During the month of March, the contributions of women in the United States are celebrated during National Women’s History Month. This year, the theme for the month is Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment. This month we look at some women in our history who have demonstrated these characteristics.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Babe Didrikson Zaharias has been called the World’s Greatest Women Athlete. She was born
June 26, 1911, in Port Arthur, Texas. Her real name was Mildred Ella Didrikson. There are two
stories as to how she earned her nickname. One is that it was a name her grandmother called her; the other is the story she told, which is that she earned her nickname after hitting five home runs in a baseball game. Thus, her name was in honor of baseball great Babe Ruth.
While participating in the 1932 Olympics, she won two gold medals and one silver medal in track
and field. In 1935, she began her professional golf career, becoming America’s first female golf
celebrity and the leading player of the 1940s and early 1950s. Babe died of cancer in 1956.
Amy Elizabeth Thorpe
Amy Thorpe is not a name that most people will know. Thorpe, born on November 22, 1910, in
Minneapolis, Minn., was one of the most successful spies in history.
Thorpe was a member of the World War II Office of Strategic Studies from which today’s Special
Operations Forces have descended. During World War II, her code name was Cynthia. In one of
her many assignments, she persuaded an Italian Admiral, Alberto Lais, to give her all of the navy’s code and cipher books, as well as information that would disable ships.
Her most famous assignment was in Vichy, France, where she solicited assistance from the French press officer, Charles Brousse, to gain information to use against the Nazi government occupying France.
Jeannette Rankin
Jeannette Rankin, born on June 11, 1880, was the first woman elected to the United States Congress. At the time Rankin was elected, only 40 states allowed women to vote. She was one of 50 members of Congress who voted against entry into World War I and the only member who voted against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 1916 and to the U.S. Senate in 1940. Following her election in 1916, she said, “I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won’t be the last.”
