National Women's History Month [WP10]

Our 2010 "National Women's History Month" celebrates its 30 year anniversary.  With so many Women that have written their place in American history- here is a brief history of events, and Women from the last 30 years:

1980: President Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential Message to the American people, encouraging the recognition and celebration of women’s historic accomplishments during the week of March 8th, Women’s History Week •  New guidelines from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibit sexual harassment. 1981: Sandra Day O’Connor is named the first woman justice of the Supreme Court • Los Angeles based all girl band the “Go-Go’s” became the first girl band that played their instruments to have a Number 1 Record. 1982: Only three states short of ratification, the ERA expires. 1983: Sally Ride becomes the first U.S. woman in space. • The Color Purple, a novel by Alice Walker published in 1982, won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, making Alice Walker the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction • Toni Morrison became the first African American winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. 1984: Geraldine Ferraro becomes the first woman nominated by a major political party to run for vice president of the United States. • Leontine T. C. Kelly became the first woman bishop of any major American religious denomination, the United Methodist Church • Vanessa Williams became first African American selected as Miss America; when she resigned after a scandal, Suzette Charles, Miss New Jersey, became the second African American Miss America. 1986: The space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing seven crew members including teacher Christa McAuliffe • Willie B. Barrow became President of Operation PUSH • Ella Baker died (civil rights activist). 1987: Carrie Saxon Perry, elected mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, becoming the first African American woman mayor of a large American city. 1988: Florence Griffith Joyner sets a world record in the 200-meter sprint at the Olympics. 1989: Oprah Winfrey, first African American woman to host a nationally-syndicated talk show, founded Harpo Productions to produce television shows and movies • (January 29) Barbara Harris elected first woman bishop of the Episcopal Church. 1990: Sharon Pratt Kelly elected mayor of Washington, DC, the first African American mayor of a major American city • Roselyn Payne Epps became the first woman president of the American Medical Association • Debbye Turner became third African American Miss America • Sarah Vaughan died (singer). 1991: The U.S. Department of Labor establishes the Glass Ceiling Commission to eliminate the barriers that block qualified women from advancements in the workplace • Clarence Thomas nominated for a seat on the US Supreme Court; Anita Hill, who had worked for Thomas in the federal government, testified about repeated sexual harassment, bringing the issue of sexual harassment to public attention (Thomas was confirmed as Justice) • Marjorie Vincent became fourth African American Miss America. 1992: The 1992 election doubles the percentage of women in Congress; as a result, 1992 is dubbed the Year of the Woman • (August 3) Jackie Joyner-Kersee became the first woman to win two Olympic heptathlons • (September 12) Mae Jemison, astronaut, became the first African American woman in space • (November 3) Carol Moseley Braun elected to the US Senate, the first African American woman to hold that office. 1993: Young girls are introduced to the workplace as the Ms. Foundation for Women launches its first annual Take Our Daughters to Work Day • The Vietnam Women’s Memorial is erected in Washington, D.C. •  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Attorney General Janet Reno are appointed • Rita Dove became the first African American poet laureate • (September 7) Joycelyn Elders became the first African American and first woman US Surgeon General. 1994: The Violence Against Women Act is passed to combat gender-based violent crimes • Kimberly Aiken became fifth African American Miss America. 1995: (June 12) Supreme Court, in Adarand v. Pena, called for “strict scrutiny” before establishing any federal affirmative action requirements • Ruth J. Simmons installed as president of Smith College in 1995. becoming the first African American president of one of the “Seven Sisters”. 1997: Madeleine Albright is confirmed as the first woman U.S. secretary of state. • U.S. Army General Claudia Kennedy becomes the first woman three-star general. • The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) debuts. • (June 23) Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X, died of burns sustained in a June 1 fire in her home. 1998: • DNA evidence was used to test the theory that Thomas Jefferson fathered the children of his slave, Sally Hemings -- most concluded that the DNA and other evidence confirmed the theory. • (September 21) track and field great Florence Griffith Joyner died (athlete; first African American to win four medals in one Olympics; sister-in-law of Jackie Joyner-Kersee). 2000: (July) Venus Williams became the first African American to win the women’s title at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson (1957-58) • Condoleezza Rice named as the next Secretary of State, the first African American woman to hold that position 2001: • Arkansas named a state holiday for Daisy Bates, the first state to name a holiday for an African American woman  • Ruth Simmons, Brown University, became the first African American president of an Ivy League university. 2002: (March 24) Halle Berry became the first African American to win the Best Actress Oscar • (May 22) Bobby Frank Cherry found guilty of murder in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham which killed four African American girls, ages 11-14. 2003: (January) bus, made famous by Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her seat, added to exhibit at Henry Ford Museum, Michigan • (June 23) Supreme Court upheld affirmative action used in university admissions • (September) Carol Moseley Braun announced her candidacy for US president, the second African American woman to run for that office. 2004: (January 14) Carol Moseley Braun dropped her race for the US presidency. 2008: Sarah Palin Makes History as First Female Vice Presidential Nominee of Republican Party • Millions of Americans have voted for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for President of the United States...more than for any other woman primary candidate in history. 2009: Senate Votes 68 to 31 to Confirm Sonia Sotomayor to Supreme Court making her the first Latina/Latino to serve on the US Supreme Court.