History Makers: American Women in Politics

History Makers: American Women in Politics “Well behaved women seldom make history.” Laurel Thatcher Ulrich History Professor, Harvard University Emerge Arizona Spring SocialMay 18, 2007

Native American History Makers Tribal leader of the Navajo Nation and public health activist, worked tirelessly to improve the health and welfare of the Navajo Tribe and reduce the incidence of tuberculosis nationwide. Annie Dodge Wauneka (1910 - 1997) First Native American to receive the Presidential Medal of freedom

Native American History Makers “Prior to my election, young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief.” Wilma Mankiller First Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation

Native American History Makers “To me, it is now a question of sovereignty. I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction." Cecilia Fire Thunder First Woman President of the Oglala Sioux tribe

Native American History Makers “We have to serve when we are asked to serve. It is an honor.” Delia Carlyle Chairwoman Ak-Chin Indian Community Chairwoman of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association (AIGA)

Arizona History Makers • Frances Munds • 1866-1948 • First Women elected to the Arizona Senate (1914). Second woman ever elected to a State Senate Nationwide.

Arizona History Makers • Rachel Berry • 1859-1948 • First Women elected to the Arizona House of Representatives (1914)

Arizona History Makers “As soon as we got accustomed to our work, the difference of sex had no bearing on our decisions. But it is doubtful if anyone else, besides ourselves, realized it.” • Elsie Toles • 1888-1957 • First Women elected Arizona State Superintendent of Public • Instruction (1920)

Arizona History Makers “In our system, students may not be regarded as closed circuit recipients of only that which the state chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved.” • Lorna Lockwood • 1903-1977 • First Women to serve as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme • Court (1960)

Arizona History Makers • Rose Mofford • 1922- • First Women to serve as Arizona Secretary of State (1977-1988) and Governor (1988-1991)

Arizona History Makers • Arizona Inauguration (1998) • First time all the Executive Branch positions in any State are held by women.

“Social Science affirms that a woman’s place in society marks the level of civilization.” • Elizabeth Cady Stanton • 1815-1902 • First woman to run for the U.S. House of Representatives (1866)

“We’re half the people; we should be half the Congress.” • Jeanette Rankin • 1880-1973 • First Woman elected to Congress (1917).

“Most of man's problems upon this planet, in the long history of the race, have been met and solved either partially or as a whole by experiment based on common sense and carried out with courage .” • Frances Perkins • 1880-1965 • First Woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet • Secretary of Labor 1933-1945

“I want history to remember me not just as the first black woman to be elected to Congress, not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and dared to be herself.” • Shirley Chisholm • 1924-2005 • First black woman elected to the U.S. Congress (1968)

“Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt. Yet, 19 years after our holding that the Constitution protects a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy in its early stages, Roe v. Wade, that definition of liberty is still questioned.” • Justice Sandra Day O’Connor • 1930- • First Woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court (1981-2006)

“Unlike the American revolution, which began with the "shot heard round the world," the rebellion of Seneca Falls -- steeped in moral conviction and rooted in the abolitionist movement -- dropped like a stone in the middle of a placid lake, causing ripples of change.” • Geraldine Ferraro • 1935 – • First Woman to run for Vice-President on a major party’s national ticket (1984)

“Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change.” • Barbara Ann Mikulski • 1936 – • First Democratic Woman independently elected to the Senate (1986)

“It's important before people comment that they understand just what the issues are, what the facts are, and how the law applies.” • Janet Reno • 1938 – • First Woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General (1993-2001)

“Democracy cannot be built on revenge and you will not have the support of the world if you are intolerant and take the law into your own hands.” • Madeleine K. Albright • 1937- • First Woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001)

“Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to make something of themselves in adulthood.” • Janet Napolitano • 1957- • First Women to succeed as woman as a State Governor (2003)

“The challenge is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible.” • Hillary Rodham Clinton • 1947- • The only First Lady ever elected to public office. First woman elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. First woman to mount a viable campaign for the U.S. Presidency

“America must be a light to the world, not just a missile.” • Nancy Pelosi • 1940- • First Woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (2007)

History Makers: American Women in Politics