Women's History Calendar

May Highlights in US Women's History

May 10, 1872 - Victoria Woodhull is nominated as the first woman candidate for U.S. president.
May 8, 1914 - President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day
May 21, 1932 - Amelia Earhart Putnam is the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic flight. She flew from Newfoundland to Ireland, a 2,026-mile trip, in just under 15 hours.
May 5, 1938 - Dr. Dorothy H. Andersen presents results of her medical research identifying the disease cystic fibrosis at a meeting of the American Pediatric Assn.
May 1, 1950 - Gwendolyn Brooks is the first black woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for poetry; in May of 1976, she is the first black woman inducted into the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
May 12, 1968 - A 12-block Mother's Day march of "welfare mothers" is held in Washington, D.C., led by Coretta Scott King accompanied by Ethel Kennedy
May 21, 1973 - Lynn Genesko, a swimmer, receives the first athletic scholarship awarded to a woman (Univ. of Miami)
May 3, 1974 - Billie Jean King founds The Women's Sports Foundation
May 29, 1977 - Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to qualify for and complete the Indy 500
May 7, 1980 - Shirley Hufstedler, former federal judge, becomes the first U.S. Secretary of Education.

May 1, 1830 (1930) - Mary Harris "Mother" Jones - Labor leader and organizer
May 1, 1875 (1912) - Harriet Quimby - First American woman licensed air pilot
May 3, 1898 (1986) - Septima Clark - Educator; Civil Rights activist; inspiration to Rosa Parks
May 3, 1912 (1995) - May Sarton - Writer and poet
May 5, 1865 (1922) - Elizabeth Seaman - "Nelly Bly"; journalist; circled the world in 72 days
May 11, 1906 (1975) - Ethel Weed - Served in the Women's Army Corp.; promoted women's rights and suffrage in Japan; honored by Japanese government for her efforts on behalf of Japanese women
May 11, 1893 (1991) - Martha Graham - modern dance innovator and choreographer
May 15, 1937 - Madeline Albright, first woman to be U.S. Secretary of State
May 19, 1930 (1964) - Lorraine Hansberry - first African American woman to produce a play on Broadway
May 26, 1951 - Sally Ride - astrophysicist; first American woman astronaut
May 27, 1907 (1964) - Rachel Carson - Scientist and environmentalist; wrote "The Silent Spring" which became cornerstone of modern environmental protection movement; 2003 National Women's History Month Honoree
May 31, 1912 (1997) - Chien-Shiung Wu - Renowned physicist; elected to National Academy of Science; received National Medal of Science