December in Women's History

December Highlights in US Women's History

Dec 1, 1955 - Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white person; her arrest sparks the modern civil rights movement in the US
Dec 5, 1935 - Mary McLeod Bethune creates the National Council of Negro Women
Dec 7, 1941 - Capt. Annie Fox receives the first Purple Heart awarded to a woman for her service while under attack at Pearl Harbor
Dec 10, 1938 - Pearl S. Buck receives the Nobel Prize for Literature for “The Good Earth”
Dec 10, 1869 - Wyoming is the first territory to give women the right to vote
Dec 13, 1993 - Susan A. Maxman becomes first woman president of the American Institute of Architects in its 135 year history
Dec 14, 1961 - President's Commission on the Status of Women is established to examine discrimination against women and ways to eliminate it
Dec 14, 1985 - Wilma Mankiller is sworn in as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma - the first woman in modern history to lead a major Native American tribe
Dec 17, 1993 - Judith Rodin is named president of Univ. of Pennsylvania, the first woman to head an Ivy League institution
Dec 28, 1967 - Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman to own a seat on the NY Stock Exchange

December Birthdays

Dec 3, 1842 (1911) - Ellen Swallow Richards, first woman to graduate from MIT, 1873; recognized as the creator of the fields of ecology and home economics; cofounder of Association of Collegiate Alumnae which became the American Association of University Women
Dec 6, 1927 (2002) - Patsy Mink, first Japanese-American Congresswoman (D-HI); wrote the Women's Educational Equity Act; played a key role in the enactment of Title IX which was renamed posthumously as the "Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act"
Dec 9, 1906 (1992) - Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, pioneering computer scientist who invented the compiler and co-invented COBOL, computer programming languages
Dec 10, 1830 (1886) - Emily Dickinson, one of America's most famous and prolific poets
Dec 14, 1897 (1995) - Margaret Chase Smith, first woman elected to both houses of Congress (R-ME), serving 8 years in the House of Representatives and 24 in the Senate; first in Senate to challenge Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade
Dec 16, 1901 (1978) - Margaret Mead, renowned cultural anthropologist, author, lecturer
Dec 21, 1959 (1998) - Florence Griffith Joyner, “Flo-Jo,” Olympic track and field champion, won 3 gold medals and 1 silver at 1988 Summer games, called “World’s Fastest Woman”
Dec 22, 1912 (2007) - "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson, First Lady, 1963-1969; advocate for civil rights, National Chair of Head Start, led “Beautification” efforts across the country involving environmentalism, conservation, and anti-pollution
Dec 23, 1867 (1919) - Sarah "Madam C.J." Walker, entrepreneur and philanthropist; first woman and first African American woman self-made millionaire; revolutionized hair care and cosmetics industry in early 20th century
Dec 25, 1821 (1912) - Clara Barton, founder and president of American Red Cross, 1881-1904
Dec 26, 1954 (2006) - Susan Butcher, sled dog racer; 4-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race