"Dorm Rooms to
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate "Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms "Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms Victoria
Pilate Dorm
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate "Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms "Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms"
Victoria Pilate Dorm
Rooms to
Boardrooms Victoria
Pilate Dorm
This page contains copyright protected
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material. License is granted without
prior permission to teachers and
librarians for educational purposes.
Victoria Pilate, Ph.D.
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Women's History Month
Click here to download WHM
bulletin board images.
Clilck here for WHM
bulleting board images 2.
Click here to download WHM
(international leaders)
bulletin board images.
Click here for 2006
downloadable pdf file.
Click here to download the
2007 file.
Click here to down the 2008
pdf file.
Click here for the 2008 file
as a booklet.
bulletin board images.
Clilck here for WHM
bulleting board images 2.
Click here to download WHM
(international leaders)
bulletin board images.
Click here for 2006
downloadable pdf file.
Click here to download the
2007 file.
Click here to down the 2008
pdf file.
Click here for the 2008 file
as a booklet.
Parts of the U.S. started public celebrations of women's
history in the late 1970s. Celebrations of "Women's History
Week" generally were held in the week which included
March 8, International Women's Day. In 1981, the U.S.
Congress passed a joint Congressional resolution
proclaiming a national Women's History Week. Then in
1987, Congress named March as Women's History Month.
Pauline Cushman
Pauline Cushman (nee’ Harriet Wood) grew up in Michigan. At 18, she struck out
to New York City to become an actress, changing her name in the process. She
traveled across the South in acting theatres but married and moved with her
husband to Cleveland where they settled and had two children. When war broke
out, her husband fought for the Union and died in late 1962. Three months later,
Cushman, touring with a theatrical troupe in Union-controlled Louisville, KY, was
paid to toast Confederate leader Jefferson Davis after a performance. In doing so
she had a plan to ingratiate herself to the rebels and to offer herself to the Union
as a spy. Her ruse worked. She became a spy secreting battle plans and drawings
in her shoes until she was caught. Cushman was sentenced to be hanged but was
saved by Union forces who invaded the area where she was held three days
before her scheduled execution. Lincoln gave her an honorary commission as a
major and by some reports she returned to the South as a spy dressed in a male
uniform. (based on wikipedia.org and Presidio’s monument to Cushman)
Christine Ladd-Franklin
In 1882 Ladd-Franklin met the requirements for a Ph.D. in mathematics. She was
the first woman to do so at John Hopkins University. However, the trustees denied
her the degree and refused to change its policy about admitting women. In the ten
years prior John Hopkins had allowed women to study via public and special
lectures; however, granting a degree was denied to women. Ladd-Franklin would
go on to become a lecturer in the Hopkins Faculty of Philosophy for five years
before leaving for Columbia. Nearly 44 years later, her degree was granted to her
in 1926. (based on John Hopkins Magazine, November 2007)
Claire Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce wanted to become an actress after graduating from high school
but she married and had a daughter. The marriage was marred by her husband’s
alcoholism and they divorced after six years. From there she, went to work as a
writer for stage, film and magazines for which she became known for her satire.
She joined the staff of Vogue magazine as an editorial assistant in 1930. The next
year she became an associate editor of Vanity Fair. Eventually she became
managing editor. She left in 1934 to become a playwright. Late the next year she
married Henry Robinson Luce. She continued to write plays but also joined her
husband as he toured Asia and Africa for his work as a magazine editor. Shortly
before WWII broke out in Europe, Luce had written a stinging critique of British
preparedness. Her work helped reshape British war preparations and saved
untold lives. She went on to become a U.S. Congressional Representative and an
Ambassador. (based on wikipedia)
Emily Reed
Emily Reed was attacked by Alabama segregationist for placing in state libraries a
children’s book about the marriage of two rabbits one of which was black and the
other was white. Alabama lawmakers called the action “possible anti-segregation
motive.” Reed removed the book from open shelves but placed it on reserve
shelves. The author, Garth Williams, said of the outcry, “I was completely unaware
that animals with white fur… were considered blood relatives of white human
beings.” She came under fire again for adding Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Stride to
Freedom to the states recommended reading list in 1959. As a result, the Alabama
legislature introduced a law to require the state library chief to be an Alabama
native and a graduate of the University of Alabama or Auburn University. Reed
would have been disqualified. She left the next year to become coordinator of adult
services for the Washington, DC, library system. She was a Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of Indiana University. She died in 2000 at 89. (based on an article by
Bart Barnes of the Washington Post)
Radioactive Experiments on Women
Between 1945 and 1949 Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Department of
Health conducted experiments on women about iron deficiency during pregnancy.
Of the 1,600 women in the experiment, about half unknowingly ingested radioactive
iron. Four of the women had children die from cancer. In 1998 a lawsuit was
settled in which Vanderbilt University paid $9.1 million, the Rockefeller Foundation
paid $900,000 and the Tennessee Health Department and The Nutrition
Foundation paid $225,000 each. (Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29, 1998)
Anna Coleman Watts Ladd
Educated in Paris and Rome, Ladd was an accomplished sculptor. In 1905 she
married Dr. Maynard Ladd of Boston and continued sculpting after her marriage.
Her husband had been appointed to direct the Children’s Bureau of the American
Red Cross in Toul, France in the WWI aftermath.
With horrific battle scars and in the days before plastic surgery, WWI veterans
faced a life of permanent disfigurement, depression and isolation. Ladd opened
the Studio for Portrait Masks in Paris, administered by the American Red Cross.
Working with artist Francis Derwent Wood, Ladd worked to create plaster casts in
the Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department. The work was short-lived; the
department was disbanded in 191. Ladd worked there for one year and produced
185 masks. Only a fraction of the war’s estimated 20,000 facial casualties were
helped. The masks would only last a few years but the recipients were grateful for
the help. In 1932 she was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor.
(based on a Smithsonian magazine article (February 2007) by Caroline Alexander)
Peggy Gilbert
Peggy Gilbert (nee Margaret Fern Knechtges) broke musical ground for women for
decades. In 1924, the year after she graduated from high school, she started her
first women's band, the Melody Girls. Moving to California she became a noted
jazz saxophonist and bandleader in hot jazz, During and after WWII, Gilbert was
active in all-women ensemble bands, playing in a variety of arenas from vaudeville
to nightclubs. She was also known as an advocate for women trying to make their
way in jazz, a culture long hostile to women instrumentalists. She and other women
musicians endured auditions at which band members were asked to lift their skirts
to prove they had good legs. She helped find opportunities in bands and in film for
male and female musicians. When the war was over, the demand for women's
bands dried up, she worked as a secretary for the Los Angeles local of the
American Federation of Musicians, continuing to perform nights and weekends.
She later formed in 1974 a Dixieland band of older women which performed until
1998. She died at 102 in 2007.
For more information, see Jeannie Pool’s documentary film "Peggy Gilbert and Her
All-Girl Band," 2006. (Based on an article by Margalit Fox in The New York Times)
history in the late 1970s. Celebrations of "Women's History
Week" generally were held in the week which included
March 8, International Women's Day. In 1981, the U.S.
Congress passed a joint Congressional resolution
proclaiming a national Women's History Week. Then in
1987, Congress named March as Women's History Month.
Pauline Cushman
Pauline Cushman (nee’ Harriet Wood) grew up in Michigan. At 18, she struck out
to New York City to become an actress, changing her name in the process. She
traveled across the South in acting theatres but married and moved with her
husband to Cleveland where they settled and had two children. When war broke
out, her husband fought for the Union and died in late 1962. Three months later,
Cushman, touring with a theatrical troupe in Union-controlled Louisville, KY, was
paid to toast Confederate leader Jefferson Davis after a performance. In doing so
she had a plan to ingratiate herself to the rebels and to offer herself to the Union
as a spy. Her ruse worked. She became a spy secreting battle plans and drawings
in her shoes until she was caught. Cushman was sentenced to be hanged but was
saved by Union forces who invaded the area where she was held three days
before her scheduled execution. Lincoln gave her an honorary commission as a
major and by some reports she returned to the South as a spy dressed in a male
uniform. (based on wikipedia.org and Presidio’s monument to Cushman)
Christine Ladd-Franklin
In 1882 Ladd-Franklin met the requirements for a Ph.D. in mathematics. She was
the first woman to do so at John Hopkins University. However, the trustees denied
her the degree and refused to change its policy about admitting women. In the ten
years prior John Hopkins had allowed women to study via public and special
lectures; however, granting a degree was denied to women. Ladd-Franklin would
go on to become a lecturer in the Hopkins Faculty of Philosophy for five years
before leaving for Columbia. Nearly 44 years later, her degree was granted to her
in 1926. (based on John Hopkins Magazine, November 2007)
Claire Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce wanted to become an actress after graduating from high school
but she married and had a daughter. The marriage was marred by her husband’s
alcoholism and they divorced after six years. From there she, went to work as a
writer for stage, film and magazines for which she became known for her satire.
She joined the staff of Vogue magazine as an editorial assistant in 1930. The next
year she became an associate editor of Vanity Fair. Eventually she became
managing editor. She left in 1934 to become a playwright. Late the next year she
married Henry Robinson Luce. She continued to write plays but also joined her
husband as he toured Asia and Africa for his work as a magazine editor. Shortly
before WWII broke out in Europe, Luce had written a stinging critique of British
preparedness. Her work helped reshape British war preparations and saved
untold lives. She went on to become a U.S. Congressional Representative and an
Ambassador. (based on wikipedia)
Emily Reed
Emily Reed was attacked by Alabama segregationist for placing in state libraries a
children’s book about the marriage of two rabbits one of which was black and the
other was white. Alabama lawmakers called the action “possible anti-segregation
motive.” Reed removed the book from open shelves but placed it on reserve
shelves. The author, Garth Williams, said of the outcry, “I was completely unaware
that animals with white fur… were considered blood relatives of white human
beings.” She came under fire again for adding Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Stride to
Freedom to the states recommended reading list in 1959. As a result, the Alabama
legislature introduced a law to require the state library chief to be an Alabama
native and a graduate of the University of Alabama or Auburn University. Reed
would have been disqualified. She left the next year to become coordinator of adult
services for the Washington, DC, library system. She was a Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of Indiana University. She died in 2000 at 89. (based on an article by
Bart Barnes of the Washington Post)
Radioactive Experiments on Women
Between 1945 and 1949 Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Department of
Health conducted experiments on women about iron deficiency during pregnancy.
Of the 1,600 women in the experiment, about half unknowingly ingested radioactive
iron. Four of the women had children die from cancer. In 1998 a lawsuit was
settled in which Vanderbilt University paid $9.1 million, the Rockefeller Foundation
paid $900,000 and the Tennessee Health Department and The Nutrition
Foundation paid $225,000 each. (Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29, 1998)
Anna Coleman Watts Ladd
Educated in Paris and Rome, Ladd was an accomplished sculptor. In 1905 she
married Dr. Maynard Ladd of Boston and continued sculpting after her marriage.
Her husband had been appointed to direct the Children’s Bureau of the American
Red Cross in Toul, France in the WWI aftermath.
With horrific battle scars and in the days before plastic surgery, WWI veterans
faced a life of permanent disfigurement, depression and isolation. Ladd opened
the Studio for Portrait Masks in Paris, administered by the American Red Cross.
Working with artist Francis Derwent Wood, Ladd worked to create plaster casts in
the Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department. The work was short-lived; the
department was disbanded in 191. Ladd worked there for one year and produced
185 masks. Only a fraction of the war’s estimated 20,000 facial casualties were
helped. The masks would only last a few years but the recipients were grateful for
the help. In 1932 she was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor.
(based on a Smithsonian magazine article (February 2007) by Caroline Alexander)
Peggy Gilbert
Peggy Gilbert (nee Margaret Fern Knechtges) broke musical ground for women for
decades. In 1924, the year after she graduated from high school, she started her
first women's band, the Melody Girls. Moving to California she became a noted
jazz saxophonist and bandleader in hot jazz, During and after WWII, Gilbert was
active in all-women ensemble bands, playing in a variety of arenas from vaudeville
to nightclubs. She was also known as an advocate for women trying to make their
way in jazz, a culture long hostile to women instrumentalists. She and other women
musicians endured auditions at which band members were asked to lift their skirts
to prove they had good legs. She helped find opportunities in bands and in film for
male and female musicians. When the war was over, the demand for women's
bands dried up, she worked as a secretary for the Los Angeles local of the
American Federation of Musicians, continuing to perform nights and weekends.
She later formed in 1974 a Dixieland band of older women which performed until
1998. She died at 102 in 2007.
For more information, see Jeannie Pool’s documentary film "Peggy Gilbert and Her
All-Girl Band," 2006. (Based on an article by Margalit Fox in The New York Times)
