A lifelong worker for peace— do? Write a paragraph explaining your opinion. • ____ of ____ state house a pacifist— she was asked to vote on a war resolution or assembly seats. against Germany.

Fanny Wright, Writer and Social Reformer (1795-1852) “[Slavery is a] pestilence... odious beyond all imagination can conceive.”

Fanny Wright was one of the first women buy their freedom someday. She established She went to great trouble to become a public speaker on issues of a settlement called Nashoba, near what is and spent her own money social justice. She opposed slavery, and she now Memphis, Tenn., and set up a number to set them up with new had a plan for getting rid of it. But it was a of slaves there with pledges of their eventual lives in Haiti, where they pretty radical idea for 1825. freedom. could be free. She lost Wright, a Scottish woman, was quite a Unfortunately, Nashoba never succeeded. half her fortune on the free thinker. Orphaned at age 2, she The crops were poor; there were many Nashoba experiment. inherited a large fortune and was raised debts. People thought Wright was dangerous by relatives. At the age of 23, she traveled because she had controversial ideas on TO THINK throughout the United States. Her writings other social issues as well. It wasn’t consid- ABOUT about her travels made her famous in ered respectable for women to speak in When Fanny Wright first proposed her Europe and won her the friendship of public, for example. Wright often spoke out, idea to end slavery, she tried to get public leading figures such as the Marquis de and what she had to say upset many people. attention by publishing a pamphlet outlining Lafayette, who had helped America win She was opposed to religion, marriage, and her plan. How do people try to get public its War of Independence. the unequal treatment of women. attention for their ideas today? Wright thought the U.S. government Though Nashoba failed, Wright didn’t should set aside a large piece of land for a forget the pledge she had made to the settlement where slaves could work and African-American slaves who lived there. Jeannette Rankin 5

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Albright, Former Secretary of State

“I would be in a White House meeting, and I would think of something and not say anything because I wasn’ t sure that it would add to the discussion. Then some man would say what I had been thinking, and it would be hailed as a great idea.”

When trouble erupts in some far corner of the world Albright’s husband’s career took them to Washington, and the United States government must send an official where Albright became involved in foreign policy work in to help solve the problem, that someone is usually the government and in private organizations that are called Secretary of State. “think tanks.” Albright was the first woman to serve as Secretary of She also became a professor at Georgetown University, State. She was named to the position in 1997 by where she won a record four “teacher of the year” President Clinton. Before becoming Secretary of State, awards in 11 years of teaching. She became widely Albright was the U.S. permanent representative to respected for her knowledge of the Soviet Union and the United Nations. Eastern Europe. Albright speaks five languages. She is Albright was born in Czechoslovakia in Europe, the known as a kind person who is also outspoken and daughter of a Czechoslovakian diplomat. After the tough-minded. In a talk to women college students, she Czechoslovakian government was overthrown by the once recalled that when she began to join high-level Communists in 1948, her family came to the United government circles, she had to learn to speak up for States and settled in Colorado. Her father became a herself and not be intimidated. college professor and an expert on foreign affairs. Albright’s father was an important influence on her TO THINK ABOUT decision to study politics and journalism in college. When Madeleine Albright went to graduate school, Abright went to graduate school in Russian studies after she was a wife and mother. She sometimes got up at marrying and having three daughters. She has said that 4:30 in the morning to do her schoolwork. Do you know earning her doctoral degree was the hardest thing she other women who juggle the demands of family and in the ever did—sometimes she had to get up at 4:30 in the career? Brainstorm with your classmates some of the morning to write the paper required for the advanced ways in which those demands can make it hard to do News degree. well in a career. 1. Look through your paper for articles about women in govern- ment or women who are active for a cause. List as many headlines as Marian Wright Edelman you can find. Compare your find- ings with those of your classmates. Lobbyist and Advocate for Children 2. Choose one of the women from “If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it. Activity 1 that you could support for President of the United States. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it, one step at a time.” Then using the newspaper for art and type, create a campaign What should be done to stop child abuse? How can America halt the climb in teenage pregnancy rates? Why are so many poster highlighting issues on which children growing up hungry and poor in the richest nation of the world? For the past 25 years, Marian Wright Edelman has asked you think she should build her these questions again and again as founder and president of a Washington organization called the Children’s Defense Fund. Along political platform. the way, Edelman herself has become one of the nation’s most admired women. Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973 to work to help children. Because children can’t vote, they don’t get 3. Many people feel it is important a political “voice” in the debate over how government dollars should be spent, Edelman believes. to have women involved in govern- The Children’s Defense Fund conducts many research projects and works for laws on a variety of children’s issues. ment because they bring different (A lobbyist is a private citizen or a special-interest group that tries to persuade lawmakers to vote yes or no on particular legislation.) experiences to decision-making. Edelman, the daughter of a Baptist minister, grew up in the 1940s in a small town in South Carolina. She saw racial injustices Look through the newspaper for up close, and she developed a keen social conscience early. stories about problems that need One incident that she never forgot was a terrible accident that occurred near her home. An ambulance driver arrived, but after to be solved in your community he saw that the white truck driver was unhurt he drove away, ignoring the badly injured black people in the other car. or state. Pick one and write three Education was highly valued in Edelman’s family. She went to college and then law school, graduating at the height of the ways a woman might think about civil rights unrest in 1963. Edelman took a job doing civil rights casework for the NAACP and chose to work in Mississippi, the problem differently than a where there were just three black lawyers and a population of some 900,000 blacks. man. Soon she realized that many of her clients were so poor that civil rights had little meaning to them. She became convinced that it was vital to work to end poverty, especially for poor children. 4. Leaders can have different Edelman believes that America needs constant reminders about the plight of children living in poverty. She often tells a story qualities. Find a woman in the about one of her own role models, Sojourner Truth. When a heckler once told Truth he “cared no more for her anti-slavery talk news and brainstorm a list of quali- ‘than for a flea bite,’” Sojourner is said to have replied, “Maybe not, but the Lord willing, I’ll keep you scratching.” ties she has as a leader. Stretch your thinking and list qualities she might TO THINK ABOUT need that a man would not need in What did Sojourner Truth mean when she said she wanted to keep her critics “scratching?” the same job. 6

American women have worked to help support themselves and their families throughout American history. In colonial times, women sometimes sold candles, cheese or other goods to supple- ment the family’s income. In the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the jobs that women held outside the home were usually in domestic fields like dressmaking, spin- ning and weaving. But women also helped their husbands run businesses—or ran the businesses in their own names if they were unmarried, or widowed or had husbands who couldn’t (or wouldn’t!) work. When factories and mills began hiring women and children as cheap labor in the 1800s, women became interested in the labor movement. In one early strike in the 1820s, female workers in a textile mill in Lowell, Mass., stopped work to protest pay cuts. Madame C.J. Walker On these two pages you will read about four women who have Entrepreneur (1867-1919) made a mark on history in business and labor. “There is no royal flower-strewn road to success and if there is, I have not found it, for what success I have obtained is the result of many sleepless nights and real hard work.” She was America’s first self-made At first, she mixed the ingredients for representatives, a sales approach that woman millionaire. Madame C.J. her “Wonderful Hair Grower” up in her was later copied by Avon and many Walker invented hair-care products for washtub and sold it to friends. Like other companies. African-American women and rose from many African-American women of their In addition to haircare products, rags to riches selling her cosmetics. After time, they sometimes used painful meth- the representatives sold the Walker she built a business empire, she used ods to straighten their hair and those Method, a whole product line of sham- her wealth to support many social caus- methods made it fall out. poos, conditioners and straighteners, es and organizations that improved the Her company was founded in 1905. along with special brushes and combs. lives of women and African-Americans. Sarah and her new husband, a news- Being a sales rep enabled the thousands Walker, who was born as Sarah paperman named Charles J. Walker, of women who sold her products to Breedlove, was the daughter of slaves advertised and sold her products by experience what it was like to be who toiled in the cotton fields along the mail. (She kept his name when they “in business.” Mississippi River in Louisiana. She was divorced.) They later opened a beauty Although Walker became rich—her orphaned at age 7, married at age 14, college in Pittsburgh, and after that fortune was estimated at $2 million widowed with a small daughter at age moved the company’s headquarters to upon her death in 1919—she gave 20. Indianapolis, Indiana. money back to support the black After working for 20 years as a laun- What was unusual about Madame community through organizations like dress, she came up with her invention: C.J. Walker’s business was that she sold the NAACP, the YWCA, YMCA and an effective grooming and conditioning her products door to door with many black educational organizations. product for African-American hair. the help of African-American sales Madame C.J. Walker

TO THINK ABOUT: Mother Jones, Labor Organizer and Agitator (1830-1930) A STAMP FOR MADAME WALKER “Join the union, boys.” You’ve seen lots of famous people get their To owners of coal or iron mines, she was a trouble- union, boys.” For many years she criss-crossed the country pictures on postage stamps—even Elvis! maker. To those who labored in the mines, she was Mother with no permanent home, moving from one striking com- Madame C.J. Walker was honored in Jones, “the angel of the mines,” a labor organizer who was munity to another. Sometimes Mother Jones disguised her- January 1998 after a petition drive asked the determined to win better wages and conditions for miners. self or took jobs in the mills to gather information on work- Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee to com- Mother Jones, whose real name was Mary Harris, ing conditions. mission a postage stamp commemorating the came to the United States from Ireland as a child and later She had a knack for winning public attention for her cause. historic entrepreneur. married an ironworker. After her husband and children all In a protest against child labor, she once led a caravan of The 32-cent stamp was issued as part of died in a yellow fever epidemic in 1867, she opened a striking children from the textile mills of Pennsylvania to the the Black Heritage series of stamps offered by dressmaking shop in Chicago. But she lost everything she Long Island home of President Theodore Roosevelt.Though the U.S. Postal Service. owned in the great Chicago fire of 1871. she was jailed more than once, Mother Jones was still a As a class, make up a petition asking for a While looking for assistance, Mother Jones learned about labor crusader long after she became an old lady. When she stamp for another deserving woman. Circulate an organization called the Knights of Labor and its campaign died at the age of 100, she was buried in a union miner’s the petition at your school. See how many for improved working conditions. She joined the effort and cemetery in Illinois. signatures you can get. soon became a well-known figure, traveling across the Divide the number of students who sign by country and organizing for the United Mine Workers TO THINK ABOUT the total number of students in your school. and other labor unions. Mother Jones worked hard and long to improve condi- What percent support your stamp proposal? A thin, wiry figure, Mother Jones was a fiery speaker who tions for laborers. This was her “cause.” If you were to could stir up striking workers — even when they were tired work for a cause, what would it be? Compare ideas and hungry and starting to waver. Her slogan was, “Join the with classmates. 7

Dolores Huerta, Labor Leader and Social Activist in the “I realized one day that as a teacher I couldn’t do anything News for the kids who came to school barefoot and hungry. ” 1. Read a short feature story to see how they are written. Then think Dolores Huerta is the most famous Chicana (Mexican- Over the years Huerta has been involved in several labor of yourself as a reporter who is American) labor leader in the United States. She is the organizing efforts. She has been arrested more than 20 times going to interview a woman who co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union. and was badly hurt in a 1988 demonstration in San Francisco has started her own business. Make Huerta was born in a mining town in New Mexico, but she after she was clubbed by police officers. a list of questions you would ask spent most of her childhood in California. Her parents were She has won many awards for her work and she has been her. Are there any questions you would ask her that you would divorced, and she and her two brothers and two sisters grew celebrated in ballads and murals. not ask a man? up in the farm community of Stockton, Calif. A beloved grandfather played an important role in her childhood. TO THINK ABOUT 2. As a class, compare the questions Huerta held a variety of jobs and was briefly a teacher until One thing that the United Farm Workers did to pressure written by boys and the questions she grew frustrated at the limited help she could offer her agricultural companies was to ask people not to buy the written by girls. What differences students. product. The union hopes the producers of that product will do you see, if any? Huerta was a single mother with seven children when she lose money and be persuaded to meet the union’s demands. became interested in the concerns of farm workers. Together The United Farm Workers have boycotted grapes, lettuce 3. Look through the classified ads with Cesar Chavez, she formed a union for farm workers called and other products. With your classmates, role play an and write down fifteen job titles. the National Farm Workers Association. Working to improve exchange between a supermarket shopper and a farm union Write an “F” next to traditionally female jobs and an “M” next to conditions and to fight injustices among laborers on produce representative. The union representative should try to traditionally male jobs. Rewrite the farms, it later became the United Farm Workers. convince the shopper not to buy lettuce. ad for an “F” position so that it would appeal to a male.

Betty Debnam Betty Debnam Editor and Educator “Looking back,” said Debnam,,”it is hard for me to believe that I have met a deadline every week for the last 32 years.”

Chances are that you once had a teacher named Betty Debnam. Maybe you don’t even know it, but if you’ve ever read a newspaper feature called, "The Mini Page," Betty Debnam has taught you. For more than 30 years, Ms. Debnam has been sharing a world of information with young readers.

Betty came from a family of newspaper editors. Her grandmother, grandfather and father were all editors. She has a master’s degree in education. Betty was able to put all of that experience and knowledge together to create a part of the newspaper for young people to read and enjoy. And, even more amazing, she was able to convince a newspaper to run the feature each week. Now, "The Mini Page" appears in hundreds of newspapers and millions of young readers learn from Betty Debnam.

It was Betty’s dream to help newspapers find a way to promote literacy in young people, while informing them about the world. Her "Mini Page" ran first in the Raleigh, NC newspaper, The News and Observer. In order to get the newspaper to run her children’s feature, she had to do something she hadn’t tried before. That is, she had to sell ads to local stores. And so she did. Her hard work and dedication paid off as her feature grew in popularity and more and more newspapers started including a young reader’s section. She also wrote several books and has won numerous awards.

. TO THINK ABOUT

Based on what you have read about Madame C.J. Walker and Betty Debnam, have a class- room discussion comparing and contrasting their lives. Do you admire either one of them—or both of them? Why? 8

The first African Am slaves arrive in Re America. b

1607. 1619.. 1635. First permanent Anne Hutchinson English settlement demands that women Here’s a look at some red-letter dates in American women’s is founded in be allowed to speak in America. church and is ban- history. Using the profiles on pages 3-15, see if you can fill in ished from her church. the timeline blanks. Also add any memorable moments in the last 5 years. 25,000 suffragists march in New York Wright Brothers Henry Ford World War I City to demand the take their first builds his first ends. right to vote. airplane flight. automobile. 1918. 1916. 1915. 1914. 1905 1903. 1901 1896 . 1893. Jeannette Rankin World War I ______Chicago becomes first begins. founds her hair care retires from Buffalo Bill’s World’s Fair woman elected to products company, later Wild West Show after 17 years. is held. the U.S. House of making her America’s first Representatives. self-made millionaire. 19th Amendment grants suffrage to Frances Perkins is sworn women. The National Stock market crashes, in as U.S. Secretary of League of Women triggering worldwide Labor, the first woman Voters forms. depression. Cabinet member.

1919. 1920. 1921. 1929 . 1930 1933. 1937. ______The first national Amelia Earhart ta The 18th best known for her beauty pageant is her round-the-wo Amendment dedication to win better wages (Prohibition) held in Atlantic and vanishes f City, N.J. and working conditions, is ratified. dies at age 100. U.S. House of Representatives approves Equal Rights National Organization U.S. enter Amendment by 354-23. for Women is founded. Vietnam W

1972. 1971. 1968. 1966. 1964. 1963. Shirley Chisholm becomes U.S. Senate approves Equal Civil Rights Act is passed, Rights Amendment by first black woman elected to U.S. Congress. prohibiting discrimination a vote of 84-8. in public places, schools, lodging, federal programs and employment.

U.S. Government Printing Office rules that “Ms.” is an ______acceptable term to use in ______front of a woman’s name in starts a catering business, the is awarded government publications. beginning of her multi-million The Medal of Freedom dollar business empire. 1972. 1973. 1973. 1976 1976. 1977

Census Bureau reports that Billie Jean King defeats U.S. military academies in 1970, 39.6% of all women Bobby Riggs in “Battle of admit women. over the age of 14 were the Sexes” tennis match. in the workforce.

______“Year of the Woman” election sees ______is nominated for ______, number of women double in U.S. is critically injured in an Academy Award celebrates its 150th Anniversary Senate from 3 to 6 and increase in a labor demonstration for the movie, in Seneca Falls, New York the U.S. House from 28 to 47. in San Francisco. “The Color Purple”.

2007. 2000. 1998 1997. 1992.. 1991. 1988 1987. 1985

Hillary Clinton Million Mom Million Woman March Anita Hill testifies that Supreme New York Times article predicts that announces her March promotes celebrates achievements Court nominee Clarence Thomas by the year 2000, 43% of all new run for the gun control. and struggle of African sexually harassed her, sparking business ventures in the nation presidency American women. nationwide debate. will be headed by a woman. 9

The women’s American movement is born evolution at the Seneca Falls WRITE THE HISTORY begins. Convention. OF A WOMAN 1775.. 1847 1848.. 1849. YOU KNOW ______, Harriet Women’s history is more than the story of famous women. It’s

sights comet, earning Tubman beth Blackwell; (1847) Maria Mitchell. her a gold medal from escapes from also the story of ordinary women who have lived quietly outside of the King of Denmark. slavery in the spotlight of history’s important events. Maryland. All women have made contributions to our country. As mothers and grandmothers, they have raised children and passed along from one generation to another the customs and values that are so important to our heritage. They have played important roles in their communities, supporting schools and participating in volunteer organizations that work to help others. Susan B. First National Anthony is Women’s As the nation marks Women’s History Month and focuses on the arrested for Civil War Convention contributions of women, we invite you to take a closer look at the voting. ends. is held. life of a woman you already know. Chances are, you’ll find that you don’t know her as well as you think you do. 1872. 1868. 1865.. 1861. 1850.. 1849 1. WHO TO INTERVIEW First women’s Civil War ______You’ll need to pick an interview subject first. She could be an suffrage bill is begins. becomes the first American older relative (not your mother, please!), a neighbor or a family introduced in female doctor by graduating friend, or perhaps a woman who works at your school. Try to think Congress. from Geneva Medical School of someone about whom you would like to know more. of Western New York. President Roosevelt 2. REQUESTING AN INTERVIEW signs law creating Like any reporter preparing for an assignment, you’ll need to ______, Women’s Army Corps request an interview. It’s a good idea to be able to explain why you the first congresswoman, (WACS) want to interview your subject, what kinds of things you would like is re-elected to office. to ask, and how much time it will take. Twenty minutes would be 1941 1943 1950 a good amount of time for this project. . 1940 . . . On a piece of notebook paper, write down the details of your The Wall Street Journal request. Then, you can contact your subject to set up an interview. akes off on U.S. enters reports that more than orld flight, World War II. 18 million women forever. 3. PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW The Census Bureau now work outside the Good reporters prepare for an interview by thinking about their reports that home — 29% of the questions ahead of time. Think about what you already know about American women U.S. Labor Force. your subject and what else you would like to know. Jot down some rs outnumber men questions for your interview. You’ll want to ask about your subject’s War. by 1.3 million. “life story.” Here are several other questions that might be useful. Martha Stewart; (1940) Jeannette Rankin; (1930) Mother Jones; (1905) Madame (1901) C.J. AnnieWalker; Oakley; (1849) Eliza 1960. 1956. 1955. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: 1. What are three important dates in your life? President Kennedy forms Esther Pauline 2. How has the women’s movement changed your life? committee to study the Friedmann Lederer status of women. publishes her first 3. How are things different today for women than advice column as they were when you were a child? “Ann Landers.” 4. What women do you admire the most? 5. Do you think women have equal rights today and why or why not? President Reagan names _____ Sandra Day O’Connor to the 6. Did you have any role models in your life? Who? Supreme Court, the first 7. How might your life have been different if you were a male? m. woman appointed a justice. 4. THE INTERVIEW 1978. 1981. Bring your list of questions, a notebook and a pencil (a tape recorder also, if you like). Take your time writing down the answers NASA names to your questions. You don’t need to write down every word that six women comes out of your interview subject’s mouth. Don’t be afraid to astronauts. ask her to repeat something that was said too fast for you to catch. When you are finished, thank her for her time. Note: Before you put away your notes, it’s a good idea to look at them while the interview is still fresh in your mind. You might ____ want to jot down extra phrases or words that you remember. Sally Ride becomes first American 5. AFTERWARD woman in space. Write a short one-page biography of your interviewee. Try to include as many dates as you can. 1984.. 1983 1982 . . 6. THE TIMELINE Construct and decorate a timeline that shows the important dates Geraldine Ferraro Equal Rights Amendment and events in your subject’s life. Mix in important events from the becomes first major- dies when it fails to obtain party female nominee enough ratification votes women’s history timeline that’s provided on this page. for vice president. among the states. ANSWERS: (1998) The Women’s ANSWERS: Rights (1998) Convention; The (1988) Women’s Dolores Huerta; (1985) Oprah Winfrey; (1977) Georgia O’Keefe; (1976) 10

People used to refer to women as the weaker sex, and that myth kept women from participating in physically demanding activities for much of history. The first modern Olympics, held in 1896, did not allow women participants. Women were allowed to compete in 1900, but only in three sports: archery, golf, and tennis. Even today, the number of men’s events and male competitors far outnumber those for women. Today, there are many more opportunities in sports for girls and women than ever before. (The latest example is in professional women’s basketball.) On these two pages you’ll read about four women in American history who have succeeded in different areas that require skill, stamina and determination. From the American wilderness to the golf links to the Olympic heptathlon to the icy cold of the North Pole, these women have showed Babe Zaharias that thinking of women as the weaker sex couldn’t be further from the truth.

Sacajawea, Explorer (1786?-1812?) Babe Didrikson Zaharias Super-Athlete (1914-1956) “...She recognized her brother; she instantly “I sleep [all kinds of sports], eat them, talk jumped up and ran and embraced him; throwing them, and try my level best to do them as they over him her blanket and weeping profusely...she should be done.” resumed her seat and attempted to interpret.” — (From the journals of the explorers Lewis and Clark)

Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias may not be a familiar name to many young Sacajawea, the young Shoshone Indian woman who guided the Lewis and Clark Americans today, but she is still known as the most outstanding woman athlete in Expedition on its difficult journey across the West to the Pacific coast in the early American sports history. Zaharias excelled in basketball, baseball, softball, track and 1800s, is one of our nation’s most honored explorers. field, swimming, figure skating, lacrosse, and billiards. But she was best known for Sacajawea was a member of the Snake tribe of the Shoshone Indians, who lived golf, a sport she took up for relaxation. She could hit a golf ball farther than any in what is now Idaho. When she was 14, Sacajawea was kidnapped by another woman golfer. She won every available golf title from 1940 to1950. Indian tribe. Two years later, she was sold to a French trader named Touissant It was probably no surprise that she was athletic. She and her sports-loving six Charbonneau, to be his wife. brothers and sisters had a regular gymnasium in their backyard in Beaumont, Texas, Sacajawea joined the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805 when her husband was complete with homemade weights, trapezes and other equipment. When young Milly hired to be the interpreter. Although she had given birth to a son, Baptiste, just two scrubbed the linoleum floors in their house, she used to tie scrubbing brushes to her months earlier, she was needed to serve as a guide through the mountains and as feet and skate around on the suds. Early on in her life, people started comparing her an interpreter to other Indian tribes. to baseball star Babe Ruth—and they nicknamed her accordingly. In addition to her guide responsibilities, she also cooked, did the laundry and At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, Babe set the world record in javelin throw- mending and nursed the men when they were sick. Baby Baptiste rode the whole ing, won the 80-meter hurdle race and beat the world’s record in the high jump. She 4,000-mile journey strapped to her back in his mother’s blanket-shawl. won gold medals in the first two of those events. A technicality prevented her from According to historians, Sacajawea knew where to find wild artichokes and other winning a gold mdeal in the high-jump event—the judges said her feet did not clear plants to eat. In a combination of sign language, halting French and English, she com- the bar before her body. municated to Captain William Clark the dangers of bad water or poisonous plants. Babe discovered golf after the Olympics and was playing it exclusively by 1934. Once when a boat filled with valuable equipment sank in an icy river, Sacajawea She married professional wrestler George Zaharias in 1938, and together they worked plunged into the river with her baby on her back and swam about rescuing the gear. to advance her golf career. But in 1950—the year she was voted The Woman Athlete As far as history is concerned, the most important part of the trip was when Lewis of the Half Century by journalists—Babe became ill with colon cancer. and Clark reached the Pacific and raised the flag of the United States. But for She was determined to triumph over cancer the way she had cleared countless Sacajawea, the high point may have occurred earlier when they passed through track and field hurdles. But illness soon forced her to retire, and she died in 1956. her homeland and she found her long-lost brother, now chief of the tribe. Babe Didrikson Zaharias’ memory lives on today in a trophy that’s awarded annually There are differing reports about what happened to Sacajawea when the expedi- in her name to the woman athlete who has done the most for amateur sports in the tion ended. The Shoshones insist that she returned to her own people and lived on United States. the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming until she died at close to 100 years old. Her grave is said to be in the Indian cemetery there. TO THINK ABOUT Babe Didrikson Zaharias didn’t lack for self-confidence. In fact, some people TO THINK ABOUT thought she was so confident that she was downright obnoxious. She often would say Explorers Lewis and Clark knew they needed help in unknown territory and things like, “OK, Babe’s here! Now who’s gonna finish second?” turned to Sacajawea. Who do you turn to when you need help? As a class, make Imagine that there’s a new student like Babe at your school who has incredible ath- a master list of people to turn to for help in different areas. letic abilities—and an attitude to match. How would other students react? Would the reaction depend on whether the student were male or female? Would there be differ- ences? 11

TITLE IX BROUGHT HUGE CHANGES Ann Bancroft, Polar Explorer

The girls in your class are much more likely to partic- ipatein high school or college athletics than your mothers “We need to keep breaking down myths about what were. That’s because of a 1972 law known as Title IX. “Title IX” refers to one section, or title, of a long law women can’t do. It hasn’t been that long since women called the Education Amendments of 1972. The law says that any schools and colleges that get federal government were first allowed to run the marathon in the Olympics. money must offer women sports opportunities and equipment that are the same as to those offered males. It’ s important to keep expressing ourselves physically. ” Almost all colleges and universities, and some high schools, are covered by the law. Not all of them, Sometimes it may seem as if there are few places left on the Earth to explore. But Ann Bancroft however, are complying. can say “been there, done that” about two of the most challenging ones. Thanks to Title IX, women now receive college Bancroft is the first woman to travel across the ice to both the North and South Poles. In 1986, as athletic scholarships. Coaches for women’s teams the only female member of the Steger International Polar Expedition, she journeyed by dog sled to the now are paid bigger salaries. And women’s sports North Pole. In 1993, she made history again when she was one of four American women to ski to the have blossomed. About 3 million girls and women are South Pole while pulling 200-pound sleds. now involved in organized sports. In 1971, just one out Bancroft, a Minnesotan, loved adventure even as a child. Her mother encouraged a love of the of every 27 girls participated in high school sports; by outdoors and animals. She often gave young Ann adventure books with female characters. One of 1994, the number was one in three. According to a Bancroft’s favorite things to do was walking at night during snowstorms, pretending that she was report from the National Federation of State High in some remote spot in the world pulling a sled. School Associations, 40% of the participants in high Bancroft taught physical education and special education in the Minneapolis schools before her school are girls. North Pole trek. She trains for her trips by running, climbing and biking. The South Pole trip took the How do the boys’ and girls’ sports opportunities women’s expedition 67 days. They skied 15 miles a day, pulling 200-pound sleds loaded with food compare in your school and your community? List as and supplies. Temperatures were as cold as 50 degrees below zero and winds were up to 100 miles many sports as you can think of and indicate next to per hour. each one whether there is a girls’ and a boys’ program. While the expedition struggled to get over or around huge frozen snowdrifts and gullies, more than 200,000 school children were following the expedition via computer linkup. Bancroft had developed the educational tie-in because she wanted to use the expedition to educate others. Jackie TO THINK ABOUT It is important to set challenges for yourself, to push yourelf to do new things. Ann Bancroft made Joyner- polar exploring her challenge. Write a paragraph setting a challenge for yourself. It can be exotic— exploring a strange land. Or it could be simple—improving at math or science. As a class, write a Kersee challenge for the whole group to set for itself.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympic Athlete “I see elegance and beauty in every female athlete. I don’t think being an athlete is unfeminine. I think of it as a kind of grace.” When Jackie Joyner-Kersee won her first Olympic medal, it was a dream fulfilled. Joyner-Kersee had overcome poverty, illness and tragedy to get there. Today, the world knows Joyner-Kersee as the winner of many Olympic medals. She is the current world record holder in a track event called the heptathlon. She is also a one-time world record holder in the long jump and an All-America basketball player. Joyner-Kersee succeeded even though she has asthma, a condition that sometimes causes attacks during exercise that can leave her gasping for breath. Jackie grew up poor in East St. Louis. Her mother was a strong and beloved influence, but she died at a young age. Jackie’s brother, Al, was also an athlete (he also went to the 1984 Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the triple jump). As a kid, she was active in the track and field program at her community center. Her gift for speed soon attracted the attention of coaches. Joyner-Kersee won four national track championships in a row during her teens. She also was a high school basket- in ball star. She won a basketball scholarship to UCLA (the University of California at Los Angeles), but when she got the there she also continued with track. Track coach Bob Kersee, who would later become her husband, saw her talent immediately and guided her career. News Joyner-Kersee participated in four Olympics. Her main event, the heptathlon event, is one of the most demanding Olympic sports. The heptathlon, which takes place over two days, consists of seven separate track-and-field competi- 1. Look in your paper’s Sports section tions: 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter run. for articles about women’s sports. Write She won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the Olympics in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, gold medals in Seoul in a paragraph describing the coverage that 1988 and Barcelona in 1992. She had to make a heart-breaking withdrawal from the 1996 games in Atlanta because of women’s sports get in comparison to men’s. injury. Joyner-Kersee became wealthy through product endorsements and marketing contracts, and her Jackie Joyner- 2. Many women are adventuresome today, Kersee Community Foundation raises money for sports, cultural, and educational programs for inner-city youths. She climbing mountains, flying fighter jets, trying has written her autobiography, A Kind of Grace. bungee-jumping. Look through the TV listings in today’s paper. Pick a female character from TO THINK ABOUT a show who you think is adventuresome. Jackie Joyner-Kersee overcame the obstacle of asthma to become a track star. Everyone has obstacles, large Write a paragraph describing a plot for the or small, to overcome in life. Write a paragraph about an obstacle you faced and how you overcame it—or how show that would show this character having you plan to overcome it.. an adventure. 12

Throughout American history, you can find KatharineHepburn became one of the screen’s women among the ranks of our best writers, most popular stars and Meryl Streep has won musicians, artists, actors and dancers. fame as one of the best actresses of her Of all the fields explored in this supplement, generation. Julia Roberts is one of the highest it’s possible that arts and entertainment have paid people in movies today offered women the most opportunities through- In Washington, D.C., sculptor and architect out history. Maya Ying Lin created perhaps the nation’s The singer Jenny Lind was wildly successful most powerful artistic symbol in the Vietnam in the 1800s while Billie Holiday, Ella Veterans Memorial. Fitzgerald and Lena Horne broke new ground Still, women in these fields have not always in jazz and pop. Madonna was one of the been taken seriously by men. And in some most influencial singers and marketers of it has taken years for women to gain equal different styles in the 1980s and 1990s, and rewards. On these two pages you will read Janet Jackson’s $80 million recording contract about four women with impressive achieve- set a record for the music industry. ments in the field of arts and entertainment In film, Bette Davis gave women strong, and the obstacles they overcame. independent roles—onscreen and off.

Georgia O’Keeffe Annie Oakley Painter (1887-1986) Entertainer (1860-1926) “I decided that the only thing I could do that was nobody else’s business was to “Come One, Come All! paint. I could do as I chose because no See that she is the sharpest one would care . ” of the sharpshooters!” — Headline on Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show Poster Georgia O’Keeffe is probably America’s best-known woman painter. O’Keeffe was born on a Wisconsin farm, the second of seven children. When she was 12, she and her sisters started taking private art lessons Long before television, entertainers traveled from town to in their home. O’Keeffe’s family recognized her talent, and her mother town. One of America’s favorites was markswoman Annie encouraged her. But no one thought that she could actually make a Oakley. In her day, she was as well-known as any of today’s living painting pictures. rock musicians or movie stars. O’Keeffe studied art in Chicago and New York and then briefly taught Annie Oakley, whose real name was Phoebe Ann Moses, art in Amarillo, Texas. Her first art exhibit was at the New York gallery was the sixth of eight children in a family of Ohio pioneers. Annie Oakley of Alfred Steiglitz, a famous photographer who was one of the first She had a hard childhood. After her father died of frostbite people to treat photography as a serious art form. after being caught in a snowstorm, Annie learned to hunt to O’Keeffe did not know that a friend of hers had secretly given her help feed her family. She later became a good enough shot to artwork to Steiglitz for the show. She was furious when she discovered sell meat to big-city hotels and animal pelts to fur traders. her drawings were on display. But she and Steiglitz were attracted to In 1875, when she was 15, a marksman named Frank Butler came to town with his traveling each other and were married a year later. O’Keeffe posed for him in show. Butler was offering a prize of $100 to anyone who could out-shoot him. Annie Oakley thousands of photographs over the years until his death in 1946. showed up and won the prize. A year later, the two were married. Her paintings, often studies of large flower forms, were popular with Annie went on the road with her husband’s show and soon became internationally famous. the public and art critics. In1929, O’Keeffe traveled to Taos, New Everywhere they went, huge crowds came to see her sharpshooting. They eventually joined Mexico, where she was struck by the harsh beauty of the stark desert Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, where Annie was one of the star attractions for 17 years. landscape. She began painting what she saw. She frequently painted How good was she? From 30 paces she could hit the edge of a playing card, a dime tossed in the bleached animal skulls she found scattered across the desert. the air, or a cigarette held between her husband’s lips. Once, while she was performing in Berlin, After her husband’s death, O’Keeffe moved permanently to New Germany, the Prussian Crown Prince insisted on holding the cigarette for that particular trick. Mexico. She continued painting and exhibiting in museums and galleries (If she had shot him instead of the cigarette, the course of world history would have been well after she became very old. changed, for it was the Crown Prince—later known as Kaiser Wilhelm II—who started President Carter awarded O’Keeffe the Medal of Freedom in 1977. World War I in 1914). She died in 1986 at the age of 98. Annie and her husband retired in 1901. The Irving Berlin musical ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ is based on Oakley’s life. Oakley never had TO THINK ABOUT children, but just before her death she made a generous gift to children. She melted down all the Georgia O’Keeffe became successful by applying her artistic talent to gold medals she had won during her career, sold the gold, and donated the money to a chil- painting ordinary things. Flowers and skulls attracted her with their forms dren’s home in the South. and colors. What objects around you would you choose to paint if you were looking for interesting colors or forms? Write a sentence explaining TO THINK ABOUT what you would choose, and why. Then draw or paint this object in Annie Oakley had a special skill. What special skills do the women or girls in your life have? your own style. What special skills are you developing? What makes this skill special to you? 13

Sarah Chang Violinist in the “I think performing is News part of me, and I really 1. Look in the arts and entertainment section of your newspaper. As a class, see how many women’s names you love what I’m doing.” can spot. List them in categories according to their fields.

As a young girl, Sarah Chang has accomplished more than 2. Popularity poll. Who is your favorite entertainer? Brainstorm a list most musicians do in a lifetime. of 10 women characters on your favorite television programs and then Chang has been studying violin since the age of four. She vote. Who would you most like to meet? Make a bar chart of the class has been performing on stage since the age of five, performing results. Now, poll the boys and the girls separately and make a bar chart for all over the world and with numerous world-famous musicians. those results. Are the results different? She has made several recordings beginning with her first one, recorded on a 1/4-size violin when she was 11 years old. 3. Who would you pick to play the role of the most important woman in your life? At eight she was invited by renowned conductor Zubin Look through the movie ads and listings and choose an actress, or choose one from Mehta to perform with the New York Philharmonic. She a movie or TV show you have seen. Write a sentence or two explaining why this performed Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and received actress would be good to play your most important woman. a standing ovation from the audience. Chang’s father, Min Soo Chang, is also a violinist, and he was her first teacher. Her mother is a composer. The Changs came to the United States to study, and Sarah was born in Philadelphia. Oprah Winfrey, Talk Show Host Sarah’s musical talent has taken her everywhere. She has performed in cities throughout the world and is recognized as one of the great violinists. She has appeared on many televi- “Material success is rewarding and a lot of fun, but it’s sion and radio shows. In 1993 Sarah won the Gramophone Magazine "Young Artist of the Year" and she became only the not the most important thing in my life ....I know when third women to win the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize for out- standing achievement in classical music in 1999. this is all over, the Master isn’ t going to ask me how

TO THINK ABOUT many things I owned or how many television shows I did. Sometimes musicians, actors, or actresses become stars at an early age. Would you want to be a child star? As a class, I think the questions will be, ‘What did I do to make a discuss the positive things about being a “prodigy” and also the negative things. What would be the most fun field in difference? Did I learn to live with love in my heart?’” which to be a child star? She’s one of the richest and most famous and most admired women in America today. Although best-known as the talk show host, Oprah Winfrey is also an actress, producer, and role model for countless American women. Part of her success story is the odds she has overcome. Oprah was sexually abused as a child and went through troubled times in her teens. She got herself turned around in high school and she won a full scholarship to Tennessee State University. Oprah got her first job in TV at a Nashvhille TV station. Her first big break in TV came when she began working for a station in Baltimore as a news anchor. Her emotional personality made her a poor newswoman, but she later was picked to host a morning talk show. She was a natural at interviewing people. Viewers liked her caring sincerity. The ratings took off. She moved to Chicago in 1983 to host a talk show that later became The Oprah Winfrey Show. The Oprah Winfrey Show is a syndicated TV show, which means that the program is produced and then sold to individual TV stations across the country instead of belonging to a television network. Winfrey, who gets a large share of the profits from those sales, was a millionnaire by the age of 32. Forbes magazine listed her as one of the 400 richest people in America in 1997, with an estimated net worth of over 1 billion dollars.. Despite the success of her TV show, Oprah never forgot that acting had been her first ambition. She acted in the movie The Color Purple in 1985 and received an Academy Award nomination for her performance. She also acted in and produced a TV miniseries called The Women of Brewster Place . Winfrey and her show have received many honors and awards. She is the highest-paid performer in show business. Winfrey has given millions of dollars to causes, including education, AIDS in Africa and Katrina relief. TO THINK ABOUT Oprah Winfrey has made millions, but she has made a point to “give back” to charitable causes. Other entertainers and athletes have not been as generous. Write a letter to an entertainer or athlete asking him/her to donate to a cause you think is important for improving people’s lives. Be sure to explain why the cause is important, and why it is important for your celebrity to “give Oprah Winfrey back.” 14

What’s a scientist? Today, we tend to think of a scientist as someone who has a doctorate degree and a lot of knowledge about a very narrow technical field. In the past, women who were interested in science or medicine often had to teach themselves what they wanted to know. As the care-givers and healers for their families, women have always had an interest in medicine. As midwives, women traditionally were the ones who delivered babies. In the 19 th century, when the medical profession started establishing stan- dards and formal training programs, women found they had to fight hard to get in the door to become doctors. On these two pages you will read about four Maria Mitchell, Astronomer (1818 - 1889) women “then and now” who took an interest in the sciences and were determined to pursue “I believe in women even more than I do in astronomy.” their goals despite the obstacles.

Maria Mitchell discovered a comet in 1847, becom- some time for the news to reach scientists throughout th ing the first woman in the world to do so. She taught the world). In the 19 century, when telescopes were over everything else. According to one story, she astronomy at Vassar College for 23 years and was the not as powerful, seeing a comet was a rare event. once had the college watchman cut down an apple first woman to be admitted to the American Academy Maria’s sighting of the 1847 comet earned her a gold tree that blocked her view of a comet. of Arts and Sciences. She was the most famous medal from the King of Denmark, Frederick VI, and Mitchell attended the first meeting of the Women’s th American woman scientist of the 19 century. made her famous throughout the world as the “lady Congress in 1873 along with many famous women’s Mitchell grew up on the island of Nantucket, astronomer” from Nantucket. rights activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan Mass., a seafaring community where observing the Though she was self-taught, Mitchell became B. Anthony. sky was a habit for most people. Maria’s father—a a professor of astronomy and director of the college teacher—believed that girls should receive an educa- observatory when Vassar College opened in 1865. TO THINK ABOUT tion equal to the one that boys got. As an amateur There, she had the use of a 12-inch telescope, the Maria Mitchell was self taught. Important things astronomer, he taught Mitchell how to use the tele- third largest in the United States. She often invited can be learned through self instruction. Think of scope and how to record their observations properly. her students to come to the observatory at night to something a woman in your life has learned on her When he later became responsible for sending in watch meteor showers or other astronomical events. own through experience or necessity. Write how that astronomical observations from Nantucket to the Mitchell was a pioneer in the daily photography of skill has helped her. Then think of something you Coast Survey, Mitchell joined in the observing and sunspots and was the first to discover that they were have learned on your own. Why did you decide to record-keeping. not clouds but whirling gas on the sun’s surface. She learn it? Maria’s sighting of a comet on October 1, 1847, could be stern and believed that occurrences such as was a major news-making event (although it took a meteor shower or a flaming comet took priority

Elizabeth Blackwell, First American Woman Doctor (1821-1910) “ The midwife must give way to the physician. Women, therefore, must become physicians.”

Hospitals wouldn’t let Elizabeth Blackwell treat their patients. opposed slavery and believed in women’s rights, was an Her fellow doctors often ignored her. Anonymous letter-writers important influence on her and her sister Emily, who also harassed her. became a doctor. That’s what it was like for America’s first woman doctor in After her Paris studies, Blackwell returned to the United the 1800s. The leading American medical schools turned down States and founded the New York Infirmary for Women & Blackwell in 1844. Women weren’t supposed to study medicine, Children with the help of her sister and other supporters. The most people believed. Blackwell sisters later opened a medical college for women in But Blackwell didn’t give up. She studied privately with doc- the hospital. tors in the South and in Philadelphia. In 1847, she finally was During the Civil War, she and her sister helped select and admitted to the Geneva Medical School of Western New York. train nurses to take care of wounded Union soldiers.Afterward, Even before her arrival, the students were ridiculing her—the Blackwell settled in England, where her work paved the way school administration thought her application was a prank and for English women to become doctors. let the student body vote on it. Blackwell believed in preventive medicine and better hygiene, Blackwell graduated at the head of her class in 1849, but and spoke out often on those issues. her troubles weren’t over. When she traveled to Paris to con- tinue advanced studies, the French doctors would not allow TO THINK ABOUT her to study as a doctor. While working in a maternity hospital Elizabeth Blackwell had to overcome prejudice to become a there as a student midwife, she contracted an infection that left doctor. What prejudices do women face in the United States her blind in one eye. today? Make a master list as a class, and next to each write a Elizabeth Blackwell Blackwell was born in England, but came to the United way prejudice can be overcome. Finish by discussing what States with her family in 1832. Her father, a liberal thinker who other prejudices exist in America today. 15

Sally Ride, Physicist and Astronaut “I’m just another astronaut.”

Sally Ride didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming whether she cried when problems came up during an astronaut some day. It just wasn’t a possibility in training. Grinning at a male crewmate, she replied, the 1950s. “Why doesn’t anybody ask [him] those questions?” Of course, Ride was always an achiever. Born in After her successful 1983 mission, she went into Encino, Calif., the daughter of a college professor and space a second time, in 1984. She was preparing for a prison counselor, she was ranked 18th nationally her third mission in 1986 when the shuttle Challenger on the junior tennis circuit at the age of 14. At 27, she exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing its seven- was a Ph.D. candidate looking for postdoctoral work member crew, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. in astrophysics. Then she read about NASA’s call for Ride served on the presidential commission that astronauts in the Stanford University paper. investigated the cause of the Challenger explosion, Out of 8,000 men and women who applied to the and then retired from NASA in 1987 to return to space program that year, just 35 were accepted. Of physics research. those 35, six were women. One of the women was Sally is an advocate for better science education Sally Ride, who would become the first American for children and has even written and collaborated woman to fly in space in 1983. on 5 children’s books. During her NASA training, Ride proved to be a brilliant scientist who could solve difficult engineering TO THINK ABOUT problems. She helped to develop a remote mechanical Women today have more opportunities in science arm for the space shuttle. than ever before. As a class, discuss what skills are Being picked to go up first brought pressure and important for a person to develop to be a good a blizzard of attention from newspapers and TV. scientist. Which of these skills do you have? Are some Ride, a private person, didn’t enjoy the constant of these more common among girls than among media questions about her personal life. boys? Sally Ride At one news conference a reporter asked Ride

Antonia Novello CREDITS Physician and Former U.S. Surgeon General

• Copyright Hot Topics Hot Serials 2007 “I hope that being the first woman and minority surgeon general • Written by Marta McCave • Edited by - Debby Carroll ... enables me to reach many individuals with my message of • Front cover and interiors created by Kimberly Rogers. empowerment for women, children, and minorities.” Antonia Novello, a pediatrician, was the first female and President George Bush named Novello Surgeon General Learning Standards for first Hispanic to be appointed Surgeon General of the United in 1989. The Surgeon General is the head of the United In the News Activities: States. The Surgeon General advises the president on health States Public Health Service, which provides medical profes- issues and helps set medical and health policy. She served in sionals to areas of our country where there is a shortage of • Page 2 - graphing, locating that position from 1989 to 1993. doctors. But the Surgeon General also is a symbol of the information As a child in Puerto Rico, Novello knew what it was like to “doctor of all Americans.” Instead of treating individual be sick and in pain. She was hospitalized frequently because patients the way a typical doctor does, the Surgeon General • Page 5 - comparing, desiging graphic representation, solving of a painful intestinal condition. Her condition was finally speaks out on health issues that affect the public health of the problems, portraying positive corrected by surgery when she was 18, but it could have entire nation. characteristics been treated much earlier and she wouldn’t have suffered As Surgeon General, Novello spoke out about the plight of • Page 7 - generating questions, as much. The experience left her convinced that she wanted AIDS-infected children, the dangers of smoking and teenage comparing, evaluating career to become a doctor. drinking and the importance of women’s health issues. After choices Novello earned a medical degree in Puerto Rico. Her her term ended in 1993, she joined UNICEF, the United • Page 11 - writing for fluency career eventually took her to Washington, D.C., where she Nations children’s health organization, and traveled around and creativity entered government service. At first, she thought she would the world working to improve the health of children. • Page 13 - categorizing, surveying, join the Navy, but the officer who interviewed her said, expresing ideas and experiences “Didn’t you hear—the Navy’s looking for a few good men?” TO THINK ABOUT Instead, she joined the U.S. Public Health Service and rose If you were named Surgeon General, what child health • Page 15 - reflecting on scientific knowledge to an important position within the federal government’s issue would you make your most important issue? Why do National Institutes of Health. you feel this issue is important to children? in the News 1. Science isn’t an activity that’s covered in newspapers in the same way that you study it in school. But you can find articles about topics that have a scientific connection. New inventions, new drugs to treat disease, outer space and the Earth’s environment all are scientific subjects that make news. Look for articles on these topics and list the names of any women you find listed within the articles.

Animal Studies Computers Environmental Issues Health Technology Energy Weather Disease Treatments Space Medicine 16

The World Wide Web and Internet offers a wide range of sites where you can learn more about women’s history. Here are some of the coolest and most interesting ones.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS www.nmwa.org The museum recognizes the contributions of women artists. NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN www.now.org Identifies key issues that face women throughout the world LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS www.lwv.org Promotes democracy and justice in America FIRST LADIES http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ Portraits and biographies of them all WWWOMEN http://wwwomen.com For information about women in the arts, government. education and more 4,000 YEARS OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/ Thumbnail biographies and other information GODEY’S LADY’S BOOK ONLINE http://www.history.rochester.edu/godeys/toc-m.htm Several complete issues of one of the 19th century’s most popular American women’s magazines NATIONAL WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME http://www.greatwomen.org/index.html Mini-bios of the women who’ve been named to the Hall of Fame NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY PROJECT http://www.nwhp.org The latest information about events for Women’s History Month, plus links to many other online resources. 96 YEARS OF WOMEN IN THE OLYMPICS http://www.feminist.org/sports/ Profiles of Olympians plus other general information about women in sports WOMEN IN POLITICS http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/ Statistics and other useful information about women in U.S. politics now WOMEN OF NASA http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/intro.html Profiles of women at NASA and other related resources

(Please note that web sites change frequently and some sites may not be accessible.)