Today in Women�s History

    Women's History - June 14th

1811 - Harriet Beecher Stowe was born today. She went on to become a famous writer. While she wrote at least ten adult novels, she is predominantly known for her first �Uncle Tom�s Cabin, begun as a serial for the Washington anti-slavery weekly called the �National Era�. It focused public interest on the issue of slavery and was very controversial. Stowe relied on her personal experience of slavery, the anti-slavery movement, and the underground railroad in her writings. She had seven children (of which only 3 survived).

Source: http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/life/


The only three surviving children of Beecher Stowe

    Women's History - June 16th

1963 - Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space today. Here's more about her great accomplishments as an astronaut.

http://www.astronautix.com/astros/terhkova.htm


Valentina Tereshkova

    Women's History - June 18th

918 - The warrior queen, Aethelflaed, (the Mercian leader) died today. She was the daughter of Alfred the Great and sister of Edward �the Elder� king of Wessex (ruled 899-924). Her husband, Aethelred (King of Mercia) died in battle with the Danes and she became the political and military ruler of the Mercians. She captured the Danes at Derby and invaded Wales.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethelfleda

    Women's History - June 20th

1930 - Magdalena Abakanowicz was born today in Poland (near Warsaw) to a family that traced its heritage back to Genghis Khan. She went on to become a sculptor, whose work often reflected the emotional heritage of her political environment. Her work is in many major museums.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalena_Abakanowicz


Magdalena Abakanowicz, 1999



Abakanowicz - sculpture called "Space of Unknown Growth"

Here's a link with her recent works:
http://www.abakanowicz.art.pl/recent.html

    Women's History - June 22nd

1906 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh was born today in Englewood, New Jersey USA. After graduating from Smith College, she won the Mary Augusta Jordan Prize for the most original literary piece and the Elizabeth Montagu Prize for the best essay on women of the 18th Century. She also composed novels, essays and diaries. She later married aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and began flying. She became the first woman in the U.S. to obtain a glider pilot license. Subsequently, she received her private pilot�s license and covered 30,000 miles over five continents. She became the first woman to receive the National Geographic Society Hubbard Gold Medal for her piloting and navigational skills. She also continued to write and published 11 major works.

Source: http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/history/amlbio.html


Anne Morrow Lindbergh

    Women's History - June 24th

1936 - Today, Mary McLeod Bethune was appointed director of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration. She becomes the first African-American woman to receive a major federal appointment. The daughter of former slaves, she devoted her life to ensuring the right to education and freedom from discrimination for black Americans.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_McLeod_Bethune

    Women's History - June 26th

1892 - One of my favorite authors (The Good Earth), Pearl S. Buck, was born today in Hillsboro, West Virginia USA, when her parents were near the end of a furlough in the United States. When she was three months old, she was taken back to China, where she spent most of the first forty years of her life. She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1938.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_S._Buck


Pearl S. Buck

    Women's History - June 28th

Today, I'm going to write about two very important events which occurred regarding women in the U.S. military.

1976 - Today, for the first time, women entered the U.S. Air Force Academy. The first class with women graduated in May 1980 and were nicknamed �80's Ladies�. However, it has not been an easy battle for women at the Academy. Twelve percent of women who graduated from the Academy in 2003 reported to have been victims of rape (or attempted rape), and it is estimated that about 20% of all women students were victims. Sexual predation was primarily directed toward freshmen and sophomores who were under 21 years of age.



1996 - South Carolina military school, The Citadel, votes to admit women rather than turn down public funding.   Once an all-male military academy, The Citadel ended its opposition to enrolling female cadets with the U.S. Supreme Court decision which ruled that all-male enrollment policy at the Virginia Military Institute (another state supported school) was unconstitutional. The Citadel decision ends the 1993 controversy when high school student, Shannon Faulkner, won admission to the school by deleting from her school transcripts any reference to her gender. Once the school found out she was a female, they withdrew the admission offer, and Faulkner filed suit. Even though she won the lawsuit and was admitted, she left shortly thereafter due to heavy stress and isolation she experienced. The male cadets made life almost impossible for her and the few other female cadets who had been admitted as well.

    Women's History - June 30th

1980 � Today, Vigdis Finnbogadottir was elected President of Iceland and, therefore, became the first woman in the world to serve as the elected head of state. She was elected in 1980 and was re-elected in 1984 and 1988.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigdis_Finnbogadottir


Vigdis Finnbogadottir

Vigdis Finnbogadottir

    Women's History - July 2nd

1937 � Today is a sad day. Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared while attempting the first flight around the world. Today, at approximately midnight GMT, they took off from Lae and their destination was Howland Island. Their last positive position and sighting were over the Nukumanu Islands. To this day, US government documents concerning Earhart and her disappearance remain classified.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart


Earhart and Noonan