03-02-1995 Women of Achievement and Herstory
MARCH IS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH - 

      Texas raised the age of consent for a woman from 7 to 10 in 1890.
(Yes, 1890, 7 to 10. You might be surprised at what happened in your
state.  Call your local bar association and ask ... betcha they won't know
the answer or ... if they give you a date, get them to give you the dates
of the laws.)
      Until June 26, 1918, all Texans could vote except "idiots, imbeciles,
aliens, the insane, and women." 
      Texas women were not permitted to serve on juries until 1954. As
late as 1969, married women did not have full property rights. And until
1972, under Article 1220 of the Texas Penal Code, a man could murder his
wife and her lover if he found them "in a compromising position" and get
away with it as "justifiable homicide."  ("Women, you understand, did not
have equal shooting rights," commented Molly Ivins.) Texas was one of the
first states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which has been part of
the Texas Constitution since 1972. 
      (Texas stats taken from Molly Ivins's book, _Molly Ivins Can't Say
That, Can She_?)

03-03 Anniversaries -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

      B. 03-03-1902, Isabel Bishop, artist noted for her colorful paintings
of New York City, as well as her human forms in action as models of "how
to catch the fleeting moment without freezing its flight."

      B. 03-03-1911, Jean Harlow, one of Hollywood's first blonde sexpots,
although her roles always posed her as being able to hold her own with
men in a worldly-wise manner with a striking, frankly sexual beauty.  Her
fatal illness was as a result of an earlier beating by a lover. 

      Event 03-03-1955, Clare Boothe Luce, former U.S. Senator becomes the
first women in U.S. history to be named Ambassador to a major country,
Italy.  

      B. 03-03-1962, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympic gold medalist sprinter, 
Olympic gold medal winner for long jump and heptathlon (1988).  Set world
record for heptathlon.

      Event 03-03-1987, Sandy Freedman, is elected the first woman mayor
of Tampa, FL by winning 177 of the city's 178 precincts.

Quote du jour -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

      "The world taught women nothing skillful and then said her work
was valueless.  It permitted her no opinions and said she did not know
how to think.  It forbade her to speak in public and said the sex had no
orators.  It denied her the schools and said the sex had no genius.  It
robbed her of every vestige of responsibility and then called her weak. 
It taught her that every pleasure must come as a favor from men, and
when to gain it she decked herself in paint and fine feathers, as she had
been taught to do, it called her vain."
      --Carrie Chapman Catt in a speech as president of the National 
American Woman Suffrage Association in 1902. She had been handpicked to
lead the organization by the ailing wonder Susan B. Anthony. 


      >> (C) 1995 Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park, AR
71902, irenestuber@delphi.com. Distribute verbatim copies freely with
copyright notice for non-profit use. Don't let anyone tell you there weren't
notable and effective women throughout history.  They were always there,
but historians failed to note them in our histories so that each generation
of women has had to reinvent themselves.