When people think about women in October, it is common for people to remember what they fear.
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month after all. And ever since 1985, this month has been a time dedicated to the discussion of the fatal condition that has claimed many lives.
People also think about the dead, their ghosts, the macabre and all the horrors that tend to be highlighted when Halloween comes.
But October is more than a month to acknowledge the things we fear. For a number of women, it was actually a month to break down barriers and show the world that we can be more than what was expected of us.
Awareness concerning breast cancer is important. Understanding the dangers we face matter. But what’s also important is for us to remember what happens when we don’t let fear control us.
October 3, 1904 – Mary McLeod Bethune opens her first school for African-American students
Mary McLeod Bethune is one of the most significant figures who fought to uplift Black Americans and her weapon of choice was education.
As the first among her siblings to receive formal schooling, she understood how important knowledge and wisdom were in the quest to achieve independence and a life of dignity. Thus, it became her long-time dream to start her own school for her people.
On October 3, 1904, she got her wish. Bethune opened her first school for African American students in Daytona Beach Florida. The Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls started with only five students and Bethune’s son. But, these days, under the name Bethune-Cookman University, it is a historical site that welcomes thousands.
Following the establishment of this school, Bethune went on to achieve more goals in the name of civil rights. And many of them were founded on the idea of learning as an instrument of progress.
October 4, 1976 – Barbara Walters becomes the first woman co-anchor of the evening news
Barbara Walters was normally genteel and composed and such traits were even more remarkable when they came into play while she came face to face with various public figures and asked them tough questions.
As a journalist, Walters had the capacity to thrive in difficult conversations. Because of this, she won the trust of her superiors and viewers and this ultimately allowed her to break down walls.
On October 4, 1976, this happened when she became the first woman to co-anchor the evening news at ABC. It was a position she held for only two years while being subjected to casual sexism but it was a consequential one that furthered her would-be decorated career while it opened the doors for many women to follow.
October 4, 1993 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg joins the U.S. Supreme Court
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known for thriving at the face of adversity.
When she entered Harvard Law School as one of nine women in a class of about 500, she was met with resistance from the older members of the faculty; the law dean even asked all the women students during her time to justify their place in the school (when their slots could’ve gone to men.) Furthermore, her husband—also her schoolmate—was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Still, she endured. She managed to attend all of her classes and his (to keep him updated,) cared for him, and won a spot in the Harvard Law Review.
At the start of her professional life, she also faced with sexism; she couldn’t find work at first and eventually got jobs that paid her a salary much lower than the ones received by her male counterparts. Still, she did well enough to ultimately find herself directing the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970s. Through this, she led the fight against gender-based discrimination and managed to successfully argue six landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. And she didn’t just fight for women; she also fought for men who faced discrimination.
Eventually, she was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1980 and on October 4, 1993, then-US President Bill Clinton nominated her to the to the Supreme Court of the United States where she continued to fight for the rights of women.
October 8, 1993 – Toni Morrison became the first Black American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
Toni Morrison–considered to be one of the most celebrated authors in the world—was already 39 years old when she published her first novel, “The Bluest Eyes.” It also took her years before she decided to leave her job in publishing and focus on being a writer. But the influences that moved her writing into iconic status had been with her for a long time.
Born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, Morrison grew up in a semi-integrated area, but racial discrimination continued to be a constant threat for her and her family. When she was 2, her home was also set ablaze by the owner of their apartment building while they were inside because they were unable to afford the rent. And in college, she joined a theater group that toured the segregated South. She also witnessed racial hierarchy which divided people of color based on their skin tone.
Nevertheless, she had her own wealth. She had parents who schooled her in African history and culture and became an avid reader. She exceled in school, made connections with artists and activists, and eventually graduated and found a job as an editor of fiction for Random House.
When she started writing fiction, it didn’t take long for her voice and her depiction of Black American life to capture the interest of her readers and critics. She published “Sula,” a nominee of the National Book Award. “Song of Solomon” was released later and it won the National Book Critics Circle Award. It was only then when she decided to become a fulltime writer—leaving her work in publishing.
She wrote plays, essays and, of course, novels. It was in 1987 when Morrison finally released “Beloved,” a book inspired by the story of an enslaved African-American woman. And it was in October 8, 1993, when she became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
On the surface, it seemed that Morrison’s rise to fame was quite quick for a late bloomer. But the truth of the matter is, life had long been preparing her to capture eyes and minds.
October 10, 1983 – Barbara McClintock becomes the first woman to win a solo Nobel Prize in Physiology
How can kernels on the same piece of corn have different colors?
The work of scientist and cytogeneticist Barbara McClintock answers this question.
As one of the leading figures in her field, she discovered genetic transposition—the process which sees genes change positions on chromosomes. According to a woman’s month special written by the US Department of Energy to commemorate McClintock’s work, this explains how genes can cause “certain physical characteristics can be turned on or off.”
For a time, McClintock’s work was so advanced that people ignored it. She also experienced her own share of discrimination as a woman. When she went to Cornell University, women weren’t allowed to major in genetics. So, she took her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in botany instead.
Eventually, the world realized her brilliance. She spent decades studying genetics through corn. And while pursuing her work, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944, becoming one of only two other women to have received this honor at the time. In the following year, she became first woman to be elected president of the Genetics Society of America. In 1981, she became one of the first scientists to receive the MacArthur Foundation Grant. And on October 10, 1983, she became the first woman to win a solo Nobel Prize in Physiology. She was 81 years old when this happened.
There are those who have been long saying that women have contributed so much to science. And people like McClintock prove that there is more to this statement than a mere kernel of truth.
October 11, 1984 – Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first U.S. woman astronaut to “walk” in space
On October 11, 1984, Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first woman astronaut from the United States to ever walk in space. It is was a stellar achievement but, like many of its kind, it stood on a mountain of other accomplishments.
Prior to being an astronaut for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA,) she received a bachelor’s degree in Earth sciences from the University of California and a doctorate in geology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. At Dalhousie, she got involved with oceanographic expeditions that looked into the floors of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
In 1978 Sullivan became a NASA astronaut. Her first spaceflight was aboard the Challenger to pursue the STS-41G mission between October 5 to October 13, 1984. This was when her “walk” in space happened.
About 36 years later, she also became part of a group that reached the deepest known point of the ocean. This made her the first human being to do this after walking in space.
October 23, 1910 – Blanche Stuart Scott became the first American woman pilot to make a public flight
When we talk about women in aviation, we often remember Amelia Earhart—one of the most recognizable women in the field. She was, after all, the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean.
That being said, she was not the first American woman to be an aviator. That was Blanche Stuart Scott. Nicknamed “Betty,” she was the first American woman to fly a plane and her first public showcase happened on October 23, 1910.
She continued to fly after, trying more difficult aircrafts. Sometime in the following year, she also became the first woman to make a long distance flight. It was from Mineola airport. She flew about 60 miles. She went missing for about an hour but managed to make a safe return.
