March is Women's History Month!

Firsts in Women's Achievement

taken from the history.com

 

Ann Teresa Mathews First woman whose invention received a patent (for cleaning and curing corn) - it was granted to her husband 1715
Mary Katherine Goddard First woman postmaster 1775
Betsy Ross First person to be a U.S. flagmaker 1776/77
Hannah Adams First woman to become professional writer 1784
Lucy Brewer First woman marine 1812
Elizabeth Blackwell First woman to receive a medical degree 1849
Amelia Jenks Bloomer Publisher/editor of first prominent women's rights newspaper 1849
Harriet Tubman First woman to run underground railroad to help slaves escape 1850
Lucy Hobbs First woman to graduate from dental school 1866
Susan B. Anthony Co-Founder of first US woman's suffrage organization 1869
Arabella Mansfield Babb First woman admitted to the bar 1869
Frances Elizabeth Willard First woman to become a college president (Evanston College) 1871
Victoria Chaflin Woodhull First woman to be presidential candidate 1872
Helen Magill First woman to receive a Ph.D. degree (Boston University) 1877
Belva Ann Lockwood First woman to practice law before U.S. Supreme Court 1879
Clara Barton Founder of the American Red Cross 1881
Maud Booth Co-Founder of Salvation Army and Volunteers of America 1887/96
Suzanna Madora Salter First woman mayor (Argonia, Kansas) 1887
Mary McLeod Bethune First woman to establish secondary school that became 4-year accredited college 1904
  Founder of National Council of Negro Women 1935
Blanche Scott First woman to fly an airplane 1910
Jeannette Rankin First woman U.S. House Representative (Montana) 1916
Kate Gleason First woman president of a national bank 1917
Jeannette Rankin First woman in Congress 1917
Florence E. Allen First woman judge 1920
Hallie Ferguson First woman governor of U. S. state (Texas) 1924
Katherine Bement Davis First person to conduct national survey of sexual attitudes 1929
Jane Addams First woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize 1931
Hattie Wyatt Caraway First woman elected to U.S. Senate 1932
Amelia Earhart First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean 1932
Ruth Bran Owen First woman foreign diplomat 1933
Pearl S. Buck First woman to win a Nobel Prize for Literature 1935
Hattie McDaniel First African-American of any gender to win an Academy Award (she won for Best Supporting Actress in the film, Gone with the Wind). 1939
Linda Darnell First woman to sell securities on the New York Stock Curb Exchange 1941
Conchita V. Cintron First U.S. woman bullfighter in Spain 1949
Georgia Nesse Clark First woman treasurer of the United States 1949
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova First woman to fly in space, aboard Vostok 6. 1963
Muriel Siebert First woman to own seat on the New York Stock Exchange 1967
Janice Lee York Romary First woman to carry U.S. flag at the Olympic Games 1968
Mary Clarke First woman to be named major general in U.S. Army 1978
Ella Grasso First woman govenor to be re-elected (Connecticut) 1978
Sandra Day O'Connor First woman a justice of the U. S. Supreme Court 1981
Sally Kristen Ride First American woman to reach outer space. 1983
Joan Benoit (Samuelson) First woman to win an Olympic marathon 1984
Penny Harrington First woman police chief of major U. S. city (Portland, OR) 1985
Ann Bancroft First woman to walk to North Pole 1986
Christa McAuliffe First woman citizen passenger on a space mission 1986
Lt. Col. Eileen Collins First American woman to pilot a Space Shuttle 1995
Madeleine K. Albright First woman Secretary of State and highest ranking woman in the U.S. government 1997
Hillary Rodham Clinton Only First Lady ever elected to the United States Senate 2000
Halle Berry First African-American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar 2002
Condoleezza Rice First African-American woman to be appointed Secretary of State 2005
Nancy Pelosi First woman to become Speaker of the House 2007

BPW Historical Timeline

July 15, 1919 - The National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs was founded.

Women get the voteAugust 26, 1920 - Women celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment granting them the right to vote.

 


1920s - "BPW Goodwill Tour" of Europe initiated the founding of the International BPW Federation.

19221922: BPW Executive Committee Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri
 


1930s - During this decade BPW worked strongly to prohibit legislation or directives denying jobs to married women.

1930National Business Women's Week storefront display on the 1930s.

1940s - To aid in the war effort  BPW developed a classification system for women with specialized skills and supported the formation of women's branches of the Armed Forces.

War YearsDr. Minne Maffett, 1939/44 BPW President, shares mess with the Station Complement WAC Detachment at Camp Crowder, Missouri.


1956 - The BPW Foundation was incorporated.  It created a branch to provide research information, career development program and other training opportunities.

Equal Pay ActPresident John F. Kennedy signs the 1963 Equal Pay Act into law as 1962/63 BPW president Dr. Minnie Miles watches. Dr. Miles received the first pen from the signing.


1963 -  The establishment of "Status of Women" commissions in the U.S. was due largely to BPW efforts.  

1963 - The first National Legislative Conference, held in 1963 in Washington D.C., later became BPW's current Policy & Action Conference.  During the conference members lobby Congress and the Administration on BPW's legislative issues.

March for RightsWomen march in Washington supporting ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which BPW first formally endorsed on July 17, 1937.

1979 - The BPW Political Action Committee (BPW/PAC) was founded to endorse federal candidates.

President Carter1979/80 BPW President Julie K. Arri reports to President Jimmy Carter on the findings of the BPW commissioned Lou Harris poll of unratified ERA states.
 


1985 -  During the Hartford, Connecticut Convention, BPW's Legislative Platform expanded to include the Equal Rights Amendment Preamble. 

Better Pay for Women1987 -  To underscore the economic inequity women face in the workplace BPW launched its Red Purse Campaign with the theme "Better Pay for Women".
 


1990s -  The Pay Equity Employment Act of 1994, followed by the Equal Pay Act (introduced in 1994) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (introduced in 1997) became BPW's focus legislation through the '90s.

2001 - BPW initiated "The Women & Social Security Summit" in February of 2001.

2003 - This was the 75th Anniversary of National Business Women's Week™ (NBWW). In recognition of the vital role of women in business, leaders of Business and Professional Women/USA (BPW/USA®) and the BPW Foundation rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Tuesday, October 21, 2003.
 

Wall StreetThose ringing the bell include BPW/USA President Carolyn Grady, BPW Foundation Chair Pat Cornish, BPW Foundation Vice-Chair Avis Parman, BPW/USA Vice President Roslyn Ridgeway, BPW/USA Secretary Janie Smith, BPW/USA Individual Development Chair Maria Hernandez, BPW/USA and BPW Foundation CEO Jane Smith, BPW/USA meeting planner Tricia Fadness, and BPW supporters Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Treasurer, Judy Hendrick and Ernst & Young partner, Barbara Raasch. BPW received a special welcome to the NYSE by Catherine R. Kinney, President, Co-Chief Operating officer and Executive Vice Chairman.