A Different Point of View

Archived Newsletters: Winter 2004

Women Senators Take the Senate Floor to Support NWHM

On November 21, 2003, the United States Senate passed S. 1741, the National Women’s History Museum Act of 2003. There were no objections and the bill passed by unanimous consent. Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski exchanged remarks illustrating the important historic contributions of women from their states—Maine and Alaska. 

Senator Murkowski noted that Alaska had “a history . . . of pioneering women . . . such as Kate Carmack…an Athabascan woman who married an American trader. She is actually credited with discovering the first gold in Bonanza Creek, which started the Alaska gold rush in 1896. As the story is told, when Kate first discovered the gold, it was frozen in the mud. Kate and her husband did not have the grub stake. . . Kate's resourcefulness as a skin sewer and her skill as an outdoorsman earned enough cash for the family to pull together that grub stake to hit ``pay dirt'' when the ground thawed the next spring.

Senator Collins related how “Senator Margaret Chase Smith… served as Senator from Maine the entire time I was growing up. She served in the Senate from 1949 to 1972. I realize how fortunate I was to have as a role model this courageous, smart, and brave woman . . .   I remember well my very first meeting with Senator Smith. I was a senior in high school. I was in Washington for a special program, and she spent nearly 2 hours talking with me. She talked about national defense, her service on the Armed Services Committee and, most of all, about her decision to speak out against the excesses of Joseph McCarthy. That was an extraordinarily brave thing to do, but it was typical of Senator Smith, who had a courageous and independent spirit. Although I didn't realize it at the time, when I look back at her meeting with me, I realize that that was the first step in a journey that led me to run for her seat 25 years later. I am so proud to hold the seat once held by the legendary Senator Margaret Chase Smith.

Senator Collins went on to relate her personal experience with positive female role models led to her support for NWHM. “Women such as those the Senator from Alaska has spoken of and whom I have talked about today are the reason we are so proud to sponsor a bill that, at no cost to the taxpayers, directs that the Old Post Office Annex be made available to house the National Women's History Museum. We need a place for our country to honor the contributions of women, particularly for young girls who are coming to Washington to be able to go to this museum and learn about some of the remarkable women who have changed American history, about whom the Senator from Alaska and I have talked today. Women's history needs a place in our capital and in our collective American history.”

Maine Senator Susan Collins and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski
Collins led the effort to enact S. 1741 on November 21, 2003 and Murkowsk also
demonstrated her support of NWHM by telling the history of Alaksan women

Twenty-five National Organizations Declare Support for Museum Site

Twenty-five national women’s professional and service organizations have joined the NWHM’s National Coalition during 2003.  Representing a reach of over 8 million members throughout the country, the Coalition is committed to supporting the NWHM mission and the acquisition of a permanent Museum site near the Mall in Washington, DC.

Susan B. Jollie, NWHM president, formally introduced Coalition representatives at its Advisory Board meeting in November 2003.  She hailed the creation and support of the Coalition in stating:

Historically, women’s organizations have banded together to effect change and progress at all levels of American life.  We are privileged to have these outstanding national organizations support our mission and our efforts to acquire a site in Washington, DC.  We share a vision that the legacy of women’s achievements and contributions will inspire generations of men and women alike.”

Since the meeting in November, Coalition members have demonstrated their involvement in contacting key Congressional members in the House of Representatives to support S. 1741.  Passed unanimously by the Senate on November 21, 2003, S1741 designates the Pavilion Annex next to the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue as an ideal site for the women’s history museum. 

Since the November meeting, the NWHM has welcomed two new organizations into Coalition ranks. 

                        MANA – A National Latina Organization
                        The American College of Nurse-Midwives

Another important aspect of the Coalition’s mission is establishing new communication channels to increase the NWHM and the organizations’ visibility with various constituencies, their members and the public.  To begin the process, the NWHM has devoted a section to the National Coalition on its Web site, www.nwhm.org,  The section lists the member organizations, contact information and a brief statement of their mission.  Work is now in progress to provide links to the member Web sites in spring of 2004.  A Different Point of View has provided Coalition updates in its past four issues as well.

Women's History Month 2004

In celebration of National Women’s History Month, March 2004, the National Women's History Museum announces The Good Old Days?, a self-guided tour of the history of women’s lifestyles.  The sites mentioned in the tour, including several homes that are open for tours, give examples of the difficulties of “women’s work” even for prominent or wealthy women.  For an itinerary for The Good Old Days? please visit our Web site.

Mary McLeod Bethune’s carriage house, part of  The Good Old Days? self-guided tour.

Letter from our President

The exhibition Partners in Winning the War: Women in World War II is a tremendous opportunity to fulfill part of NWHM’s ongoing mission: telling of women’s significant contributions to America. The official dedication of the World War II Memorial planned by the American Battle Monuments Commission includes the dedication ceremony, a number of entertainment programs, veteran reunions, recording oral histories of veterans, display of military equipment, and a memorial service at the National Cathedral. Hundreds of thousands of women and men of the World War II generation and their families will come to Washington, D.C. for events dominating the media’s attention for the Memorial Day weekend. And with two tents devoted to nostalgic big band and swing music, we feared that the most likely image of women’s wartime roles would be the USO dance. The subliminal message in popular culture would be that women stayed safe at home enjoying themselves.

But World War II was not fun for women: Total mobilization meant that everyone made sacrifices. It is not commonly understood that women played a central role in winning the war. Some strides are being made to acknowledge that role, notably The Ford Motor Company’s media campaign paying tribute to the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” and the six million women who joined the ranks of the defense production workers.  But that is only part of the story. Women entered military and government service nationwide—over one million “Government Girls” came to Washington, D.C. Women kept vital infrastructure services-- transportation, postal, communications, agriculture, hospitals, and distribution systems-- running smoothly. It was a heroic effort worthy of recognition.

NWHM is collaborating with several organizations with a legacy of World War II involvement to mount an exhibition and recognition ceremony acknowledging the women of World War II. We are grateful to Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation for providing a venue and staff support. The Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, which played a major role in World War II mobilization efforts under the direction of Frances Perkins, the first woman Cabinet Secretary, made an early commitment of financial and archival staff support.  Members of the NWHM Coalition of Women’s Organizations are lending their historic perspectives and artifacts. Northrup Grumman Corporation became our first major corporate donor and we are hopeful that others will support the effort.  Our budget is miniscule in comparison to the official events, but I believe that Partners has the potential to make a substantial and lasting contribution to Americans’ appreciation of their history.

Celebrate These Women Born in Winter

The first female superintendent of a major city school system, Ella Flagg Young (1/15/1845), taught herself to read and write at age nine, then continued her education formally until high school when she dropped out due to a lack of encouragement from her parents and a lack of intellectual challenge. At 15 she enrolled in a teacher training school, graduating with practicum experience. Young began teaching in a Chicago ghetto school, progressing to become a principal in the largest Chicago school. In 1887 she became assistant superintendent. She left her work to achieve her Ph.D., and returned to teaching. Dr. Young became superintendent in 1909, during tumultuously divided school system. In 1910 she was elected President of the National Education Association, being the first woman to do so. Ella Flagg Young died in October 1918.

Bessie Coleman (1/26/1892), or “Brave Bessie,” is the first licensed African-American pilot. Bessie attended college in Oklahoma, but had to quit because of financial difficulties. She moved to Chicago and worked as a manicurist and successfully operated a chili parlor. Bessie’s dream was to learn to fly. When no American school would accept African Americans, she traveled to France to attend Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, where she became the first licensed black pilot in the world. Flying army surplus aircraft left over from WWI, she earned her nickname “Brave Bessie” by performing daredevil stunts. While doing air shows she gave lectures urging young black students to become pilots. Bessie once refused to perform in Waxahachie, Texas, until black students were allowed to use the same entrance as white students. Ms. Coleman died in 1924 in an accident. She is buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago.

Queen of Paper Bags, Margaret Knight (2/14/1838) did not invent paper bags; she invented a machine that automatically folded and glued box-bottomed paper bags that are still being used today. A man who was working in the machine shop where the prototype was being built stole her design and filed for a patent, claiming that women couldn’t know anything about mechanical devices. Ms. Knight filed a patent interference lawsuit and won the patent in 1870. Ms. Knight received the first of 26 patents at the age of 30. When she was 12 she invented a stop-action device that prevented injuries to workers in textile mills. The inventor died in 1914. Her original box-making machine is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine enrolled its first class in October of 1893, due to a large financial gift from Mary Elizabeth Garrett (3/5/1854), philanthropist. Ms. Garrett transformed American medical education by giving the funds with rigid stipulations. These stipulations included women being admitted to the school on equal terms as men, that the Medical School be exclusively a graduate school, and that requirements for admission specify that applicants have a bachelor’s degree and proof of completing relevant courses. Ms. Garrett was successful only after six years of negotiations with the medical faculty, which unanimously approved the terms of admission in February of 1893. After this long-sought achievement, Ms. Garrett became involved in the suffragist movement, providing business and educational opportunities for women. She was one of the founders of the Woman’s Industrial Exchange in Baltimore. Ms. Garrett died of leukemia in 1915.

 

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