CHAMPIONING WOMEN THROUGHOUT HISTORY

Women's Month

March is Women's History Month. In celebration of the month, we are commemorating, honoring and celebrating the vital role of women in history. Read about four iconic women throughout history that shaped society today through their resilience and passion.  

Katherine Johnson: 

Born in 1918 in West Virginia, Katherine Johnson faced several obstacles with being a young black woman in mathematics. Even with those obstacles, Katherine received her bachelor's degree in Mathematics and French at West Virginia State College and began working for NASA in 1957. During her time working for NASA, Johnson and other women colleagues were known as “computers”. Computers were not similar to the ones we know today, so all of NASA’s difficult math problems were solved by women like Katherine Johnson. Katherine Johnson used her passion for math and science to figure out paths for spacecrafts to orbit Earth and land on the moon. Later on, Johnson helped NASA send astronauts to the Moon and back. Johnson’s accomplishments also include the “calculations that helped sync Project Apollo’s Lunar Module with the lunar-orbiting Command and Service Module”, working on the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, being the author or coauthor of 26 research reports, and being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama (just to name a few). Passing away in February of 2020, Katherine Johnson will be honored and remembered for her extraordinary work with NASA and resilience as a woman passionate in pioneering her own legacy.  

 

Frida Kahlo: 

Artist Frida Kahlo is often known for her bold and vibrant self- portraits, but most people do not realize the pain and obstacles she overcame to get there. As a child, Kahlo survived a terrible case of polio. In her teenage years, she “nearly died in a bus accident where she suffered multiple fractures of her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, broken foot and dislocated shoulder.” She had a total of 30 operations and while she was recovering in a body cast, her focus and inspiration for painting came through. In 1922, Kahlo attended the National Preparatory School in Mexico City. With only 35 female students at the time, Frida became well known for her confidence and bravery. Through her passion for art and determination, Frida Kahlo became the artist we all know and admire today.  

 

Eleanor Roosevelt: 

Longest-serving First Lady, American politician, diplomat, mother, and activist, Eleanor Roosevelt collected a lot of titles throughout her life. Eleanor began her career as a political helpmate in 1910 when her husband was serving in the Senate. As an Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Eleanor was able to learn the political ways of Washington D.C. that helped her understand the social conditions better than any of the previous First Ladies when her husband was elected in 1933. Elanor Roosevelt successfully transformed the role of First Lady through breaking precedent to hold press conferences, traveling to all part of the country, giving lectures and radio broadcasts, and expressing her opinions through her daily column in the newspaper called “My Day”. Eleanor Roosevelt was filled with integrity, graciousness, and a sincerity of purpose in being a service woman to her country. 

 

Harriet Tubman: 

Harriet Tubman, known as the “Moses of her People” was an instrumental player during the Civil War. Tubman was an enslaved woman who escaped and helped others towards freedom as a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad. Her continuous trips to the South helped dozens of people to freedom. She is known for never being caught or losing a “passenger” even with a slave owners post of $40,000 reward for her capture or death. Not only was Tubman a “conductor” she also served as a scout, spy, guerrilla solider, and nurse for the Union Army and is considered the first African American woman to serve in the military. With her knowledge of towns and transportation routes throughout the South, Tubman became a critical asset to the Union military commanders. During her time as a Union spy and scout, Tubman would disguise herself as an older woman wandering the Confederate controlled streets to learn more about the Confederate troop placements and supply lines. On top of that, she also became a respected guerrilla operative and a nurse dispensing herbal remedies to black and white soldiers. Even after all this time, Harriet Tubman still inspires young men and women to fight for what is right.  

Sources:

nasa.gov 

fridakahlo.org

whitehouse.gov 

womenshistory.org

Authored by: cmccauley