June 18, 1995 - Episode 324 - Women of Achievement and Herstory

      From June 16 through June 19, 1963, world news was dominated
by a Russian spaceship which orbited the earth almost 50 times.
      But most of all, it was intrigued by the fact that one of the
cosmonauts was a woman, Valentia Treschkova who actually, manually
controlled the Vostok-6 at one point during the 70.8-hour flight.
      Male critics of women's actions have since said that since she
was not a trained male pilot, her control of the ship was no more
than symbolic.
      Perhaps, but she DID handle the controls and she WAS in orbit
and it would take TWENTY YEARS for an American woman to even get
into space and THIRTY-TWO years for an American woman to TOUCH
the controls and become co-pilot. 
      Dr. Sally Ride, a 32-year-old with a Ph.D. in physics and pilot's
license, becames the first US woman astronaut in space as a mission
specialist aboard space shuttle Challenger, 20 years and two days
after the first Russian woman went into space. 
      It took until 1995 - 32 years later, for American Lt. Col. Eileen
Collins to be assigned as co-pilot on a space mission.

06-18 Anniversaries ...............................................

      B. June 18, 1754, Anna Maria Lenngren, Swedish poet.

      B. June 18, 1862, Carolyn Wells, prolific author of some 170
titles primarily in children's books, mysteries, and humor. A great
limerist.

      B. June 18, 1865, Fannie Pearson Hardy Eckstorm, author and
noted ornithologist and authority on Maine Indians.

      B. June 18, 1900, Laura Z. Hobson wrote revolutionary novels
about social injustices.  _Gentleman's Agreement_ dealt with anti-
semitism, _Tenth Month_, on unwed motherhood, _Consenting Adult_,
homosexuality.

      B. June 18, 1901, Jeanette Macdonald, very popular singer-actor
best known today for her singing over the ruins of San Francisco
(1936) and duets with Canadian Mounties although she was an
accomplished Broadway actor and a fine comedic player.  She was one
of the top money grossers of her era. 

      B. June 18, 1913, Sylvia Porter, financial writer who first wrote
under initials because men would not pay attention to a woman
financial writer. She has long been recognized as one of the finest
authorities in the field.

      B. June 18, 1937, Gail Godwin, novelist: _The Perfectionist_
(1970), _The Odd Woman_ (1974), and _A Southern Family_ (1987).

      B. June 18, 1943, Eva Martan, Hungarian born Metropolitan
Opera singer renowned for her _Turandot_.

      B. June 18, 1952, Isabella Rossellini, whose birth caused US
filmakers to ban her mother from American movies because Ingrid
Bergman was not married to Rossellini.

Quotes du jour ...............................................

      "Whatever women do, they must do it twice as well as men to
be thought half as good.  Luckily, this is not difficult."
            -- Charlotte Witton

>>>(C) 1995 Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park, AR
71902, 501-624-5262 for direct fax or voice mail ID #300,
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.
Contributions to defray online expenses accepted. <<<