11-03-1994 Women of Achievement and Herstory

     Event 11-03-1977, by an act of the U.S. Congress, women who

trained airmen in World War II and transported planes to England

(unarmed) were finally granted veteran's benefits after seeking them in

vain for 34 years.  The air force considered them civilians and blocked

any veteran benefits for the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS)

headed by the undisputed greatest pilot of them all, Jacqueline Cochran.

     In 1974, the National Organization for Women (NOW) joined in the

campaign to get full military honors and benefits for the  WASPS who

flew 50 million miles during World War II.  Thirty-nine lost their lives

on duty.  The women, among other things, towed the targets that rookie

flyboys used live ammunition to shot at.  They weren't always accurate.

The women received no military benefits and even their burial expenses

were paid for by their families. The women received no military

retirement, medical, or educational benefits that all men in WWII

received, even those men who never left the US or were in safe posts

and never in any danger.

     HIStory ignores - denies - women's military deaths in WWII. 

Another reason HERstory is so necessary.  

Anniversaries -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

B. 11-03-1841, Isabella MacDonald Alden, author of nearly 75 books in

the religious mode, mainly for children. At her peak she sold more than

100,000 books a year.  She was a staff member of several magazines.

B. 11-03-1876, Mary Augusta Leavitt, physician, early authority on

anaesthesia.

B. 11-03-1904, Jennie Lee, member of the British parliament 1929-31,

1945-70.  Served as a member of the cabinet.

B. 11-03-1949, Ann Wintour, editor, Vogue magazine, 1988. Formerly

editor in chief of House & Garden.

B. 11-03-1952, Roseanne Barr, comedienne.  Her parents sold blankets

and crucifixes door to door.  In 1991, she revealed her father's sexual

abuse of her.

Event 11-03-1987, the growing acceptance of women as political leaders

was indicated by the re-election of Kathy Whitmire as mayor of Houston,

TX, and the elections of mayors Annette Strauss of Corpus Christi, TX,

Betty Turner of Charlotte, NC, and a black woman Carrie Saxon-Perry

of Hartford, CT.  

Event 11-03-1987, Ann Dore McLaughlin, appointed Labor Secretary by

Pres. Ronald Reagan, the second woman to hold that post.

Event 11-03-1990, Gro Harlem Brundtland, becomes Prime Minister of

Norway for the third time  and appoints nine women in her 19-person

cabinet.

Quote du jour -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 

     "All women hustle. Women watch faces, voices, gestures, moods.

     "She's the person who has to survive through cunning."

             -- Marge Piercy, Small Changes, 1973

 (C) 1994 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 our histories so that

each generation of women has had to reinvent themselves.