Women’s History Month

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

| By Traci Cothran |

How wonderful is it that following the release of the movie “Hidden Figures,” the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson are now known by millions?  Their collective story is an impressive and important one, yet it’s a part of our history that’s been concealed for decades.

What other significant contributions by women are also shielded from view?  It’s a joy to uncover these gems, and allow them to inspire other women and girls today.  To me, that’s what Women’s History Month is all about—shining a light on the often overlooked contributions made by women throughout history.

Here are just a few, randomly chosen women from today and yesterday whose work and lives are notable.  You’ll find them all in Biography In Context, among other Gale resources.  As you read about them, you’re bound to discover other interesting women, too!

Maria Tallchief – (1925-2013) Tallchief was the first American-born woman to achieve prima ballerina status at a major dance company; she was also a member of the Osage Nation.  She’s featured this month in Research In Context.

Zora Neale Hurston – (1891-1960) A writer and major figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston is a favorite of mine, for both her wonderful writing and her ability to live an unconventional life for women of her era.

Read more

Women’s History Month: Women in STEM

| By Tracie Moy | March is Women’s History Month! And while it’s important to recognize the achievements made by all women, we are here to talk about women in STEM; these women are scientists, physicians, engineers, mathematicians, environmentalists, physicists… the list goes on! From a historical perspective, we typically think of the Jane Goodall’s and … Read more

11 Primary Source Documents to Mark the Anniversary of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession

One hundred and five years ago today thousands of women and men gathered in Washington D.C. for the Woman Suffrage Procession–one day ahead of the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. The event was organized by an unrelenting hero of the suffrage movement, Alice Paul, who continued to fight for women’s rights her entire life going as far as being incarcerated for her civil disobedience and militant tactics.

Read more

Nevertheless, She Persisted – Celebrating Women’s History Month Honorees

| By Deb Kirby | A couple of days after Senator Elizabeth Warren’s attempted silencing on the floor of the U.S. Senate during Attorney Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearings, I ordered a tee shirt featuring the now famous phrase, Nevertheless, She Persisted. That evening as my husband and I waited in the noisy lobby of Ann … Read more

Nevertheless, She Persisted: GVRL Celebrates Women’s History Month

| By Nicole Albrecht | February 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced while reading an opposition letter, written by Coretta Scott King, during Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing for attorney general. Later, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell stated that Warren gave a lengthy speech violating rules and was warned, but nevertheless, she persisted. That phrase was … Read more

The Woman Behind National Women’s History Month

Our understanding of history shapes the way we see the world and helps us define who we are as individuals. When Molly Murphy MacGregor was asked to define the women’s movement by one of her high school students in 1972 her search for an answer not only redefined her view of the world but helped redefine the … Read more

Paving the Way for Women in the Sciences with Sally Ride

By Jennifer Albers-Smith

I was a Computer Science major for a couple years at the University of Michigan (before declaring an English and Sociology double major) and participated in the Women in Science & Engineering (WISE) residence program. One of the events on our radar was the Sally Ride Science Festival that took place on North Campus. Each year, I was amazed as the campus was swarmed with hundreds of children. The festival, which still takes place each year at colleges across the United States, it is a fun-filled day of science projects, workshops, and experiences for middle schoolers.

This festival struck me in particular because no one had encouraged me (outside of my chemist father and pharmacist mother) to turn my interest in science into a career. There weren’t programs for young girls (or at least none in my area) trying to promote scientific careers in a fun way. And as a pioneer for STEM education and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride deserves a shout-out for this month’s focus on Women’s History Month.

Read more

A Grown Woman’s Tribute to Little House on the Prairie

By Jennifer Albers-Smith

If any of you happened to use Google on February 10, you would have seen the customized home page for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthday. Dead for 58 years, her name is still synonymous with Westward Expansion and the nineteenth century prairie. All these years later, her literature continues to have a life of its own. After all, few go through childhood without reading Little House on the Prairie.

unnamed

I loved the Little House books as a child (and now as an adult) and read them all several times. Her writing took me to another time and place, a place that I found fascinating, especially during a time when the game Oregon Trail was immensely popular on floppy disk.  And don’t forget the Little House TV series! When my parents and I traveled West on a two-week vacation, we stopped along the way at some of the places the Ingalls family stopped; we even saw the giant wagon ruts in Wyoming.

Read more

Celebrating Many Women with Many Resources

By Robert Lisiecki

March marks the time for us to celebrate Women’s History Month. During this month, we’ll remember and celebrate the various women throughout history who have made lasting impacts on the world as we know it today. And boy, there are a lot of women to celebrate.

The women we recognize come from different eras and backgrounds—each presenting her own unique story. When thinking about the uniqueness that each story presents, I began thinking about some of our resources. Each resource is crafted and created to provide a unique functionality and utility to tell its own story.

Today, I’d like to reflect on five different women from five different resources, highlighting some high-level information. Some women are more well-known while others, to me at least, are less. I hope this post can serve as an example on how different resources can impact research. Let’s go.

Five Impactful Women from Five Different Resources

Read more