Starting this Friday is the start of March. Not only is it the start of March but it is also the start of Women’s History Month. Women’s History Month honors the contributions that women have made in Americas history.  

          Woman’s history month used to be, “women’s history week.” It started the week of March 8th, 1980. President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring this week to be National Women’s History Week. This changed though when congress passed a law designating that the whole month would be known as Women’s History Month in the year 1987.  

         Since then, the month of March has been known as Women’s History Month. This month has been important for a long time because it honors women’s actions in America’s history. 

For more information about Womens History Month go to: https://www.womenshistory.org/womens-history/womens-history-month

In honor of Women’s History Month we are going to honor women who created history.

In honor of Lucretia Mott –

       Lucretia Mott is a woman who was born in Massachusetts on January 3rd, 1793. She later played a huge role in the women’s suffrage movement. She is known as an early activist and a strong advocate for ending slavery.  

       Lucretia married her father’s business partner, James Mott, who helped her achieve her goals. She was one of the founders of Philadelphia Female anti-slavery society in 1833. She was often criticized for her public speaking because she was a woman but that did not stop her.  

       She also took part in the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, 1840 where she met a women named Elizebeth Cady Stanton, who she later joined forces with. In 1848 they organized the Seneca Falls Convention. This convention demanded rights for women.                    

          Lucretia and her husband protested the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, where a few years later they helped an enslaved person escape bondage. Lucretia designated her life to all forms of human freedom which includes womans/black rights, suffrage, education, and economic aid. She has profoundly changed the world.                                                                 

For more information about Lucretia Mott go to: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lucretia mott#:~:text=Lucretia%20Coffin%20Mott%20was%20an,against%20racial%20and%20gender%20injustice.

In honor of Margaret Corbin –

          Margaret Cochran Corbin was an inspiring woman that was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania on November 12th, 1751. She was the first woman to receive a military pension. Her father was killed during an Indian raid and her mother was taken from them and was never returned. She and her brother were orphaned at age 5 and adopted by their uncle.  

           By the age twenty-one, she married John Corbin who later joined the Pennsylvania military. Instead of staying home she went with him. She first started out as a camp follower who earned money by cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry for soldiers, but one day that changed.  

          On November 16th, 1776, Margaret dressed as a man and joined her husband to go fight in the Battle of Fort Washington. She helped her husband load cannons and fire them until her husband was killed where she was then left to do it by herself. Eventually, she was also hit in the left shoulder by a firearm, which caused her to never use that arm again.  

          After she recovered, she joined the Invalid Regiment at West Point. There she aided the wounded until she was discharged in 1783. On July 6th, 1779, the Continental Congress awarded her with a lifelong pension due to her brave service. In 1926 after she had died her remains were moved along the Hudson River to Westpoint and she was buried with full military honors. She was then labeled as the first women to take a soldier’s part in the War for Liberty.  

For more information about Margaret Corbin go to: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/margaret-cochran-corbin

In honor of Rosa Parks – 

       On December 1, 1955, Rosa got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama; back then African Americans were not allowed to be at the front of the bus because it was designated for white people only. But this did not stop Rosa.        

        Knowing this, Rosa Parks sits in the front anyway, when it starts filling up with white people the driver tells Rosa parks to move to the back, but she refuses. In the end Rosa Parks ends up getting arrested and it starts getting around that they put her in jail just because she had refused to leave her seat.

       Thanks to her there was awareness of this issue and that helped lead this problem to the civil rights. 

For more information about rosa parks go to: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rosa-parks

In honor of Marie Curie –

          Marie Curie was born November 7th, 1867, in Warsaw, now recognized as Poland. In 1893 Curie completed her physics master’s degree. In the following year she earned another degree in mathematics. Later, she discovered radio activity and, with the help of her husband, discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium, but that is not all she discovered.  

         After WW1 broke out in 1914 Curie wanted to help in some way. She then championed in something they used to call, “Little Curies” but is now known as portable X-Rays. After the war she advanced her research and was able to travel the United States twice in 1921 and 1929, so that she could raise funds to buy radium and establish a radium institute in Warsaw.  

        Curie won two Nobel prizes for physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911. Not Only was she the first women to ever win a Nobel prize but she was also the first out of men and women to ever win two noble prizes. Today, she remains the only person to win two prizes for two separate sciences. Marie Curie is remembered and honored as a leader and a role model for women in today’s time.  

For more information about Marie Curie go to: ://www.biography.com/scientists/marie-curie

In honor of Mary Jackson –

         Mary Jackson graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942 with a Dual degree in math and physical sciences. She also accepted a job as a math teacher at a black school in Calvert County, Maryland. After she returned home, she found a position as a receptionist at the King Street USO Club. This club served the city’s black population. It took 3 more carrier changes until she finally landed at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Labatories segregated West Area Computing Section in 1951, where she reported to the group’s supervisor Dorthey Vaughn.  

         After two years she received an offer to for engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki. He eventually offered Mary a hands-on experience and that she should enter a training program that would allow her to earn a promotion from mathematician to engineer. She earned another promotion after she completed the courses and became the first black female engineer for NASA in 1958. Once she had retired in 1985, she ended up earning multiple honors.  

For more information about Mary Jackson go to: nasa.gov/people/mary -w- jackson – biography/

In honor of Dorothy Vaughan –

         Dorothy Vaughan was head of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA’s) segregated West Area Computing Unit from 1949 until 1958. She was recognized as a mathematician and NASA’s first African American manager. In 1949, Dorothy was promoted to lead the group and then became the first African American supervisor for NACA.  

          In 1958 NACA transferred to NASA when the segregated facilities including the West Area Computing Unit were abolished. She then joined the new Analysis and Computation Division (ADC). ADC was a group on the frontier of electric computing. Dorothy became an expert on Fortran as a programmer. She retired from NASA in 1971, but her legacy still lives on.  

For more information about Dorothy Vaughan go to: nasa.gov/dorothy-vaughn/

In honor of Katherine Johnson –

          Katherine was one of 3 African American students to be handpicked to go to integrate West Virginia’s graduating schools. She was always highly intelligent growing up. In fact, she was in high school by 13 years old and college by 18. In 1937, she graduated with the highest honors and took a job teaching at a black public school in Virginia.  

          In 1939, West Virginia decided to secretly integrate the graduate schools and Dr. John W. Davis selected her and two men to be the first African Americans to be offered spots at the state’s flagship school. At the end of the first session, she decided to leave and have a family with her husband, and it was not until 1952 when she returned.  

          In 1953, she began to work at Langley in the summer. Dorothy Vaughan offered her a project to in the Maneuver Loads Branch of the Flight Research Division. She spent the next four years on this project, but as soon as she was wrapping it up, she sadly died of cancer in 1956. Katherine Johnson was an American hero, and her legacy still lives at NASA.  

For more information about Katherine Johnson go to: nasa.gov/centers -and- facilities/langley/katherine-johnson-biography/

In honor of Eleanor Roosevelt – 

         Today we are going to honor the first lady who helped many lives. Eleanor married her fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was the 23rd president of the United States of America; Eleanor had a good heart and saw fit to help people who needed it, like the army. Many times, instead of letting people go to the army she would go herself and give company to the wounded. She also helped children in need by giving them the resources they deserved. Sadly, Eleanor died of tuberculosis on November 7th, 1962, but even though she died she will always be remembered as a woman who changed history forever.  

For more information about Eleanor Roosevelt go to: womenshistory.org

In honor of Josephine Baker – 

         Josephine eventually moved to New York and participated in the celebration of black life and art which is now known as the Harlem Renaissance. A few years later her success took her to Paris. She became one of the most sought-after performers due to her distinct dancing styles and creative costumes. She was known for her dancing and singing, which brought her to perform successfully in major motion pictures in Europe, which was quite famous.  

       Baker also fought against the Nazis and helped the French military officials by passing off secrets that she had heard while performing in front of the enemy. After many years of performing, she finally returned home. When she got home, she was forced to confront segregation and discrimination that she had not faced since a little girl in St. Louis. In 1963, she was able to give a speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She continued to fight racial injustices into the 1970’s.  

       Josephine remained on stage until her last performance in 1975 where here show sold out and she received a standing ovation. On April 12th, 1975, Baker sadly passed away, but she is remembered in many ways for her bravery and her talent.  

For more information about Josephine Baker go to: womenshistory.org

In honor of Hedy Lamarr –

         Hedy Lamarr was not only an Austrian – American actor but also an inventor of technology. Director Max Reinhardt discovered Hedy at the age of 16 and that is when her beauty took the stage. Since she had such beauty, her intelligence was ignored until 1940, when Lamarr met George Antheil.  

        Antheil and Lamarr both shared the same inventive spirit. They later worked together to invent a new communication system, which aimed to guide torpedoes to their targets in war. This system involved the use of “frequency hopping” amongst radio waves. It was not until later that Lamarr was recognized for her invention.  

        In 1997, at The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Lamarr and Antheil were awarded a pioneer award. Lamarr also was the first ever woman to receive the Invention Conventions Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award. After her death in 2000 she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014 for her frequency hopping technology. Today Lamarr is labeled “the mother of Wi-Fi” and other wireless communications such as GPS and Bluetooth.  

For more information about Hedy Lamarr go to: womenshistory.org

In honor of Maria Romanov – 

            Many people know the story of Anastasia Romanov, but they do not really look at her sister Maria Romanov. Maria, more known to her family as Mashka, was born on June 26th, 1899, as the third daughter of Tsar Nicholas the 2nd and daughter to Alexandra Fedorova, formally known as Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt. Maria also had four siblings: Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, and her younger brother Alexei. Maria’s personality was what she was most known for; She was kind, sweet, and curious. Another thing that made Maria more different than her other siblings was that she was very loving to the Russian soldiers, she also had many crushes on the young ones stating that if she were a normal person she would have married a soldier and had a large family. Maria was important just like her family but sadly she and her family along with some of their servants were murdered the night of July17th, 1918, after being held in many houses for protection. 

For more information on Maria Romanov and her family’s brutal murder go to: history.com

In honor of Malala Yousafzai – 

          On July 12th, 1997, a girl named Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan. At age eleven she was advocating rights for women and girls. Although she was often in danger because of her beliefs. Her father was a teacher at a girls’ school in their village and due to this Malala became interested in knowledge and education at an early age.  

         When she was 10 years old, the Taliban began to take control of the valley. Many of her favorite things were destroyed, including the right for young girls to attend school. At the end of 2008, the Taliban had destroyed over 400 schools. This led Malala to want to stand up to the Taliban. 

         In 2009, she started blogging anonymously for the British Broadcasting Corporation. By 2011, she had been nominated for the International Children’s Peace Price. Although she did not when, later that year she earned a National Youth Peace Prize. Yousafzai had become a household name, but this made her a target to the Taliban.  

        In 2012, when Malala was riding the bus with her friends the Taliban stopped the bus and shot Malala in the head. This led her to be paralyzed in half of her face, but this did not stop her in fighting and standing up for the women and girls.  

       Malala and her father established the Malala Fund in 2014, which helped support and advocate women and girls. At age 17, Malala was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, and she became the youngest person to be named a Nobel laureate. Today, Yousafzai is studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford.  

For more information about Malala Yousafzai go to: womenshistory.org  

In honor of Bessie Coleman –

       On January 26, 1892, Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas. She later in life became the first African American women to fly across the sky. There was a lot of discrimination where they lived at the time, so her father decided to move back to Oklahoma to try and escape it. Her mother did not want to go with him, so Coleman and her siblings decided to stay in Waxahachie, Texas.  

         Growing up, Coleman helped her mother pick cotton and wash laundry to earn some extra money. At 18 years old, she had managed to save enough money to go to a Colored Agriculture and Normal University, which is now known as Langston University. Sadly, she had to drop out after one semester because she could not afford it.

          After this she went to live with her brothers in Chicago and her brother John who served in the military often teased her about how French women were able to fly airplanes, but she was not. This inspired Coleman to want to become a pilot. 

         She applied to many schools, but since she was African American, they would not accept her. A man named Robert Abbot told her to just apply to a French school. Coleman new that she would have to write her application in French, so she began to take French Classes. 

        After a while she was accepted at the Condron Brothers School of Aviation. On June 15th, 1921, Coleman received her international pilot’s license. She then returned to the United States and showed people films of all the air tricks that she could do. In February 1923 she was badly hurt in a plane crash, but this did not stop her. She continued to do her air tricks and perform until April 30th, 1926, when she sadly passed away from falling out of an airplane because she did not have a seatbelt on.  

        To honor her, in 1931 the Challenger Pilots Association of Chicago created a tradition where they will fly over her grave every year. In 2023, the U.S. Mint released a special quarter, which featured Bessie part of the Americans Women Quarters Program. To this day her legacy continues.  

For more information about Bessie Coleman go to: womenshistory.org

In honor of Helen Keller –

          Helen Keller was born on June 27th, 1880, in Tuscumbia Alabama. Helen became a major 20th century humanitarian, educator, and writer; but sadly just a few months before her second birthday Helen got an unbelievably bad. She had an illness that left her deaf and blind, but it did not define her impact her determination. After she graduated, she published two books: “The Story of my Life” and “Optimism.” She would also go to hospitals during WW2 to comfort the soldiers. During time as a woman, she continued to pursue writing until her death on June 1, 1968, when she died in her sleep. Even though Helen is gone people still remember her as a remarkable woman who helped so many people like her. 

For more information about Helen Keller go to: womenshistory.org  

In honor of Amelia Earhart –

        Amelia Earhart was born on July 24^th, 1897. She lived with her mother and father who had an alcohol problem, which led to her moving around at with her sister Muriel. Amelia was amazing in school but was not great at being social, while she was in school people noticed that she had great potential and could be independent. After she graduated, she went to visit her sister and became a ww1 nurse who aided wounded soldiers, then moved to fulfilling her dreams to becoming a pilot when she got her license, she became the first women to go across the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean but sadly she diapered while going over the south pacific part of the ocean. On January 5^th 1939, she was stated legally dead and still has not been found. Because of her bravery women can peruse their dreams without caring what a man thought of them.

For more information about Amelia Earhart go to: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biograghies/amiela-earhart

In honor of Sally Ride – 

         On June 18th, 1983, Sally Ride made her way into history. Sally grew up playing Tennis and she even got a scholarship for it. She later decided to go to college and quit tennis. She enrolled at Standford University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Bachelor of Arts in English. This led her to also earn a Master of Science degree and her doctorate degrees in physics in 1975 and 1978. Due to her athletic skills and her knowledge, she became one of five women to serve as “mission specialist” on future space flights for NASA. On June 18th, 1983, Sally became the youngest American and the first American woman to fly to space. Sadly, on July 23rd, 2012, she passed away from Pancreatic Cancer. A year after Sally’s death in 2013, President Obama honored her a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Sally’s legacy still lives on to this day. 

For more information about Sally Ride go to: womenshistory.org 

In honor of Women’s History Month – 

         As we have said before were trying to honor women for this month but today, we are remembering all women: moms, grandmothers, elders, teenagers, and even kids. The women we wrote about help make history, but today’s generation makes small changes because of everyday women!