PEOPLE: Women’s History Month 2023 honors, celebrates the life and legacy of women whose empowerment is an example for 21st century women
AGN.News Team
March 18, 2023
WASHINGTON (AGN.News) – Women’s History Month 2023 gives us more women to praise and honor for their tireless support for the country and institutions.
Women’s History Month 2023 celebrates the lives of women whose life and exemplary accomplishments towers above others in a world where the lives of women are not always valued in some parts the world.
Rosa Ponselle was an operatic soprano
Rosa Ponselle (1896-1981) sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century.
Ponselle made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on November 15, 1919. She was extremely nervous as she performed with Enrico Caruso. Despite her nervousness, Rosa Ponselle scored a tremendous success. Both critics and the public gave her rave reviews.
New York Times critic James Huneker wrote: “…what a promising debut! Added to her personal attractiveness, she possesses a voice of natural beauty that may prove a gold mine; it is vocal gold, anyhow, with its luscious lower and middle tones, dark, rich and ductile, brilliant in the upper register.”
In 1929, Ponselle made her European debut in London. She sang at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. It was a great success and tumultuously acclaimed by the audience. She returned to London in 1930 and 1931 to cheering audiences.
Opal Lee: Teacher, Counselor and Activist
Opal Lee (b. 1926) is an American activist who led the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. She is often described as the “grandmother of Juneteenth”.
On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Senate Bill S. 475, making Juneteenth the eleventh federal holiday. At the signing ceremony, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated her life and legacy as a leader in the creation of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Bill.
Her non-profit, Unity Unlimited Inc., incorporated in 2000, to help her efforts in advancing and creating opportunities for communities of color in Texas and the rest of the country. Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday is the direct result of her efforts.
Alyce Clarke’s life and accomplishments
Alyce Clarke (b. 1939) is an American politician. As a Democrat, Clarke was elected to the Mississippi Legislature representing the 69th district in 1984. Her election was historic because she was the first Black woman elected to the Mississippi Legislature. She is set to retire later this year.
Clarke had her hand on the pulse of the citizens in the state. She worked hard to bring Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food program to the state’s residents.
She tirelessly worked to help people end their addiction to opioids and other drugs by setting up drug courts. Her work for the citizens of Mississippi did not end there. She was instrumental in creating and organizing school breakfast programs for school children across the state.
Dr. Sally Ride: Astronaut and Physicist
Sally Ride (1951-2012) earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Stanford University in 1973. She earned a Master of Science degree in physics in 1975. In 1978, she received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in physics.
Dr. Sally Ride joined NASA in 1978. She was part of the first NASA class to include women. She became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space. At age 32, Ride was the youngest American astronaut to have flown in space.
Wilma Mankiller: Native American Chief
Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) was a Native American Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Mankiller was the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
She worked on social issues mainly related to children. She became a successful grant writer. By the 1980s she was directing the newly created Community Development Department of the Cherokee Nation in and around Bell, Oklahoma.
Bessie Coleman: Civil Aviator and Pilot
Bessie Coleman (1892-1926) was the first African American woman and the first Native American woman to hold a pilot’s license. Coleman was the first Black person to earn an international pilot’s license.
Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas to a family of sharecroppers who earned money picking cotton by hand. She attended a small segregated school as a child. She became interested in flying airplanes.
At the time there was no pilot training school in America for African American fliers. So, she went to France and finished aviator training school and earned her pilot’s license.
Bessie Coleman made her reputation as a high-profile aviator in air shows across the country. On April 30, 1926, at the age of 34, she died in a plane crash in Jacksonville, Florida. Coleman, who wanted to establish a school for African American aviators, did not realize her dream.
However, she left a life and legacy for other African American women to follow. Today, there are many African American women pilots flying every type of airplane you can think of.
From military planes, combat jets, and large commercial jetliners, Black women are international aviators, just like Bessie Coleman.
Bessie Coleman honors and awards
In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 32-cent stamp honoring Coleman. The Bessie Coleman Commemorative is the 18th in the U.S. Postal Service Black Heritage series.
In 2001, Coleman was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
In 2006, she was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Coleman was placed No. 14 on Flying’s 2013 list of the “51 Heroes of Aviation”.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Coleman earning her flying license, in August 2022, American Airlines flew a commemorative flight from “Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix. The flight was operated by an all-Black Female crew – from pilots and Flight attendants to the Cargo team members and the aviation maintenance technician.”
In 2023, Mattel added a Bessie Coleman Barbie doll to its “Inspiring Women” series.
All across the United States and beyond, there are streets, schools, stage plays named for Bessie Coleman. There are many more honors and celebrations of Coleman’s life and legacy held across the country and beyond.
Honor for Women in History
It was announced that Wilma Mankiller (2021 quarter), Sally Ride (2021 quarter) and Bessie Coleman (2023 quarter), were selected to have their likeness appear on a quarter-dollar coin as part of the “American Women Quarters” Program.
The next time you have an American quarter-dollar (.25 cents) in your hand take a minute and see if it honors one of America’s historic women.
Additionally, there are many women in construction trades, sports, business, actors, drivers, space travel, clothes design, engineering, law, legal, and many more areas of life. All of these women should be valued, honored, and celebrated.
Women entrepreneurs across the country have demonstrated remarkable strength in the face of opposition. These women are excellent examples of those who persevered and endured gender discrimination.
Women empowerment in business and as business owners and managers are major contributors to the economic and commercial development of local and national communities.
There are many examples of women who’ve demonstrated unique skills and accomplishments in every discipline including education, health, and government.
Women’s History Month 2023 both honors and celebrates the life and legacy of exemplary women whose empowerment is an example for all 21st century women.
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