03-16/17-1995 Women of Achievement and Herstory - March is Women's
History Month

     Catch-up time ... 

03-16 Anniversaries .........................................

     B. 03-16-1750, Caroline Lucretia Herschel, astronomer, received medal
from Royal Astronomical Society for her discoveries of eighteen comets as
well and three nebulae between 1787 and 1797. One of the first books of
science written in the English language by a woman, _Catalogue of the
Stars_, was published by the Royal Society.  CLH was a brilliant
mathematician and was described as "one of those women who occasionally
comes forth before the world, as in protest against the commonly accepted
ideas of men regarding the mental capacity of the gentler sex. Of all
scientific studies one would suppose mathematics to be the most repulsive
to the female mind."  

     B. 03-16-1891, Irita Van Doren, editor New York _Herald Tribune's_
review section _Books_ (1926).  Before her divorce, she was the unsung
assistant to husband Carl in researching a number of biographies.

     B. 03-16-1900, Eveline H. Burns, British-born American economist who
helped design the U.S. Social Security system, professor of economics,
Columbia University, member of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's
Committee of Economic Security and other "brain trust" boards, openly
criticized the American Medical Association for opposing Medicare.

     B. 03-16-1912, Thelma Ryan (Pat) Nixon, wife of Richard Nixon,
decorated with Grand Cross Order of Sun for helping with Peruvian
earthquake victims (1971). 

3-17 Anniversaries .......................................... 

     B. 03-17-1846, Kate Greenaway, beloved English watercolorist who
created delicate and wonderfully detailed drawnings of a fairy-tale world
for the child in all of us.

     B. 03-17-1862, Martha Platt Falconer, one the greatest of all pioneers
in changing holding area of deliquent or homeless girls from virtual jails
to homes for rehabilitation, education, and social adjustments. She
pioneered her work at Sleighton Farm in Pennsylvania and the idea was
gradually accepted throughout the nation.  

     B. 03-17-1898, Ella Winter, Australian-born journalist who wrote
extensively about Communist Russia.

     B. 03-17-1903, Radie Britain, composer, writer, teacher born near
Amarillo, Tx., won more than 50 national and international awards for her
more than 150 classical compositions, trained at the American Conservatory
in piano, organ, and composition, with advanced work and master classes
in Germany.  She taught at the Chicago Conservatory.  Her daughter Lerae
taught anthropology in Hawaii.

     Event 03-17-1911, the formation of the Camp Fire Girls by Mrs.
Luther Halsey Gulick is formally announced.

     B. 03-17-1930, Betty Allen, opera and concert singer became executive
director of the Harlem School of the Arts which opera singer Dorothy
Maynor founded.

Quotes du jour ...........................................

     "I have sacrificed everything in my life that I consider     
precious in order to advance the political career of my husband." 
          -- Thelma Ryan (Pat) Nixon. 


(C) 1995 Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park, AR 71902,
irenestuber@delphi.com. Distribute verbatim copies freely with copyright
notice for non-profit use. Don't let anyone tell you there weren't notable
and effective women throughout history.  They were always there, but
historians failed to note them in their histories so that each generation of
women has had to reinvent themselves.