Women's History Month Blog

WOMEN's BIBLIOGRAPHY for Full Text Reports

2008-09-11T11:18:00.003+02:00

Diversity: Women and Minorities
Last Updated August 22, 2008

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BEAUTY AT ANY COST. [YWCA]. Web posted August 20, 2008.

According to the report, engulfed by a popular culture saturated with images of idealized, air-brushed and unattainable female physical beauty, women and girls cannot escape feeling judged on the basis of their appearance. As a result, many women feel chronically insecure, overweight and inadequate, as these beauty images apply to an ever-shrinking pool of women. The pressure to achieve unrealistic physical beauty is an undercurrent in the lives of many women in the United States.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

Full Text:
http://www.ywca.org/atf/cf/{3B450FA5-108B-4D2E-B3D0-C31487243E6A}/Beauty%20at%20Any%20Cost.pdf [PDF format, 9 pages].

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THE ENVIRONMENT FOR WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA. World Bank. Nadereh Chamlou. June 2008.

The report presents how women entrepreneurs can contribute more to the quality and direction of economic and social development in the Middle East and North Africa region. Economic growth in the Middle East has been remarkable over the last four years, due mainly to higher oil prices. Rapid job growth has followed, driven mainly by the private sector. However, the region still faces challenges. The first is to create better jobs for an increasingly educated young workforce and the second is to diversify its economies away from the traditional sectors of agriculture, natural resources, construction, and public works and into sectors that can provide more and better jobs for young people.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

Full Text:
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/06/09/000334955_20080609073227/Rendered/PDF/441170WP0Envir1UNE0610200801PUBLIC1.pdf [PDF format, 90 pages].

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VOICES OF WOMEN IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. International Finance Corporation, World Bank. June 11, 2008.

The Indonesian Women's Business Association (IWAPI) has a membership of nearly 16000 members spread over all 30 provinces engaging in various sectors, such as industry, service, education, trade, mining, and other sectors. A majority of women entrepreneurs in Indonesia are engaged in the micro, small and medium scale enterprises. They serve as agents of change by contributing considerable economic activity and the creation of new job opportunities. Despite the significant role that women play in entrepreneurship and the fact that some women entrepreneurs have achieved considerable business success, a large number continue to face daunting challenges and barriers in operating their business.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

Full Text:
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/06/16/000333038_20080616010031/Rendered/PDF/441850WP0REPLA1oices0Women01PUBLIC1.pdf
[PDF format, 48 pages]

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WHERE THE GIRLS ARE: THE FACTS ABOUT GENDER EQUITY IN EDUCATION. American Association of University Women. Christianne Corbett et al. May 2008.

The authors examine a comprehensive look at girls’ educational achievement during the past 35 years, paying special attention to the relationship between girls’ and boys’ progress. Analyses of results from national standardized tests and other measures of educational achievement provide an overall picture of trends in gender equity from elementary school to college and beyond. These analyses support three overarching facts about gender equity in schools today. Girls’ successes don’t come at boys’ expense. On average, girls’ and boys’ educational performance has improved. The authors note that the real crisis is that of the African American, Hispanic, and low-income children.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

Full Text:
http://www.aauw.org/research/upload/whereGirlsAre.pdf [PDF format, 124 pages].

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HUMAN CAPITAL AND WOMEN’S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP. U.S. Small Business Administration. Darrene Hackler et al. Web posted April 28, 2008.

Self-employed women differ from their wage and salary earning counterparts in several human capital areas. The self-employed women tend to be older, are better educated, and have more managerial experience than wage and salary earners. “Human capital factors such as education and experience have long been known to have a positive correlation with entrepreneurship,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy.
Full Text:
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs323tot.pdf [PDF format, 75 pages].

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MIND THE GAP – WOMEN’S AND MEN’S QUALITY OF WORK AND EMPLOYMENT. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Kasia Jurczak and John Hurley. Web posted April 30, 2008.

Gender mainstreaming is an integral part of the research conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. When labor market participation, working conditions and the resulting labor market outcomes are analyzed, the difference in the situation of women and men is evident. This report highlights the main issues concerning women’s situation in the labor market and indicates where the principal barriers to women’s participation lay.

[Note: contains copyrighted material]

Full Text:
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2008/39/en/1/ef0839en.pdf [PDF format, 12 pages].

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GENDER, POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS ON AFRICAN COUNTRIES: 2007 VOLUME VIII. Beejaye Kokil, Maurice Mubila, Grégoire Mboya De Loubassou, and A. Hilaire Kadisha Mbiya. Economic and Social Statistics Division, Statistics Department, African Development Bank. Web posted October 9, 2007.

This report presents information on gender, poverty, and environmental issues of interest to Africa’s developmental agenda. The report is divided into three main parts. The first part shows the linkages between poverty and the environment. Using cross-country data, the second section focuses on progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The third part provides detailed, country-specific data on the 53 countries reviewed.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text: [English and French]
http://www.afdb.org/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/ADB_ADMIN_PG/DOCUMENTS/STATISTICS/GENDER_2007_WEB.PDF [pdf format, 314 pages]

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WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA. Freedom House. Web posted October 14, 2007.

This report consists of reports on 16 countries and one territory. “Each report begins with a section presenting basic political, economic, and social data, as well as key statistics relevant to the status of women.” Some of the subjects surveyed are nondiscrimination, access to justice; autonomy, security, freedom of the person; and economic rights and equal opportunity.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text: English and Arabic
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=383&report=56&group=1 [pdf format by sections, various pagings]

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HIGHLIGHTS OF WOMEN’S EARNINGS IN 2006. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. September 2007.

This report supplies earnings data for women who were full-time wage and salary workers in 2006. Some of the highlights of this report are as follows: (1) Median weekly earnings were highest for women and men aged 45 to 64, but the differences between women’s and men’s earnings were also largest at those ages; (2) “between 1979 and 2006, the earnings gap between women and men narrowed”; (3) earnings differences between men and women were widest for Asians and for whites; and across the major race and Hispanic ethnicity, women’s inflation-adjusted earnings grew from 1979 to 2006 while men salaries were mostly flat or down.

Full Text:
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2006.pdf [pdf format, 40 pages]

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ARE MALE AND FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS REALLY THAT DIFFERENT? Erin Kepler and Scott Shane. Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration. Web posted September 14, 2007.

Previous research has shown that women-owned firms lag behind male-owned firms in factors such as annual sales, employment growth, income, and venture survival. This study tried to determine why a performance difference exists. The findings are: “when other factors are controlled for, gender does not affect new venture performance. However, several factors—differing expectations, reasons for starting a business, motivations, opportunities sought and types of businesses—vary between the genders, and these result in differing outcomes.”

Full Text:
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs309tot.pdf [pdf format, 61 pages]

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GENDER EQUALITY, POVERTY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. Andrew Morrison, Dhushyanth Raju, and Nistha Sinha. Policy Research Working Paper, World Bank. Web posted September 11, 2007.

This paper reviews economic analyses of gender equality and women’s empowerment in reducing poverty and stimulating growth. The paper presents evidence of women’s access to markets and their decision-making power on poverty reduction and productivity at an individual level as well as at the household level. The paper also summarizes evidence from studies that examined the relationship between gender equality and poverty reduction at the macro economic level. Finally, the paper identifies priority areas for future research.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text: [May need to cut and paste URL]
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2007/09/11/000158349_20070911132056/Rendered/PDF/wps4349.pdf [pdf format, 57 pages]

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ARE CASH TRANSFERS MADE TO WOMEN SPENT LIKE OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME? Norbert Schady and Jose Rosero. Policy Research Working Paper, World Bank. Web posted July 25, 2007.

This study determined how cash transfers to women were used and if those transfers changed household behavior that could affect social program designs. The study transferred unconditional cash to women in rural Ecuador. The findings show that these transfers had a significant effect on food expenditures especially in households with adult males and females but not in households with female adults only.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text: [May need to cut and paste URL]
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2007/07/25/000158349_20070725090857/Rendered/PDF/WPS4282.pdf [pdf format, 32 pages]
Item# 07AD842 MSP Theme: 3B;12DIG Geo: WHA

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WOMEN IN ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS: TOWARD AN ISLAMIST MODEL OF WOMEN’S ACTIVISM. Omayma Abdellatif and Marina Ottaway. Carnegie Papers, Carnegie Middle East Center, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Web posted July 10, 2007.

Women are playing a larger role in shaping the politics of Islamists. They remain concerned with the preservation of Islamist values, but are pushing for more political participation and representation. The authors interviewed female members of Hizbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood, and talked with women activists in Morocco, Kuwait, and other countries. The paper identifies emerging issues, but the authors stress that additional research needs to be done before conclusions can be drawn.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cmec2_women_in_islam_final1.pdf [pdf format, 20 pages]

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WOMEN AND SOCIAL SECURITY. Issue Brief, American Academy of Actuaries. June 2007.

Even though social security benefits are gender-neutral, social security provides different levels of retirement for women and men. Currently, when women assume roles as heads of families, social security provides lower benefits for the same contributions or it requires higher contributions with little to no increase in benefits. This issue brief discusses these differences, provides details on how these differences’ impact women, and then proposes several reforms to the system.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text:
http://www.actuary.org/pdf/socialsecurity/women_07.pdf [pdf format, 8 pages]

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WHO’S PLAYING COLLEGE SPORTS? TRENDS IN PARTICIPATION. John Cheslock. Research Series, Women’s Sports Foundation. June 5, 2007.

This study provides a comprehensive examination of women’s participation in intercollegiate athletics. The research team analyzed data from most institutions of higher education. The results indicate that women continue to be underrepresented among college athletes. Women enjoyed a substantial increase in the 1990s, but that progress slowed since 2000.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/binary-data/reportcard/fullreport.pdf[pdf format, 32 pages]

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BEHIND THE PAY GAP. Judy Goldberg Dey and Catherine Hill. American Association of University Women Education Foundation. Web posted April 23, 2007.

This study examines the gender pay gap for college graduates. The study found that women one year after college graduation earn only 80 percent as much as men. Ten years after graduation, women fall farther behind. The study took several variables into consideration and found that “despite the progress women have made, gender pay equity in the workplace remains an issue.” The authors suggest that improvements to federal equal pay laws are needed to ensure that women and men are treated fairly when they perform the same or comparable work.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text:
http://www.aauw.org/research/behindPayGap.pdf [pdf format, 67 pages]

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THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW): CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES. Luisa Blanchfield. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Updated December 14, 2006.

The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has 98 signatures and has been ratified by 184 countries. After 26 years, the Convention has not been ratified by the full Senate. Some U.S. supporters of the Convention contend that it is a valuable mechanism for fighting discrimination against women, but opponents believe that it is not the most efficient way to eliminate this discrimination.

This report provides background information on the Convention and will be updated as necessary.

Full Text:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33652.pdf [pdf format, 15 pages]

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THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2007: WOMEN AND CHILDREN: THE DOUBLE DIVIDEND OF GENDER EQUALITY. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Web posted December 11, 2006.

This report covering the lives of women around the world, states that since gender equality and the well-being of children go hand in hand. When women are empowered, children prosper. Similarly, when women are denied equal opportunity, children suffer.

“Gender equality is not only morally right—it is pivotal to human progress and sustainable development.” It provides a positive impact to nutrition, health care, and education of children. Without gender equality, it is impossible to create a world of equity, tolerance and shared responsibility.

Gender discrimination remains pervasive in every region of the world. Cultural traditions perpetuate social exclusion and discrimination. Eliminating gender discrimination will benefit three areas—the household, the workplace and the political sphere.

“This report intends to provide a road map to accelerate progress towards gender equality and empowering women through education, financing, legislation, legislative quotas, engaging men and boys, women empowering women and improved research and data.”

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Full Text:
http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf [pdf format, 160 pages]

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WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE: A DATABOOK. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. September 2006.

Over the past several decades there have been notable changes in women’s labor force activities compared to men’s. In 1970, approximately 43 percent of the women were in the labor force. By the late 1990s, the percentage had risen to 60 percent. Women have been increasingly employed in higher-paying occupations—more than half in management, professional, and related occupations. In 1979, women’s earnings were 62 percent of men’s; by 2005, it had grown to 81 percent.

[This report presents historical and current labor force and earnings data for women and men from the Current Population Survey (CPS) which is a national monthly survey conduced by the U.S. Census Bureau.]

Full Report:
http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook-2006.pdf [pdf format, 86 pages]

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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT FOR THE UNITED NATIONS STUDY ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN.
United Nations General Assembly. August 2006; Web-posted October 11, 2006.

Violence against children includes physical violence, psychological violence, discrimination, neglect and maltreatment. It ranges from sexual abuse in the home to corporal and humiliating punishment at school; from the use of physical restraints in children’s homes to brutality at the hands of law enforcement officers; from abuse and neglect in institutions to gang warfare on the streets where children play or work; from infanticide to so-called “honor” killing.

The report stresses that much violence remains hidden or unreported, and figures therefore often underestimate the scope of the problem. Nevertheless, the statistics cited in the study reveal a deplorable picture. For example:
In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that some 53,000 children aged 0-17 died as a result of homicide;
According to the International Labor Office’s (ILO) latest estimates, 5.7 million children were in forced or bonded labor, 1.8 million in prostitution and pornography, and 1.2 million were victims of trafficking in 2000.
In 16 developing countries reviewed by a Global School-Based Health Survey, the percentage of school-aged children that reported having been verbally or physically bullied at school in the previous 30 days ranged from 20 per cent in some countries to as much as 65 per cent in others;
Children in detention are frequently subjected to violence by staff, including as a form of control or punishment, often for minor infractions.
In 77 countries, corporal and other violent punishments are accepted as legal disciplinary measures in penal institutions.

http://www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/English.pdf [English-language version, pdf format, 34 pages]
http://www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/French.pdf [French-language version, pdf format, 37 pages]
http://www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/Spanish.pdf [Spanish-language version, pdf format, 37 pages]
http://www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/Arabic.pdf [Arabic-language version, pdf format, 44 pages]
http://www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/Chinese.pdf [Arabic-language version, pdf format, 31 pages]
http://www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/Russian.pdf [Russian-language version, pdf format, 40 pages]

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IN-DEPTH STUDY ON ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL.
United Nations General Assembly. July 2006; Web-posted October 10, 2006.

The report asserts that women are subjected to violence in a wide range of settings, including the family, the community, state custody, and armed conflict and its aftermath. Violence constitutes a continuum across the lifespan of women, from before birth to old age. Furthermore, it occurs in both public and private spheres.

The study notes that the most common form of violence experienced by women globally is intimate partner violence, sometimes leading to death. Harmful traditional practices, including early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting, are also widespread. Within the community setting, femicide (gender-based murder of women), sexual violence, sexual harassment and trafficking in women are receiving increasing attention. Violence perpetrated by the State, through its agents, through omission, or through public policy, spans physical, sexual and psychological violence. It can constitute torture. The high incidence of violence against women in armed conflict, particularly sexual violence including rape, has become alarmingly clear.

The report underscores the fact that violence against women has far-reaching consequences for women, their children, and society as a whole. Women who experience violence suffer a range of health problems, and their ability to earn a living and to participate in public life is diminished. Their children are also significantly more at risk of health problems, poor school performance and behavioral disturbances.

[Note: UN reports are often difficult to access. If you get a “No authorization” message via the links below, go to: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/ and select the preferred language version from there.]

http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/61/122/ADD.1&Lang=E [English-language version, pdf format, 139 pages]
http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/61/122/ADD.1&Lang=A [Arabic-language version, pdf format, 185 pages]
http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/61/122/ADD.1&Lang=C [Chinese-language version, pdf format, 127 pages]
http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/61/122/ADD.1&Lang=F [French-language version, pdf format, 156 pages]
http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/61/122/ADD.1&Lang=S [Spanish-language version, pdf format, 157 pages]
http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/61/122/ADD.1&Lang=R [Russian-language version, pdf format, 139 pages]

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HIGHLIGHTS OF WOMEN'S EARNINGS IN 2005.
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). September 2006.

This report presents earnings data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a national monthly survey of approximately 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Information on earnings is collected from one-fourth of the CPS sample each month.

Among the data presented in this most recent report are the following:
* Median weekly earnings were highest for women and men aged 45 to 64. Among women, 45- to 54-year-olds had median weekly earnings of $644, little different than the $639 median for 55- to 64-year-olds. Among men, median weekly earnings also were about the same for those aged 45 to 54 ($853) as for those aged 55 to 64 ($855).
* The difference between women’s and men’s earnings was much larger among middle-aged and older workers than among younger workers. For instance, among workers aged 45 to 54, women earned 75 percent as much as men. By comparison, among workers 25 to 34 years old, women earned 89 percent as much as men, and among 16- to 24-year-olds, the earnings ratio rose to 93 percent.
* Earnings differences between women and men in 2005 were widest for whites and for Asians. Asian women earned about 81 percent as much as Asian men did, and white women earned 80 percent as much as white men did. Both black women (89 percent) and Hispanic women (88 percent) had earnings that were closer to those of their male counterparts.
* Median weekly earnings varied significantly by level of education. Among women, those with less than a high school diploma earned $341 per week in 2005, compared with $883 for those with a college degree. Among men, high school dropouts had earnings of $455 a week, compared with $1,167 for college graduates.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2005.pdf [pdf format, 40 pages]

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ZERO TOLERANCE: STOP THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN, STOP HIV/AIDS.
Lisa Schechtman.
Global AIDS Alliance (GAA). August 1, 2006.

Worldwide, violence against women and children is playing a critical role in driving the spread of HIV/AIDS. In this report, the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) outlines a Zero Tolerance framework for addressing the epidemic of violence, including increased funding commitments from donor and affected country governments and multilateral institutions. This advocacy brief states that establishing zero tolerance for violence is a matter of basic respect for human rights, particularly those of women, including sexual and reproductive rights.

Violence is linked to HIV. Women who have experienced violence may be up to three times more likely to acquire HIV. In addition to behavioral risk factors, there are direct consequences of unprotected forced or coerced sex, and this is compounded by global HIV/AIDS policies that fail to take seriously the realities facing women and girls. Fear of violence can prevent women from seeking counseling and testing, disclosing their HIV status, and receiving treatment when it is needed.

The author of this document describes a framework for a comprehensive response to violence against women and children, including the political and financial resources that would be needed for full implementation. The report outlines essential elements in any such framework:
* Political Commitment and Resource Mobilization
* Legal and Judicial Reform
* Health Sector Reform
* Education Sector Reform
* Community Mobilization for Zero Tolerance
* Mass Marketing for Social Change

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/docs/Zero_Tolerance_Advocacy_Brief.pdf [pdf format, 48 pages]

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2005 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners of the Fortune 500.
[Catlyst, Survey] 2006.
http://catalyst.org/files/full/2005%20COTE.pdf [pdf format, 100 pages]

2005 CATALYST CENSUS OF WOMEN CORPORATE OFFICERS AND TOP EARNERS OF THE FORTUNE 500.
Catlyst. 2006.

This 2005 survey shows that, in the last three years, growth in the percentage of corporate officer positions held by women slowed to a ten year low. In 2005, women held 16.4 percent of corporate officer positions, only 0.7 percentage points more than they did in 2002. Furthermore, the percentage of corporate officer positions held by women of color stagnated at 1.7 percent. In addition, only 6.4 percent of corporate officer top earners were women.

A deeper look into corporate officer status shows that while women were almost two and one-half times as likely to hold staff positions as they were to hold line positions, men were only slightly more likely to hold staff positions than line positions. Women also held 9.4 percent of the highest executive titles, up from 7.9 percent in 2002. In 2005, eight companies in the Fortune 500 were led by a woman CEO, compared with six in 2002.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
http://catalyst.org/files/full/2005%20COTE.pdf [pdf format, 100 pages]

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HE ROLE OF WOMEN IN STABILIZATION AND RECONSTRUCTION.
Camille Pampell Conaway.
United States Institute of Peace (USIP). August 2006.

In January 2001, the U.S. Congress enacted the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act of 2001, calling attention to the needs of the civilian population following the overthrow of the Taliban, and mandating the provision of education and health care assistance for women and children. In March 2004, a bipartisan group of Congressional members formed the Iraqi Women's Caucus to support women's access to education and training, and encourage their participation in the political process and democratic transition. In March 2005, the focus of Congress expanded from specific conflicts to global concern, and the Women and Children in Crisis and Conflict Protection Act of 2005 was drafted and referred to relevant committees.

The Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM) was established at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in recent years, and in 2004 the administration created the Office of Stabilization and Reconstruction at the Department of State. Both are currently reviewing and developing strategies and policies to prevent and address conflict, and have pledged to integrate women, peace, and security into their mandates. Representatives of these offices liaise frequently with the women's offices within their agencies and consult with relevant international and national-level nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to guide the process for implementation of their commitments.

The report is structured as follows:
* Part I addresses lessons and recommendations for the critical task of institutionalizing the role of women in these operations, across the U.S. government.
* Part II addresses lessons and recommendations for priority tasks for the U.S. government to follow to enhance the role of women in its reconstruction and stabilization operations.
* Part III consists of a matrix of action steps -- generated jointly by U.S. government- agency and civil-society representatives during the course of working group sessions.

http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/srs/srs_three.pdf [pdf format, 24 pages]

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WOMEN IN MEDIA 2006: FINDING THE LEADER IN YOU.
Mary Arnold and Mary Nesbitt.
Northwestern University, Media Management Center; McCormick Tribune Foundation. July 2006.

Since 2003 the media world has seen the share of executive positions held by women increase only slightly, by two percentage points, to 29 percent. And the number of women publishers has remained the same, at 18 percent in the 137 newspapers surveyed. Women have some qualities that fit well with a constructive culture, say the authors of this report. Overall, women’s leadership style tends to be inclusive and collaborative, rather than hierarchical, and they are often more attuned to the changing needs of the marketplace.

What women in the news field need to focus on now, according to Arnold and Nesbitt, is developing the leadership skills that they will need to develop a business. The report stresses that leaders must be willing to constantly step outside their comfort zone, take risks and tolerate some failures. As leaders, they also need to encourage others to do the same.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

http://www.mediamanagementcenter.org/publications/data/wim2006.pdf [pdf format, 56 pages]

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INTEGRATING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS PROGRAMS: STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEPFAR [U.S. PRESIDENT’S EMERGENCY PLAN FOR AIDS RELIEF]. A Report of the CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS.
Janet Fleischman.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). July 2006.

[NOTE: Extra discretion advised. Portions of this item may not reflect current Department of State policy. Consult with an American officer in the Public Affairs/Public Diplomacy section before distributing to outside contacts.]

The CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS is co-chaired by Senators Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In the wake of increasing consensus that women and girls need to be the focus of anti-AIDS efforts, this Task Force report urges policymakers to integrate HIV/AIDS services into reproductive health (RP) and family planning (FP) services. Among the recommendations the Task Force makes are:
* PEPFAR country teams should include women’s health advocates and networks of women living with HIV/AIDS in programming and resource allocation decisions.
* The State Department’s Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) should bring to the attention of the U.S. government and the U.S. public this growing body of evidence supporting integrated strategies, and build support for a streamlined approach that successfully addresses both reproductive health and HIV imperatives, to the benefit of both.
* PEPFAR should broaden its approach to prevention beyond ABC to include reproductive health and family planning integration.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/060712_hivaids.pdf [pdf format, 36 pages]

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GENDER AND MIGRATION.
Richard Fry.
Pew Hispanic Center. July 5, 2006.

The author examines the gender composition of migration to the U.S. While in recent decades, females have comprised an increasing share of migrants worldwide, the U.S. has experienced a different trend. Legal migration to the U.S. is in fact more female -- as it is elsewhere. However, the effects of a growing and largely male, unauthorized migration, has meant that women are a slightly smaller share of the foreign-born population than they were 25 years ago.

The report also shows that the profile of the female immigrant to the U.S. has changed considerably over the past quarter century. In 2004, recently arrived female migrants were better educated, older and less likely to have children than their counterparts in 1980.

[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]

Report:
http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/64.pdf [pdf format, 42 pages]
Fact Sheets:
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=64#OtherTitle [sections in pdf and html formats, various pagings]

Milestones in U.S. Women's History

2008-04-09T15:40:00.001+02:00

```` Milestones in U.S. Women's History

(Some of the outstanding people and events that moved women's rights forward)

1848 U.S. Women's Rights Movement is sparked at a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Delegates issue a Declaration of Sentiments calling for equality with men, including the right to vote.
Related article: "Seneca Falls Convention Began Women's Right's Movement ( http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2005/June/20080229183432liameruoy0.6444055.html )."

1849 Elizabeth Blackwell is the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States. She becomes a pioneer in women's education in medicine.

1851 Abolitionist and former slave Sojourner Truth gives her famous speech "Ain't I a Woman?" to the Ohio Women's Rights Convention. She is an eloquent champion of the rights of African Americans and women.
Related article: "Sojourner Truth ( http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/truth.htm )."

1869 Wyoming, then a U.S. territory, is the first jurisdiction to grant women the right to vote. Many Wyoming legislators -- all male -- hope it will attract more single marriageable women to the region.

1881 Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross, expanding on the original concept of the International Red Cross to include assisting in national disasters as well as wars.
Related article: "Clara Harlowe Barton ( http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/barton.htm )."

1916 Jeannette Rankin of Montana is the first woman elected to Congress, serving two nonconsecutive terms. She casts the only vote in Congress against war on Japan after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
Related article: "Jeannette Pickering Rankin ( http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/rankin.htm )."

1920 The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote, becomes law when it is ratified by two-thirds of the states. The League of Women Voters is founded.
Related article: "League of Women Voters Educates U.S. Electorate ( http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/December/20061226164032berehellek0.5835077.html )."

1925 Nellie Tayloe Ross is the first woman governor of a state (Wyoming). In 1933, she is appointed first female director of the U.S. Mint.

1926 Gertrude Ederle is the first woman to swim the English Channel. Only five men had swum the Channel before her, and she cuts two hours off their fastest time.

1931 Jane Addams is the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Addams is an advocate for the poor, a pacifist, a reformer, and a feminist.
Related article: "Jane Addams ( http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/addams.htm )."

1932 Amelia Earhart makes the first solo flight by a woman across the Atlantic. She is the first woman to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

1932 Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas is the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She is also the first to chair a Senate committee and to preside over the Senate.
Related article: "Hattie Wyatt Caraway ( http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/caraway.htm )."

1933 Frances Perkins is sworn in as secretary of labor. She was appointed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the first woman ever to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.

1953 Jacqueline Cochran is the first woman to break the sound barrier. During her career, she sets more speed and altitude records than any of her contemporaries, male or female.

1955 Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, thus sparking the U.S. civil rights movement.
Related article: "U.S. Marks 50th Anniversary of Montgomery Bus Boycott ( http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2005/November/20080225140519liameruoy0.664715.html )."

1962 Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, calls attention to the dangers of agricultural pesticides. It inspires a national environmental movement in the United States.
Related article: "Rachel Carson: Pen Against Poison ( http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/carson/index.html )."

1963 Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique, which galvanizes the women's rights movement. The Equal Pay Act prohibits paying women less than men for the same job.

1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race or sex.
Related article: "Nation Celebrates Anniversary of Landmark Civil Rights Law ( http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2004/June/20040624160152jmnamdeirf0.1434442.html )."

1968 Shirley Chisholm is the first black woman elected to Congress. She makes an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1972.
Related article: "Shirley Chisholm Dead at 80 ( http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2005/January/20050104154338jmnamdeirf0.2672235.html )."

1972 Title IX of the Education Amendments bans sex discrimination in schools. Enrollment of women in athletics programs and professional schools increases dramatically.

1978 "Women's History Week" is first celebrated in Sonoma County, California. (Congress first passes a resolution on National Women's History Week in 1981.)

1981 Sandra Day O'Connor is the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, serving until 2006. Jeane Kirkpatrick becomes the first female U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Related article: "Sandra Day O'Connor ( http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/oconnor.htm )."

1983 Sally Ride is the first American woman in space, flying on the shuttle Challenger. She flies a second shuttle mission in 1984.
Related article: "Women Star in Cosmic Quest ( http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/August/20060818165849bcreklaw0.4844324.html )."

1984 Geraldine Ferraro becomes the first woman nominated for vice president by a major party -- the Democrats -- when she is selected as Walter Mondale's running mate.

1987 Congress expands Women's History Week to a monthlong event celebrated in March.
Related article: "Women's History, Accomplishments Celebrated Every March ( http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2008/February/20080227184124liameruoy0.1790735.html )."

1993 Toni Morrison becomes the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature. Janet Reno is the first woman attorney general of the United States.

1997 Madeleine Albright is sworn is as the first woman U.S. secretary of state. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, she became a U.S. citizen in 1957.

2005 Condoleezza Rice is the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state.
Related article: "Biography of Condoleezza Rice ( http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/41252.htm )."

2007 Nancy Pelosi is sworn in as the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, one of the most powerful posts in the U.S. government.

Related article: "First Female Speaker to Preside at State of Union ( http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2007/January/200701191129461CJsamohT2.987307e-02.html )."

The World Bank: Social Exclusion and the Gender Gap in Education

2008-03-30T08:01:00.003+02:00

Social Exclusion and the Gender Gap in Education
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2008/03/18/000158349_20080318104842/Rendered/PDF/wps4562.pdf

Policy Research Working Paper 4562

The World Bank
Human Development Network
Chief Economist's Office
March 2008
WPS4562

Maureen Lewis Marlaine Lockheed
World Bank Center for Global Development

Despite a sharp increase in the share of girls who enroll in, attend, and complete various levels of schooling, an educational gender gap remains in some countries. In this paper we argue that one explanation for this gender gap is the degree of social exclusion within these countries, as measured by ethno-linguistic heterogeneity, which triggers both economic and psycho-social mechanisms to limit girls’ schooling. Ethno-linguistic heterogeneity (or ethno-linguistic fractionalization, ELF) has appeared in the literature as a driver of economic growth, civil conflict, and the availability of public goods (Alesina, Devleeschauwer, Easterly, Kurlat, and Wacziarg. 2003; Habyarimana, Humphreys, Posner and Weinstein, 2007; Matuszeski, and Schneider 2006), but this is a first application of the concept to explain gender gaps in education.

The organization of this paper is as follows. Section 1 discusses the effects of female education on economic and social development. Section 2 reviews the evidence regarding gender and ethnic differences in schooling, and introduces the concept of “social exclusion” as it applies to these differences. Section 3 examines the origins of social exclusion and reviews various theories from economics, sociology and psychology regarding how social exclusion can account for gender and ethnic differences in education. Section 4 tests the association empirically through cross-country analyses, and Section 5 presents our conclusions.

SELECTIVE WEB SITES ON WOMEN’S INTERNET RESOURCES WIKI

2008-03-25T11:19:00.003+02:00

SELECTIVE WEB SITES
ON WOMEN’S INTERNET RESOURCES
In celebration of Women’s History Month
March 2008 to accompany Power Point Slides

I. AMERICA.GOV
Women in the United States
http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/history_geography_and_population/population_and_diversity/women_in_the_us.html

Census on Women in the U.S.: We the People: Women & Men in the U.S.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-20.pdf

Census Bureau; Facts for Features on Women in the US, March 2008 edition: Women’s History Month:March 2008http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08ff-03.pdf

Presidential Proclamation on Women’s History Month, 2008
http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2008/March/20080311111409eaifas1.366824e-02.html

Remarks to Women Leaders Working Group
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/03/101819.htm

AMERICA.GOV PUBLICATIONS:

AMERICAN WOMEN OF INFLUENCE
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/

WOMEN IN POLITICS
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womenpolitics/

AMERICAN WOMEN OF INFLUENCE
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/

WORKING FOR WOMEN, WORLDWIDE
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/women/combat.htm

ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROMOTE DIVERSITY
http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/None/None/20080109161848eaifas0.2371942.html

DEMOCRACY DIALOGUES INTRODUCES NEW FEATURE ON "WOMEN'S RIGHTS"
http://usinfo.state.gov/dd/eng_democracy_dialogues/womens_rights.html

ASK.AMERICA : Webchats
Democracy Dialogues: Women's Political Participation: Paula Dobriansky
http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/USINFO/Products/Webchats/dobriansky_16_mar_2006.html

Author Ethlie Ann Vare Discusses Women Inventors. Transcript
http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2008/March/20080311154324xjsnommis2.270144e-02.html

II. INTERNET RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN WOMEN:
Women’s History Month Links
http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2008/March/20080305191341xlrennef0.3574945.html

National Women’s History Museum with Virtual Exhibits:
http://www.nmwh.org/

National Women’s History Project: exhibits, events, publications:
http://www.nwhp.org/

United Nation International Women’s Day
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/women/womday97.htm

Digitized Manuscripts On Women’s History:

Schlesinger Library on Women’s History:
http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles/

Women’s History Month….Resources:
http://www.ed.gov/free/w-history.html

Library of Congress Resources on American Women:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/

Topical Essays about American Women:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awhessays.html

Women’s History Internet Resources, Evergreen State College
http://govdocs.evergreen.edu/hotopics/womenshistory/index.html

Women of the Century: Teaching Tools and Classroom Discussion Topics
http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/womenofthecentury/

Brief History of Women’s History Month:
http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/whm/index.htm

Women’s History Resources from the Internet Public Library:
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/soc50.90.90/

Poynter’s Links to Women of the World (news):
http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=49&aid=1142

Femina: A Guide to Sites about Women:
http://www.femina.com/

University of Maryland’s Internet Resources:
http://research.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/links.html

Global Fund for Women:
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/

Electronic Journals on Women:
http://www.advancingwomen.com/awl/awl_journal_archive.html

Journal of African Women’s Studies:
http://www.jendajournal.com/

Journal of International Women’s Studies:
http://www.bridgew.edu/SoAS/jiws/

E-JOURNALS from AMERICA.GOV:

THE CHANGING ROLES OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0597/ijse/ijse0597.htm

TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN INFORMATION:
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/

FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS AND BUSINESSWOMEN:

MY BIZ FOR WOMEN http://www.sba.gov/women/

How to Construct a Business Plan: http://www.bplans.com/

ACCESSING NGO STUDIES ON WOMEN and MANUALS on WOMEN’s EMPOWERMENT : http://www.eldis.org/

SEARCH ENGINES TO LOCATE MORE INFORMATION

Librarians Index to the Internet:
http://www.lii.org/

Search Results from http://www.lii.org/
Search Results in INFOMINE: infomine.ucr.edu

Distance Education: The MIT Initiative
http://ocw.mit.edu/

MIT Open Courses:
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

MIT: Women’s Studies
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Women-s-Studies/index.htm

Sample of available course: Women’s Voices, Spring 2004
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Foreign-Languages-and-Literatures/21F-022JSpring2004/CourseHome/index.htm

Sample Assignment with Full Text Resources:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Foreign-Languages-and-Literatures/21F-022JSpring2004/Assignments/index.htm

FULL TEXT DATABASES OF THE IRC
•JSTOR
•EBSCO, LEXIS-NEXIS, PROQUEST
•NEWSPAPERS DATABASES: CURRENT AND HISTORICAL
•STATISTICS and MANY OTHERS

REVISED MARCH 23, 2008

WOMEN HISTORICAL FIGURES

2008-03-16T14:26:00.004+02:00

Historical Figures / denotes Ohio figure
Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) - Wife of John Adams, 2nd President of the United States and mother of John Quincy Adams, 6th President. Known for her letters and opinions on society.
Jane Addams (1860-1935) - Social Activist, founder of Hull House, charter member of the NAACP, Nobel Peace Prize winner and labor union organizer.
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) - Seamstress, servant, teacher, Civil War nurse, and finally, author and novelist.
Marian Anderson (1902-1995) - First African American to sing leading role with Metropolitan Opera, delegate to U.N.
Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906) - Napoleon of the women's suffrage movement, mother of the 19th Amendment, abolitionist.
Josephine Baker (1906-1975) - African-American international star, civil rights activist, World War II heroine.
Ida B. Wells Barnett (1862-1931) - African-American educator, newspaperwoman, anti-lynching campaigner, founder NAACP.
Clara Barton (1821-1912) - Civil War nurse, founder of the American Red Cross.
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) African-American educator, founder of Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida, Presidential advisor, recipient of Spingarn Medal.
Sarah Bolton (1841-1916) - Noted Cleveland author of biographies, poetry and a temperance novel.
Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) - Groundbreaking photo-journalist and author
Mary Elizabeth Bowser ( 1839-?) - African-American Union spy in the Confederate White House.
Belle Boyd (1844-1900) - Confederate spy during the Civil War.
Margaret "Molly" Tobin Brown (1867-1932) - Titanic survivor and a woman who was determined to break the rules of "high society."
Eliza Bryant (1827-1907) - African-American founder of the The Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People.
Abbie Burgess (Grant) (1839-1892) - Lighthouse keeper at Matinicus Rock and Whitehead Light Stations in Maine, commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard.
Martha Jane "Calamity Jane" Cannary (1852-1903) - A lone woman in the wilds of the Rocky Mountain west
Rachel Carson (1907-1964) - Marine biologist, science writer, and environmentalist.
Rebecca Carter (1766-1827) - Pioneer woman of Cleveland.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) African-American born pioneer journalist and lecturer.
Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947) - Suffragette, founder of the League of Women Voters.
Cassie L. Chadwick (1857-1907) - Most infamous Cleveland financial con-artist.
Bessie Coleman (1893-1926) - First African-American woman to get pilot's license.
Dorothy Dandridge (1923-1965) - Actress, singer and dancer. Star of Carmen Jones and Porgy and Bess
Isadora Duncan (1875-1929) - Mother of modern dance.
Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) - Aviatrix.
Mary Fields (1832?-1914) - African-American entrepreneur, stagecoach driver, pioneer.
Diana Fletcher (circa 1830's) - Daughter of a former slave father and Kiowa mother, activist, taught in black Cherokee school.
Dorothy Fuldheim (1893-1989) - Jewish-American news journalist and television broadcaster; developed format for television news programming.
Lucretia Rudolph Garfield (1832-1918) - Wife of James Garfield, 20th President of the United States was First Lady for six months when her husband was assassinated. "Crete" returned home to Lawnfield in Mentor where her life continued in a non-traditional way.
Zelma Watson George (1903-1994) - African-American delegate to the U.N., opera singer, speaker and educator.
Emma Goldman (1869-1940) - Vilified in her day as the "most dangerous woman in America," this Russian emigrant earned her title, “Queen of the Anarchists” as labor leader, lecturer, writer, women’s rights activist and free love advocate.
Julia Boggs Dent Grant (1826-1902) - Wife of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States, was a determined woman who despite family objections married the man she loved. Outspoken, she also created her own plans for ending the Civil War and holding a secret Presidential Inauguration.
Charlotte Forten Grimke (1837-1890) - African-American writer, abolitionist and educator.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) - African-American sharecropper turned civil rights worker and founder of the MS Freedom Democratic Party.
Florence Harding (1860-1924) - Wife of Warren Harding, 29th President of the United States, the first presidential wife able to vote for her husband. Scandal plagued this First Lady throughout her life.
Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison (1832-1892) - Wife of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States, was the first president-general of the newly formed DAR. An accomplished watercolorist, she designed and painted the Harrison state china and organized the White House china collection.
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes (1831-1889) - Wife of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States, was the first presidential wife to have a college degree. She originated the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn.
Sally Hemings (1773-1835) - African American who sacrificed her freedom from slavery for the love of President Thomas Jefferson.
Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, USNR (1906-1992) - Computer pioneer and the oldest officer in active duty when she retired in 1986.
Hedda Hopper (1890-1966) - In the golden age of Hollywood, Hedda could make or break careers. Gossip was her business and J. Edgar Hoover was her penpal.
Adella Prentiss Hughes (1869-1950) - Founder of the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Music Settlement House.
Jane Edna Hunter (1882-1971) - African-American social worker, attorney, founder of Phyllis Wheatley Association of Cleveland.
Zora Neale Hurston (1903-1960) - African-American writer from The Harlem Group, influenced Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.
Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) – A Puritan woman who defied the male-dominated Massachusetts Bay Colony and after banishment helped settle Rhode Island and New York.
Mahalia Jackson (1912-1972) - Extraordinary gospel singer and the first African-American woman to gain national acclaim for gospel music.
Rebecca Jackson ( 1795-1871) - African-American eldress of the Shaker sect.
Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) - African-American escaped slave, author and abolitionist.
“Mother” Mary Harris Jones (1837-1930) - Irish immigrant who lost her family to yellow fever and became the self-proclaimed mother and “hell-raiser” for the downtrodden American laborer, especially children.
Sissieretta Jones (1869-1933) - African-American international vocal prima donna of late 19th century, favorite of George Bernard Shaw and several presidents.
Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) - African-American orator and Congresswoman.
Elizabeth Keckley (1820-?) Personal maid, best friend and confidant to Mary Todd Lincoln. Wrote tell-all book after leaving Mrs. Lincoln's employ.
Marie LaVeau (1796?-1863?) - African-American Voodoo Queen of New Orleans and famous herbalist.
Edmonia Lewis ( 1843-?) - First successful African-American sculptor.
Ida Lewis (1842-1913) - Heroic lighthouse keeper of Rhode Island, commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard.
Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) - Wife of President Abraham Lincoln, misrepresented by popular history and maligned by her peers.
Jenny Lind (1820-1887) - Swedish international opera star, brought to U.S. by P.T. Barnum in the 1850s.
Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927) - Founder of the American Girl Scouts.
Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) - Playwright, U.S. Congresswoman and ambassador to Italy.
Barbara Mabrity (1782-1867) - Lighthouse keeper in Key West, Florida, commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard.
Dolley Madison (1768-1849) - First Lady and doyen of Washington society
Biddy Mason (1818-1891) - Entrepreneur, one of first African-American women to own land in California.
Rachel Agnes Mason (1867-1903) An Irish immigrant whose family came to America in 1788 because of religious conflict.
Flora Stone Mather (1852-1910) - Cleveland philanthropist, founder of Flora Stone Mather college at Western Reserve University for women. Sponsored Goodrich House for urban children.
Ida Saxton McKinley (1847-1907) - Wife of William McKinley, 25th President of the United States, developed a unique way of coping with her epileptic seizures during her public appearances as First Lady.
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) - Astronomer and professor at Vassar College. First female member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) - Russian born New York sculptor famous for her shadow box, wall sculptures and her flamboyant personality.
Annie Oakley (1860-1926) - World famous markswoman from Ohio.
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) - Famed American artist who defied convention in both her art and her private life.
Louella Parsons (1893-1965) - Hollywood gossip columnist, who dominated Hollywood's Golden Era. Louella's relationship with William Randoph Hearst and her own three marriages made her life as stormy as any Hollywood movie.
Alice Paul (1885-1977) - The woman who rescued the woman suffrage movement (1910) and made sure women got the vote.
Mrs. George (Hannah?) Peake (1755-18??) - First African-American settler of Cleveland.
Molly Pitcher (Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley) (1754-1832) - Born Mary Ludwig, this revolutionary heroine followed the Continental Army for more than 3 years, doing what was needed to free the colonies from the tyranny of England.
Eleanor Anna Roosevelt (1884-1962) - Wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, first activist First Lady
Rebecca Rouse (1799-1887) - Cleveland humanitarian, temperance advocate, abolitionist, founder of Beech Brook.
Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994) - African-American Olympic Gold Medalist.
Rose Bianco Salvatore (1900-1993) - Italian immigrant during the "Great Wave" coming to America.
Belle Sherwin (1868-1955) - Cleveland suffragist, President of League of Women Voters, social reformer.
Margaret Skapes (1892-1968) - Immigrant from Greece, suffragette.
Bessie Smith (1894-1937) - African-American blues singer.
Valaida Snow (190?-1956) - African-American band leader and trumpet player.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) First president of the National Woman's Suffrage Association.
Belle Starr (1848-1889) - Confederate sympathizer and western frontierswoman and outlaw.
Susan McKinney Steward (1848-1918) - First female African-American doctor in New York State.
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) - Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Annie Sullivan (1866-1936) - Helen Keller's teacher.
Helen Herron Taft (1861-1943) - Wife of William H. Taft, 27th President of the United States, always longed to live in the White House. Known for planting Washington D.C.’s legendary cherry trees.
Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) - First African-American U.S. Army nurse during the Civil War.
Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954) - African-American lecturer, suffragette, civil rights leader.
Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree) (1797-1883) - African-American abolitionist, Civil War nurse, suffragette.
Harriet Tubman (1820?-1913) - Underground Railroad conductor, Army scout, African-American suffragette.
Elizabeth Van Lew (1818-1900) - Crazy Bet, an abolitionist in the South during the Civil War, who feigned insanity to help free slaves and help the Union Army.
Rosetta Wakeman (1843-1864) - Posed as a male to serve in Union Army during Civil War.
Madame C.J. Walker (1867-1919) - African-American entrepreneur, millionaire and philanthropist.
Hazel Mountain Walker (1900-1980) - African-American attorney, school principal, actress at Karamu
Katherine Walker (1846-1931) - Lighthouse keeper at Robin's Reef, New York, commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard.
Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919) - Prisoner of war during the Civil War, writer, doctor, fashion trend-setter and the only female to receive the Medal of Honor.
Mae West (1892-1980) First to earn a million dollars in the movie business.
Phillis Wheatley (175?-1784) - First noted African-American woman poet.
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) - Famed children’s author and “storyteller of the prairie.”
Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) - First woman to run for President, center of a scandal that rocked the nation.
[Home] [Profiles of Actresses] [Performance Schedule] [Programs] [Awards] [Contact Women in History]

WOMEN IN HISTORY P.O. Box 770682; Lakewood, OH 44107 216.228.4779 Phone or FaxE-mail: women@womeninhistoryohio.com

شهر تاريخ المرأة: آذار/مارس،

2008-03-16T14:12:00.001+02:00

03/16/2007
بوش: القيادات القوية "لنساء استثنائيات" غيرت وجه التاريخ الأميركي
03/15/2007
شهر تاريخ المرأة: آذار/مارس، 2007
03/15/2007
تكريم سيدة إندونيسية بمنحها جائزة "المرأة الشجاعة"
03/15/2007
حقوق المرأة في الولايات المتحدة
03/15/2007
المرأة الأميركية تخطو خطوات واسعة في مجالي التعليم ومشاريع الأعمال
03/12/2007
دورست لاهتي: الدول تحقق الازدهار عندما تتبوأ المرأة فيها مناصب قيادية
03/09/2007
طبيبة سعودية تستخدم تجربتها مع السرطان لتوعية الآخرين
03/09/2007
الناشطات الأفغانيات ملتزمات بتحسين ظروف المرأة الافغانية
03/08/2007
الإرشاد المبكر للأميركيات الصغيرات يساعدهن على النجاح في الحياة والعمل عندما يكبرن
03/07/2007
وزيرة الخارجية رايس تدشن جائزة المرأة الدولية الشجاعة
03/07/2007
نساء عراقيات يكافحن لإعادة بناء بلدهن رغم العراقيل
03/07/2007
رايس: تعزيز مكانة المرأة مرتبط بسلامة وأمن وازدهار العالم
03/06/2007
رايس: تقارير حقوق الإنسان مصدر للمعلومات بالنسبة للحكومات والمجتمعات
03/06/2007
رايس: على ديمقراطيات العالم أن تدافع عن حماة حقوق الإنسان
03/05/2007
المهاجرات في الولايات المتحدة يسهمن في نمّو وتأسيس الأعمال التجارية الصغيرة
03/02/2007
الولايات المتحدة ملتزمة بتعزيز مكانة النساء في جميع أنحاء العالم
03/01/2007
ناشطون يحثون الأمم المتحدة على وقف الاغتصاب الذي يتم بإيعاز من الدولة
02/27/2007
تقديم الإرشاد والنصح على الإنترنت يعزز التعددية في حقلي العلوم والهندسة
02/26/2007
قوة عمل عالمية تكافح مفترسي الأحداث جنسياً من خلال الإنترنت
02/22/2007
ازدياد احتمالات تولي النساء أرفع المناصب في مؤسسات التعليم العالي الأميركية
02/20/2007
جمعيات في القطاع الخاص الأميركي تقود جهود مكافحة تجارة البشر
02/13/2007
القضاء على إساءة معاملة الفتيات الصغيرات موضوع نقاش في مؤتمر للأمم المتحدة
02/12/2007
مكافحة الاتجار بالبشر مجهود شامل تشارك فيه مختلف هيئات الحكومة الأميركية
01/21/2007
أول رئيسة امرأة لمجلس النواب الأميركي تترأس مراسم خطاب الرئيس عن حالة الاتحاد
11/22/2006
منظمة "النساء من أجل النساء" الدولية تسلح الأفغانيات بالأمل
11/21/2006
منظمة النساء للنساء الدولية تساعد العراقيات على استنهاض حياتهن
10/26/2006
لورا بوش تتسلم جائزة بيرل باك كإمرأة العام للسنة 2006
10/23/2006
إفطار وزارة الخارجية السنوي يكرم النساء عبر التاريخ الإسلامي
10/17/2006
الصوماليات يأملن في التأثير على محادثات السلام في الخرطوم
10/07/2006
هيوز، مسؤولة الدبلوماسية العامة في وزارة الخارجية تحث البلدان على تمكين المرأة
09/26/2006
لورا بوش تندد بالعملية الوحشية التي تعرضت لها رائدة نسائية أفغانية
09/11/2006
كارين هيوز: النساء هن محفزات التغيير في العالم قاطبة

The United Nations and the Status of Women

2008-03-16T12:36:00.004+02:00

The UN System and Women’s Status
http://www.un.org/Conferences/Women/PubInfo/Status/Scrn1.htm
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
http://www.un.org/Conferences/Women/PubInfo/Status/Scrn4.htm
UN actions for the advancement of women http://www.un.org/Conferences/Women/PubInfo/Status/Scrn2.htm
The Commission on the Status on Women (CSW) http://www.un.org/Conferences/Women/PubInfo/Status/Scrn5.htm
The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women
http://www.un.org/Conferences/Women/PubInfo/Status/Scrn3.htm
Women in Development http://www.un.org/Conferences/Women/PubInfo/Status/Scrn6.htm
The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Womenhttp://www.un.org/Conferences/Women/PubInfo/Status/Scrn3.htm

تاريخ الحركة النسائية وإنجازات النساء في أميركا يحتفى بها كل شهر آذار/مارس

2008-03-16T12:29:00.005+02:00

شعار شهر تاريخ النساء في العام 2008 هو الفنون النسائية: رؤيا المرأة. (بإذن من مشروع التاريخ القومي للنساء)

10 آذار/مارس 2008
تاريخ الحركة النسائية وإنجازات النساء في أميركا يحتفى بها كل شهر آذار/مارس
شعار شهر تاريخ النساء في العام 2008 هو الفنون النسائية: رؤيا المرأة
بداية النص

واشنطن، 10 آذار/مارس، 2008- في العام 1981 أصدر الكونغرس الأميركي قرارا أسّس بموجبه أسبوع التاريخ القومي للنساء. وفي العام 1987 مدّد الكونغرس هذه الفترة لتصبح شهرا. وأصبح يصدر، منذ ذلك التاريخ، قرارا بهذا الشأن في كل عام. ويعقب إجراء الكونغرس السنوي هذا بلاغ رئاسي أميركي يعلن شهر آذار/مارس شهر تاريخ النساء.
ومنذ تأسيسه في 1980 اعترف واحتفى "مشروع التاريخ القومي للنساء" بالإسهامات الزاخرة والمتنوعة للنساء في تاريخ الولايات المتحدة وثقافتها.
وذكر المشروع في معرض تقديمه لشعار شهر تاريخ النساء 2008 وهو الفن النسائي: "إن تاريخ النساء وفنونهن هي بمثابة جوهر تاريخ النساء وهذا الشهر يروي إنجازات النساء الرائعة التي رصعت ذلك العصر ولكنها لم تحظ بحيز من سجلات التاريخ."
ويجري تكريم إنجازات وأعمال 12 فنانة في 2008. ومن تلك شخصيتان تاريخيتان وهما فيولت أوكلي (1874-1961)، التي كلّفت في عام 1902 برسم جداريات في مبنى الكابيتول (المجلس التشريعي) لولاية بنسيلفانيا وكانت هذه أكبر مهمة عامة تناط بأميركية آنذاك؛ وروز أونيل (1874-19944) وهي إحدى رواد رسامي الكاريكاتير في أميركا ومبتدعة الدمية كيوبي دول.
ومن الأميركيات اللواتي سيكرّمن خلال شهر آذار/مارس الحالي:
(1) إدنا هيبل وهي فنانة ذائعة الشهرة دوليا ترسم منذ أكثر من 70 عاما؛

إدنا هيبل واحدة من 12 امرأة فنانة جرى تكريمهن خلال شهر تاريخ النساء. (بإذن من مشروع التاريخ القومي للنساء)
(2) ليهوا لي، المولودة بتايوان التي ضمنّت خبرتها كضحية مرض شلل الأطفال (البوليو) في مؤسساتها الإعلامية المتعددة؛
(3) جون كويك-تو-سي سميث وهي أكثر الرسامات الأميركيات شهرة من أصل هندي أميركي؛ (4)فيث رينغولد التي تصنع بطانيات تحمل روايات مرسومة وهو فن يجمع بين الرسم ونسيج البطانيات ورواية القصص؛
(5) وميريام شابيرو وهي رائدة في الفن النسائي والمؤسسة المشاركة لمتحف "الفنانات المقيمات" في 1972 بنيويورك وهو اول مجموعة لأعمال فنانات في الولايات المتحدة؛
(6) لورنا سيمسون، التي تستخدم نساء أفريقيات اميركيات كنقطة بصرية للإنطلاق في رسوماتها وصورها الشمسية وأفلام الفيديو؛
(7) جون واين، الذي اشيد بصورها الليثوغرافية (الطباعة الحجرية) كتحف في هذا المضمار؛ (8) نانسي سبيرو وهي رسامة يركز فنها على نضال النساء حول العالم؛
(9) هارموني هاموند وهي رسامة تحاضر وتكتب عن الفن النسائي وفن المثيلات جنسيا؛
و(10) جودي شيكاغو وهي فنانة إعلام متعدد أكثر ما تشتهر بلوحة "حفل العشاء".
للمزيد راجع الموقع العام لمشروع الشهر القومي للنساء.
كما ان هذا المشروع يعترف بيوم 8 آذار/مارس كاليوم الدولي للمرأة. للمزيد عن هذا اليوم والأمم المتحدة ووضع النساء راجع الموقع الإلكتروني للأمم المتحدة على الشبكة العنكبوتية.
نهاية النص :

The Institute for Women's Policy Research

2008-03-16T11:15:00.004+02:00

View the IWPR Publications Catalog PDF

** NEW!- Women and Unemployment Insurance: Outdated Rules Deny Benefits That Workers Need and Have Earned (Fact Sheet) Vicky Lovell, Ph.D., and Claudia Williams

Published: January 2008

Availability: PDF

** NEW!- Keeping Moms on the Job: The Impacts of Health Insurance and Child Care on Job Retention and Mobility among Low-Income Mothers (Report) Sunhwa Lee, Ph.D Published: December 2007

Availability: PDF

** NEW!- The Economic Security of Older Women and Men in the United States (Briefing Paper) Tori Finkle, Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., and Sunhwa Lee, Ph.D

Published: December 2007

Availability: PDF

** NEW!- I Knew I Could Do This Work: Seven Strategies That Promote Women's Activism and Leadership in Unions (Report) Amy Caiazza, Ph.D.

Published: December 2007

Availability: PDF

** The Economic Status of Women in Michigan (Briefing Paper) Erica Williams
Published: September
2007 Availability: PDF

** The Economic Status of Women in Arizona (Briefing Paper) Erica Williams
Published: September 2007
Availability: PDF

** The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act: Improving UI Equity and Adequacy for Women(Testimony) Vicky Lovell, Ph.D., testimony given before the House Ways and Means Committyy, Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support , Hearing on Modernizing Unemployment Insurance to Reduce Barriers for Jobless Workers.
Published: September 19, 2007
Availability: PDF

** Maternity Leave in the United States: Paid Parental Leave is still Not Standard, Even Among the Best U.S. Employers (Fact Sheet) Vicky Lovell, Ph.D.
Published: August 2007
Availability: PDF

** Supporting Healthy Washington, DC Communities with a Minimum Paid Sick Days Standard(Testimony) Vicky Lovell, Ph.D., testimony given on the Paid Sick and Safe Days Act of 2007, Washington, DC
Published: July 9, 2007
Availability: PDF

** Women in the Wake of the Storm: Examining the Post-Katrina Realities of the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast(Executive Summary) Avis Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D.
Published: June 2007
Availability: PDF

** An Economy That Puts Families First(Briefing Paper) Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., Ariane Hegewisch, Ph.D., and Vicky Lovell, Ph.D.
Published: May 2007 with The Economic Policy Institute
Availability: PDF

** The Gender Wage Ratio: Women's and Men's Earnings
Updated: April 2007
Availability: PDF Order Online

** The Economic Status of Women in Indiana, 2006: Highlights
Published: March 2007
Availability: PDF

** The Economic Status of Women in Ohio
Published: February 2007
Availability: PDF

** Women and Paid Sick Days: Crucial for Family Well-Being
Published: February 2007
Availability: PDF

** The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: Multiple Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery Part II. Gender, Race, and Class in the Labor Market
Published: August 2006
Availability: PDF

U.S. History - Women's Rights/History: Lesson Plans

2008-03-11T12:45:00.023+02:00

U.S. History - Women's Rights/History: Lesson Plans

Article and Links courtesy: EDSitement

http://edsitement.neh.gov/tab_lesson.asp

Front page illustration for the original serialized version of The Yellow Wallpaper from the New England Magazine (1892).

Poster courtesy of Library of Congress' Nineteenth Century in Print Collection

“Fly Girls”: Women Aviators in World War II This lesson plan explores the contributions of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during World War II, and their aviation legacy.
Before Brother Fought Brother: Life in the North and South 1847-1861
Curriculum Unit overview. More Americans lost their lives in the Civil War than in any other conflict. How did the United States arrive at a point at which the South seceded and some families were so fractured that brother fought brother?
Lesson 1: Factory vs. Plantation in the North and South

Lesson 2: People and Places in the North and South

Lesson 3: A Debate Against Slavery

Lesson 4: Life Before the Civil War

Lesson 5: Women's Lives Before the Civil War

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wall-paper”—The “New Woman”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story "The Yellow Wall-paper" was written during this time of great change. This lesson plan, the first part of a two-part lesson, helps to set the historical, social, cultural, and economic context of Gilman's story.
Cultural Change
See how the rhetoric of women’s rights evolved from the “Declaration of Sentiments” of 1848 to the suffragist arguments that finally prevailed.
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Rise of Social Reform in the 1930s
This lesson asks students to explore the various roles that Eleanor Roosevelt a key figure in several of the most important social reform movements of the twentieth century took on, among them: First Lady, political activist for civil rights, newspaper columnist and author, and representative to the United Nations.
History in Quilts
The lessons in this unit are designed to help your students recognize how people of different cultures and time periods have used cloth-based art forms (quilts) to pass down their traditions and history.
Pioneer Values in Willa Cather's My Antonia
Students learn about the social and historical context of Willa Cather’s My Antonia and work in groups to explore Cather's commentary on fortitude, hard work, faithfulness, and other values that we associate with pioneer life
Remember the Ladies: The First Ladies
Explore the ways in which First Ladies were able to shape the world while dealing with the expectations placed on them as women and as partners of powerful men.
Scripting the Past: Exploring Women's History Through Film
Students employ the screenwriter's craft to gain a fresh perspective on notable women in American history.
Stories in Quilts
Quilts can be works of art as well as stories through pictures. They also tell a story about their creators and about the historical and cultural context of their creation through the choices made in design, material, and content.
Voting Rights for Women: Pro- and Anti-Suffrage
Students research archival material to examine nineteenth and early twentieth century arguments for and against women's suffrage.
Was There an Industrial Revolution? Americans at Work Before the Civil War
In this lesson, students explore the First Industrial Revolution in early nineteenth-century America. By reading and comparing first-hand accounts of the lives of workers before the Civil War, students prepare for a series of guided role-playing activities designed to help them make an informed judgement as to whether the changes that took place in manufacturing and distribution during this period are best described as a 'revolution' or as a steady evolution over time.
Was There an Industrial Revolution? New Workplace, New Technology, New Consumers
In this lesson, students explore the First Industrial Revolution in early nineteenth-century America. Through simulation activities and the examination of primary historical materials, students learn how changes in the workplace and less expensive goods led to the transformation of American life.
Who Were the Foremothers of Women’s Equality?
This lesson introduces students to the achievements of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the "foremothers" of women's equality. By studying a variety of primary historical materials, students will also learn about some of the lesser-known activists who fought alongside Stanton and Anthony in the formative Women's Rights Movement.
Women in the White House
Explore the role and impact of recent First Ladies through research and family interviews.
Women’s Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs
Students analyze archival cartoons, posters, magazine humor, newspaper articles and poems that reflect the deeply entrenched attitudes and beliefs the early crusaders for women’s rights had to overcome.
Women’s Suffrage: Why the West First?
Students compile information to examine hypotheses explaining why the first nine states to grant full voting rights for women were located in the West.

Exploring Women's History

2008-03-11T11:49:00.017+02:00

Provided By
EDSITEment is a partnership among the National Endowment for the Humanities, Verizon Foundation, and the National Trust for the Humanities.

"I had never lived out of my father's house, nor in any way assumed a separate life from the other children of the family... I had never been obliged to think for or take care of myself, and now I was to be launched literally on an unknown sea, travel towards an unknown country, everything absolutely new and strange about me, and undefined for the future..."

—Jessie Benton Fremont, A Year of American Travel, 1878
Jessie Benton Fremont's travelogue of her trip out west in 1849 reveals the social attitudes and assumptions concerning gender roles, racial prejudice, and class distinctions characteristic of the times. Although she had the unusual opportunity and rare privilege to travel for pleasure, Fremont faced and overcame many challenges as a woman traveling by sea and land across the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Her passionate descriptions of both external events and internal experiences and feelings throughout her "voyage into the unknown" allow readers of today insights into the social and cultural context in which Fremont lived and into the mind and heart of one woman who met the challenges of her environment with courage and determination.

Women's History Month provides an ideal opportunity for students to learn about and connect to the lives, struggles, and achievements of women in the past to better understand the world today. You can use the EDSITEment lesson plan, Scripting the Past: Exploring Women's History Through Film, to have students analyze Fremont's travelogue and adapt it into a film script. This lesson takes students through a series of steps to help them learn not only about the lives and times of the women whose stories they read and transform, but also about the processes of filmmaking and of interpreting narratives from people of other times and places in ways that respect their lives while giving new meaning to our own.

In addition to the travel narrative of Jessie Benton Fremont, Scripting the Past includes links to the memoirs of four other women who defied their gender roles, their class distinctions, or both. Students choose among these five historical figures, conduct research on their subject, and then adopt the perspective of the screenwriter and decide how to translate the "real" woman into a representation in film.

A related lesson, Women's Suffrage: Why the West First? has students research other women especially involved in the Western suffrage movement and supply some important facts from their biographies that support the granting of full voting rights to women in several Western states. Students take a stand, supported by historical evidence, as to whether or not a single theory can explain why the Western states were the first to grant full voting rights to women.
EDSITEment offers several other lesson plans that can help you bring women's history to life in your classroom. Who Were the Foremothers of Women's Equality? explores sources that are useful for uncovering the names of women who contributed to the early Women's Rights Movement in the U.S. and assesses the significance of these individual's contributions. Cultural Change examines both the political and cultural dimensions of the arguments American women used to gain the right to vote, while in Women's Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs students analyze archival materials contemporaneous with the birth of the Women's Rights Movement to appreciate the deeply entrenched opposition the early crusaders had to overcome. Voting Rights For Women: Pro- and Anti-Suffrage presents arguments for and against suffrage for women in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and gives examples of how those arguments were expressed in a variety of media.

EDSITEment lesson plans Remember the Ladies: The First Ladies and Women in the White House showcase the important political and social contributions, including fighting for suffrage, accomplished by First Ladies in the White House. All these lesson plans offer innovative ways of learning about the role American women have played in shaping the nation.

EDSITEment also has lesson plans that allow your student to celebrate and explore the artistic contributions of women. Pioneer Values in Willa Cather's My Antonia explores Cather’s novel and its strong female protagonist, situating it as “an archetypal tale that fully illustrates the struggle of American pioneers.” Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a powerful story about Edna Pontellier’s struggle to find her place in society without compromising her artistic and personal desires, a topic explored in the EDSITEment lesson plan Kate Chopin's The Awakening: No Choice but Under?. Students might examine the relationship of women to rich folk traditions by studying Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, or by examining the art of quilting, often a medium of expression by women, in the two EDSITEment lessons History in Quilts and Stories in Quilts.

For additional online resources to use in your class discussions of women's history, visit the selection of websites listed to the left. Here you will find a wealth of photographs, documents, and first-person narratives that students can use to investigate the social, economic, and political lives of women in America.

In ways that no textbook or secondary text can duplicate, these primary historical materials can also provide students with insights into the personal motivations of women such as Jessie Fremont, who in this passage from her 1849 travelogue reveals a lyrical and passionate appreciation for the new sights and sounds she encountered in her voyage to the West:

"I had never seen the sea, and in some odd way no one had ever told me of the
wonderful new life it could bring. It stays with me in all its freshness,
that first recognition of the ocean which came to me when I went on deck; that
grand solitude, that wide look from horizon to horizon, the sense of space, of
freshness, the delightful power and majesty of the sea--all came to me as
necessities; I loved it at the first look, and I am never fully alive without
it; sometimes I cannot get to it when I need it, but when I can, I go
there, and am soothed and calmed and comforted if I am in trouble; if I am
happy, it is only there that I feel completed by the exultant, abounding
vitality and keen happiness which it alone brings to me."

Suggested Activity:
Drawing from resources available via the EDSITEment-reviewed websites listed in the sidebar, parents, teachers, or caregivers can work with their child or class on the following activity, which can be adapted for students of all ages.

Women’s History Month—Read all About It!
Women’s History Month provides the opportunity for students of all ages to celebrate the artistic, political, and intellectual achievements of women world-wide. The lesson plans listed above provide in-depth coverage of a few specific women; this activity encourages students to create their very own newspaper article on the topic. Students can use EDSITEment’s Printing Press Interactive or this PDF template to develop an article for Women’s History Monthly, a newspaper created by and for students about famous and influential women. Encourage class-mates or siblings each to investigate a woman of note and contribute to the newspaper. Using EDSITEment-reviewed resources, students can research famous painters, writers, political figures, and more, such as:

Gertrude Stein, writer. Portrait by Pablo Picasso. Via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Georgia O'Keeffe, artist. Via National Gallery of Art.
O’Keeffe biography
Rosa Parks, Civil Rights leader. Via American Memory.
More resources for Rosa Parks, via American Memory.
Martha Ballard, an 18th Century midwife. Via Do History.
Harriet Tubman, abolitionist. Via American Memory.
First Ladies of the U.S. (pick one; biographical information can be accessed via the left sidebar). Via the National First Ladies’ Library.
Emily Dickinson, poet. Via the Academy of American Poets.
Zora Neale Hurston, writer and anthropologist. Via American Studies at UVA.
Gwendolyn Brooks, poet. Via the Academy of American Poets.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, activist. Via American Memory.
Marianne Moore, poet. Via the Academy of American Poets.
Anne Frank, writer. Via the Anne Frank House.
Sacagawea, explorer. Via Discovering Lewis and Clark.

Activity Student Instructions:

Using the websites listed above (or other websites reviewed by EDSITEment) as a starting point, choose one woman to research. Since everyone finds different people interesting for a variety of reasons, a number of links are provided. Some links lead to a portrait of a woman; others lead to a painting by a female artist. Yet others lead to letters, poems, or literature about or by influential women. Each link is just a starting point. Gather resources, both online as well as in your library, and write a brief article about who the woman you selected to study is and what her contribution to society was. The questions listed below are designed to help guide you in your research and writing. Guiding research questions:

Who is this person? When was she alive? Where did she live?
What contribution did she make to society? Is she a writer or an artist, a politician or a scientist? What field or fields of study did she pursue? What life experiences informed her achievement?
What was her education like? Who were important role-models for her?
What were her goals and how did she achieve them? What are some significant moments in her life?
Why did this person pursue these goals? What was her motivation?
What challenges did this person encounter? How did she overcome the challenges?Consider the historical times of the woman or women that you are writing about. Are those same challenges still present today? How are the challenges similar or different?

After you finish your “newspaper article,” use the EDSITEment Printing Press to create the newspaper, complete with headlines and places for images. You might draw a picture, or copy pictures and print them out to paste into the newspaper (be sure to read each websites’ “fair use” policy regarding use of their pictures). Pass out copies to your friends, or combine your articles with your classmates’ to make a complete newspaper!

Featured Lessons

Video From America.gov

2008-03-10T12:20:00.002+02:00

Fighting for the Right to Vote

http://www.america.gov/multimedia/video.html?playerId=1351322136

Women’s History Month Links

2008-03-10T12:08:00.001+02:00

Women’s History Month Links

* Mrs. Bush's Remarks at USAID Celebration of International Women's Day The first lady of the United States spoke at a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) celebration in Washington in honor of International Women’s Day.

* International Women’s Day Since 1975, the United Nations has celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8. The theme for 2008 is “Investing in Women and Girls.”

* Bureau of the Census Facts for Features: Women’s History Month Want facts? There are 4.2 million more females in the United States than males. This site will tell you how many American women are military veterans, and much more.

* League of Women Voters Established in 1920, this nonpartisan political organization encourages citizen participation in government, works to increase understanding of public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

* Library of Congress: Women’s History Month This site includes links to Library of Congress resources for the study of women’s history and culture, veterans’ stories, photographs and other media, and materials for teachers.

* Library of Congress – American Memory Collection: Woman Suffrage The National American Woman Suffrage Association collection consists of 167 books, pamphlets and other artifacts documenting the suffrage campaign.

* Library of Congress - The Learning Page: Women’s History This site offers annotated links to approximately 40 resources on the history of women in the United States.

* National Museum of Women in the Arts This is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to recognizing the contributions of women artists.

* National Women’s History Project (NWHP) Every year in March, the NWHP, which was founded in 19980, coordinates observances of National Women’s History Month throughout the United States.

* Places Where Women Made History The National Park Service provides an itinerary of 75 sites in New York and Massachusetts with significance in women's history.

* Women and Social Movements Today Annotated links to some two dozen organizations doing research and advocacy on women’s issues are provided by the Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

IRC Collection

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International Women's Day

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International Women's Day

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. Following is a brief chronology of the most important events:

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.

1910
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911
As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.

1913-1914
As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

1917
With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights.

The Role of the United NationsFew causes promoted by the United Nations have generated more intense and widespread support than the campaign to promote and protect the equal rights of women. The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Since then, the Organization has helped create a historic legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.

Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: promotion of legal measures; mobilization of public opinion and international action; training and research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics; and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups. Today a central organizing principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society's most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment, of the world's women.

For more information, contact:
Development Section Department of Public Information Room S-1040, United Nations, New York, NY 10017Email: mediainfo@un.org
Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information--DPI/1878--January 1997

Publications

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http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/

INTRODUCTION
" Women are the real architects of society. " Writer and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe
In recent years more and more societies all over the world have begun to recognize the vital contributions of women to commerce, their communities, and civic life. Whether it be Afghan women voting in a presidential election or women starting micro-businesses in Ethiopia, the worldwide trend toward greater equality is clear. Yet "the denial of women's basic human rights is persistent and widespread," as a 2005 United Nations Population Fund statement put it.
This publication offers a glimpse at how women in one country — the United States — have helped shape their society. These notable women — from the Native-American Sacagawea, who guided white settlers through a vast wilderness, to Sojourner Truth, who fought for the end of slavery and equal rights for all; to Rosalyn Yalow, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her research into a new technique for measuring substances in the blood — believed that they had a contribution to make and did not shrink from the obstacles in their way. This account of their accomplishments is a reminder that all societies benefit from the talents and expertise of their women.

Rachel Carson

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/carson/index.html

Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. ... There was a strange stillness. ... The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.
"Rachel Carson, Silent Spring"

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womenpolitics/

Introduction
The average woman in the United States — just like those in other countries — wakes each morning to a myriad of responsibilities and concerns. These concerns range from the quality of her children’s education to the stability of the family’s source of income to her ability to safely walk the streets near her home.
What most women do not focus on, however, is how political and governmental actions affect “their” issues. Many do not realize that they can do something to improve the quality of their lives — and that of their families and communities — by reaching for political leadership or becoming involved in political and civic activities. If democracies are to function and to better their citizens´ lives, women’s voices need to be heard at the political level and the barriers to their participation have to come down.
This publication offers the stories of women who believed that they could make a difference by participating in politics and government, and forged ahead to do so. They are not famous, like U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and they are not serving at the top, like Presidents Michelle Bachelet of Chile or Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia. But, just like Bachelet, Clinton, and Johnson-Sirleaf, they have overcome obstacles to get where they are. They have acquired experience in running for election, being an effective policy-maker, and in persuading elected officials to support their cause.
We hope that these stories inspire women who read them to become involved in their communities and even at the national level. As Carol Hunstein, presiding justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and one whose story is featured here, says, “It´s really important for women to serve. … We have something to offer."

Links

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Links

The National Women's History Project (NWHP)

http://www.nwhp.org/

Women's Art Women's Vision 2008 Theme
To honor the originality, beauty, imagination, and multiple dimensions of women’s lives, we have chosen Women’s Art: Women’s Vision as the 2008 theme for National Women’s History Month.
The history of women and art is quintessential women’s history. It is the story of amazing women’s accomplishments acclaimed at the time but written out of history. Join us in ensuring that their accomplishments are never forgotten.
This year’s theme provides a special opportunity to discover and celebrate women’s visual arts in a variety of forms and mediums that help expand our perceptions of ourselves and each other.
See the 2008 Honorees

Ø Conversations with History: Women's Rights
Drawing upon the resources of the Conversations with History Archive at the University of California at Berkeley, this site consists of transcripts, video interviews and bibliographies of men and women talking about their lives, their views, and their work. Sociology professor Manuel Castells, Air Force colonel Brenda Hollis, and psychologist Judith Lewis Herman are among those interviewed.

Ø Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement
The materials in this on-line archival collection at Duke University focus specifically on the "radical origins of this movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s."

Ø The History of Women's Suffrage in America: Exhibits from the History Channel
Features of this site include a summary of the women's suffrage movement, a list of women's "firsts," and a chronology of important dates going back to 1777.

Ø Jane Addams
Jane Addams was the founder of Hull House in Chicago, an early settlement house, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. This site from About.com includes a biographical sketch and a list of quotations. It also provides links to her writings on various topics, bibliographies, and other resources.

Ø Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement 1848-1998
A history of the women's movement from the Women's History Project.

Ø Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
This is the companion Web site to the Public Broadcasting Service's documentary film on Stanton and Anthony. It presents an overview of their lives and the nineteenth-century women's movement, as well as resources on the history of women's rights and selected articles, essays and original documents.

Ø The Seneca Falls Convention, July 19-20, 1848
Text and photographs from a National Portrait Gallery exhibition are shown on this site, which also provides links to additional images from the gallery's collection.

Ø Sophia Smith Collection
Located at Smith College, the Sophia Smith Collection is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history.

Ø Suffragists Oral History Project
This project, from the Bancroft Library's Regional Oral History Office at the University of California, Berkeley, collected interviews with leaders and participants in the woman's suffrage movement. Major figures in twentieth-century suffragist history are represented here with full-length oral histories.

Ø Woman Suffrage
This page takes you back to 1912 when the public debate over women's suffrage was contested in editorial pages, political cartoons, the streets, and in the home. The pro-suffrage arguments, the anti-suffrage arguments, and information about the political process are portrayed using cartoons, photographs, and essays.

Ø Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment: Teaching with Documents
"Failure Is Impossible" -- the National Archives' salute to women's suffrage, including primary sources, activities and links to related websites for educators and students.

Ø Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1830-1930
This website is intended to introduce students, teachers, and scholars to a rich collection of primary documents related to women and social movements in the United States between 1830 and 1930. It is organized around editorial projects completed by undergraduate and graduate students at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Ø Women's Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs
Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this comprehensive lesson plan for grades 6-8 includes a useful list of related links. Complementary lesson plans from "EdSitement" include
Voting Rights for Women: Pro- and Anti-Suffrage, Who Were the Foremothers of Women's Equality?, and Women's Suffrage: Why the West Went First.
Women's History in AmericaSponsored by the Women's International Center, this website gives a brief history of women in American society.
Women's Suffrage from About.comThese links from About.com focus on woman suffrage in the United States. They include articles and biographies for more in-depth information on the long struggle to win the vote for women and include information on Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the Pankhursts, Mathilda Jocelyn Gage, and others.