by Senator Sharon Grosfeld

Since 1987 when Congress extended National Women’s History Week into a month long observance to be held in March, women’s contributions to the social, economic, political, and cultural fabric of society have been celebrated.  Beginning with women protesting the inhumane treatment of factory workers in New York back in March of 1857, women’s important role in improving the human condition has been recognized throughout the world.  In 1909 International Women’s Day was established and in 1981 Congress enacted National Women’s History Week.

According to the Census Bureau, in 2008 there were 154.7 million women compared to 150.6 men in the United States. (See: http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/2007-nat-res.html).  By age 85, twice as many women are living than are men.  (See: http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2007-sa.html)

Beginning in the 2006 school year, 3 million girls participated in high school sports, whereas 26 years earlier only about 1.75 million girls joined in such activities.  The number of women participating in national college sports in 2006 is 174,534.  See: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>

Who are these known, as well as unsung heroines?  They are the girls learning to assert themselves, thankful to their maternal ancestors for all of their struggles that finally gave women the right to vote, to play competitive sports, to receive an equal education, to maintain a right of privacy, and to take all of the other hard-fought rights for granted.  They are the firsts of their generation to succeed in a cause or field dominated by men.  They are:

1.       Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the first woman to run for the U.S. House of Representatives even though she was not eligible to vote. 

2.       Victoria Woodhull, a stockbroker and publisher who ran for president of the U.S. on the Equal Rights Party ticket in 1872;

3.       Susan B. Anthony, who in 1872 was the first U.S. woman to register to vote;

4.       Belva Lockwood, the first woman admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1884;

5.       Susanna Salter, who in 1887 was elected mayor of Argonia, Kansas, the first woman mayor in the country;

6.       Clara Cressingham, Carrie Holly and Frances Klock from Colorado, who became the first 3 women ever to be elected to a state legislature in 1894;

7.       Martha Hughes Cannon from Utah who in 1896 became the first woman to be elected as a state senator;

8.       The women who risked their lives in 1920, after 72 years of struggle to finally see the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution ratified, giving women the right to vote;

9.       Rebecca Latimer Felton from Georgia who in 1922 was appointed to serve in the U.S. Senate for one full day before being replaced by a man who won the election.

10.    Nellie Taylor Ross, who in 1925 became the nation’s first woman governor, elected to replace her deceased husband, serving for 2 years.

11.     Hattie Wyatt Caraway, appointed in 1931 to succeed her late husband in the U.S. Senate, representing Arizona.  She later became the first woman ever elected to the Senate where she served 2 full terms.

12.    Frances Perkins, who in 1933 was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to be the Secretary of Labor, thereby becoming the first U.S. female Cabinet member, serving until 1945;

13.     Patsy (Takemoto) Mink from Hawaii who in 1965 became the first woman of color and the first woman of Asian-Pacific Islander descent to serve in the House of Representatives;

14.     The women fighting for equal rights and establishing The National Organization for Women in 1966;

15.    Shirley Chisholm, from N.Y. who in 1968 became the first African American woman to serve in Congress and she remained there until 1982.

16.    Patricia Roberts Harris, who in 1977 was appointed by President Carter and became the first African American woman to serve in a presidential cabinet and first woman to hold two different cabinet positions.  She was the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1977-1979 and the Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1979-1981.

17.    Geraldine Ferraro, a 3 term Congresswoman and secretary of the House Democratic Caucus , who in 1984 became the first woman nominated for Vice-President (Mondale for Pres.) by either major political party in the U.S.;

18.    Madeline Kunin, who in 1985 was elected governor of Vermont and became the first woman to serve 3 terms as governor (1985-1991).

19.     Barbara Mikulski from Maryland who in 1986 became the first Democratic woman elected to the U.S. Senate without previously filling an unexpired Congressional term.

20.    Carol Moseley Braun from Illinois who became the first woman of color to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992.

21.     Nydia Velasquez from N.Y. became the first Puerto Rican woman in 1992 to be elected to Congress where she is still serving;

22.    Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer from California became the first two women elected to the U.S. Senate from a single state in 1992;

23.    Janet Reno who became the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General in 1993 until 2001;

24.    Madeleine Albright, who in 1997 became the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State, making her the highest ranking woman in the U.S. government.  She had previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. from 1993-1997.

25.     Aida Alvarez who in 1997 became the first Hispanic woman to hold a cabinet level position when she was appointed administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration in the Clinton administration.

26.     Tammy Baldwin became Wisconsin’s first woman in Congress in 1998 and the first openly lesbian person elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.

27.     Hillary Clinton became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from N.Y. in 2001 and the only First Lady ever elected to public office.

28.    Linda Sanchez, who was elected to Congress in 2002, thereby establishing for the first time two sisters serving together in the House.  Her sister, Representative Loretta Sanchez was elected first in 1996.

29.    Nancy Pelosi, who in 2006 who became the first woman Speaker of the House, making her the third highest ranking official in the U.S. government and the highest ranking female in US political history.

30.    Janet Napolitano who was elected governor of Arizona in 2003, the first time a female governor succeeded another female governor.

31.    Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones from Ohio, Chairwoman of the Committee on Ethics; Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald from California, Chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration; and Representative Nydia Velasquez from N.Y., Chairwoman of the Committee on Small Business, all of whom became the first women of color to simultaneously be Congressional Committee Chairs in 2007.

32.     Senator Hillary Clinton, became the first woman to ever be considered as a top candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2007.

33.    Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, became the first woman to ever be named as a vice-presidential nominee for the Republican Party.

These trailblazing women, along with the women who have gone nameless but left their footprints on this earth, as well as you and the millions of other women working to improve our world – our mothers, sisters, friends, teachers, women in the armed forces, firefighters, police officers and all of our public servants who serve as the role models for the women coming up from behind – are to be honored.