THOUGHTS FOR THURSDAY

            “Never
                   underestimate
                          the
                              power
                                  of
                                    a
                                     Woman!”
                                                                      ― Archie Andrews

For a very long time ( even in some places still) woman have been considered not of equal standards as men. We had no voice and stood no grounds in the world. My my my has that changed. This month it's all about HER. The ladies that paved a way for us women of today as well as those of the future. To our doctors, lawyers, journalist, teachers, even our future 1st female president, todays post is all our HERstory! These amazingly talented women that we are featuring today proves that saying "Anything he can do I can do better" to not only be accurate but them some. As we can not only do what he can do but we can probably in some cases do it better!

Bessie Coleman (1892-1924)

Bessie Coleman, or “Brave Bessie,” was the first licensed African-American pilot. Coleman attended college in Oklahoma, but had to quit because of financial difficulties. She moved to Chicago and worked as a manicurist and successfully operated a chili parlor. However, Coleman's dream was to learn to fly. When no American school would accept African Americans, she traveled to France to attend Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, where she became the first licensed black pilot in the world. Flying army surplus aircraft left over from WWI, she earned her nickname “Brave Bessie” by performing daredevil stunts. While doing air shows she gave lectures urging young black students to become pilots. Coleman once refused to perform in Waxahachie, Texas, until black students were allowed to use the same entrance as white students. Coleman died in 1924 in an accident. She is buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago.

Dorothy Eustis (1886-1946)

In 1929, Dorothy Eustis founded The Seeing Eye and revolutionized life for the visually impaired. In 1921 the Philadelphia native moved to Switzerland and opened a dog kennel for the selective breeding of German Shepherds. In 1927, she wrote “The Seeing Eye,” an article about a German school that trained dogs to help blind veterans. As a result, Morris Frank, who was blind, contacted Eustis. In 1928, Frank traveled to Switzerland to receive and learn how to work with a specially trained dog, Buddy. In 1929, the Eustises returned to the US and established The Seeing Eye, a school to train dogs in Nashville, Frank’s hometown. The school permanently moved to New Jersey in 1932. Dorothy Eustis passed away in New York in 1946. By then, The Seeing Eye had provided over 1300 blind individuals with Seeing Eye dogs

Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1964)

Lorraine Hansberry was an African American writer born in Chicago to a wealthy family. Her parents were activists who challenged the Jim Crow Laws. She often saw Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Dubois and other civil rights leaders as a child who helped her understand the civil rights issues of the time. She attended the University of Wisconsin but left school to go to New York where she found a job as a reporter for Freedom, a progressive black newspaper. She was in her 20’s when she wrote her best known work, the play “ A Raisin in the Sun” which dealt with race issues of the time. The title of the play was from a work by Langston Hughes poem with the line that says, "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun, / Or does it explode?” The play won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Hansberry was the 5th woman, the youngest, and the first black woman to win it. Sadly, she lost a bout with cancer and died at age 34.

Martha Matilda Harper (1857-1950)

Inventor of the business concept franchising, Martha Matilda Harper was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, in 1857. When she was a young woman, Harper’s father bound her out into service as a domestic servant in the home of a minister in Rochester, New York. During her free time, she experimented with formulas and created one for organic hair shampoo; she felt that the chemicals in other shampoos were more harmful than good. By 1888, Harper had saved enough money to rent an office in Rochester and she opened a combined beauty parlor and factory for producing shampoo. She called it the Harper Method Shop. Harper’s own hair was so long it nearly reached the ground and she used it as a marketing tool for her product. Her beauty  method not only included organic shampoo, but she also advocated for good hygiene, nutrition, and exercise. Harper invented the first reclining shampoo chair. She is the one who also initiated the concept of a professional salon. Prior to her salons, hairdressers visited customers at their homes. As the demand for her products and services quickly rose, Harper decided to open a franchise parlor in Buffalo, New York, in 1891. The following year, she opened another one in Chicago. Harper’s franchise was the first of its kind; she trained women to open their own businesses under the name Harper Method. At the height of its success, there were over 500 Harper salons in the United States, Canada, South America, and Europe.

Mae C Jemison (1956-)

On September 12, 1992, Mae C. Jemison of Chicago, Illinois became the first black woman to travel into outer space on NASA Mission STS-47 aboard the Endeavour. Before joining NASA in 1987, she received her bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and her doctorate degree in medicine from Cornell University. On Mission STS-47, Jemison served as a Science Mission Specialist on the Space Lab J mission. This was a joint operation between United States and Japan. The laboratory held round-the-clock experiments that have added to fundamental knowledge about the behavior of crystals, fluids and human exposure to a weightless environment.

Lucy Hobbs Taylor (1833-1910)

The first woman to receive her dentistry degree was Lucy Hobbs Taylor. She first wanted to become a doctor, and headed to Eclectic Medical College, which was the only school that accepted women at that time. When she arrived she found that the school had adopted a new policy not to accept women. She was told to apply to dentistry school, since there was less stress involved. She found a dentist in Ohio who taught her to pull teeth and make dentures. Even with this training, she was not admitted into dentistry school, because she was a woman. She apprenticed with other dentists without a degree, a common practice at that time. She opened her first office in Iowa, and eventually was admitted to the Iowa state Dental Association. Later, she was accepted into the Ohio College and graduated in 1866 with a degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. She taught her husband dentistry and they started a practice together. She practiced dentistry until she died of a stroke in 1910.

Antonia C Novello (1924-)

Puerto Rico native Antonia C. Novello was the first woman and the first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General. A painful chronic colon condition led her to pursue a medical degree and then a career in medicine. Between 1970 and 1990, she worked at several hospitals, operated a private practice, and worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). From 1990 to 1993, she served as Surgeon General under President George H.W. Bush. While Surgeon General, she focused on issues relating to the health of children, women, and minorities, as well as on the dangers of smoking, underage drinking, and AIDS. Since 1993, Novello worked for UNICEF and the John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. In 1999, she became Commissioner of Health for New York.

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi (1955-)

One of the highest-ranking women in corporate America, Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi was born on October 28, 1955, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. She presently runs the fourth largest food and beverage company in the world, PepsiCo, as their first female Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This position has made Nooyi one of the most powerful and influential businesswomen in America.

Before she came to the United States, she received a Bachelor of Science degree from Madras Christian College and a Masters of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management. In India, she worked as a product manger for Johnson & Johnson and the textile firm Mettur Beardsell, Ltd. In her college years, Nooyi fronted an all-girl rock band. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1978.

In 1994, Nooyi began her career with PepsiCo as Senior Vice President (SVP) of Strategic Planning and was later promoted to SVP of Corporate Strategy and Development. In February of 2000, she was promoted to the positions of SVP and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Nooyi was promoted to President while keeping her position as CFO in May of 2001, at the same time she was elected to the Board of Directors. In 2005, Forbes Magazine ranked her the eleventh most powerful woman in business for her roles as President and CFO of PepsiCo. She became the first female Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President on October 1, 2006. Because of the promotion, she was ranked the most powerful woman in business by Fortune magazine and ranked the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes for 2006. As of May 2, 2007 she also became the chair of the Board of Directors for PepsiCo. Today, Nooyi remains with PepsiCo serving as their chair, President, and CEO. With her successful leadership of the company, she continues to be one of the most prominent women in the business world.

  *HAPPY WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH TO OUR READERS*

   ~HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 1STCLASSLADY JENN~