The Kent State Stark Women's History Committee will spotlight different, recognized women in fields like the arts, politics, science, sports and business every Wednesday in March on Kent State Stark's social media platforms.
Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000)
In the 1930s and 40s, Hedy Lamarr was known as “the most beautiful woman in the world” and was an international star in the movie industry. Born in Austria to Jewish parents, she left her German husband in the mid-1930s, traveled to the United States and began to make movies for what became MGM Studios. Her movie career lasted into the early 1950s. Her lasting contribution was not the silver screen, but rather the scientific work of creating and developing “frequency hopping,” which was designed to help prevent the jamming of radio signals on torpedoes used in World War II against the Nazis. The device provided a synchronization between the transmitter and receiver, while changing frequency to prevent interception. She worked with George Anthiel to develop a usable system that was patented in 1941.While not fully implemented until 1962, when technology caught up with their invention, the concept of frequency hopping became the foundation of today’s technology found in cell phones, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth devices. Hedy, as a self-taught scientist, was awarded the Pioneer Award of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Although the US military and the communications industry acknowledges her contribution, Hedy LaMarr was never paid for the work or use of her invention. She died in 2000.
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Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
Mary Cassatt was an American-born painter and printmaker. She grew up in Pennsylvania, but lived most of her life in France, where she practiced painting in the Impressionist form. Mary is best known for her depictions of the private lives of women, with many paintings showcasing the relationship between mother and child. In 1904, she was awarded the Legion d’honneur, the highest French order of merit, a testament to her influence in painting and printmaking. Near the end of her life, she became involved with women’s suffrage and exhibited works supporting the movement.
Resources:
- "Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints" // by Frank Getlein
- "The Graphic Art of Mary Cassatt" // Introd. by Adelyn D. Breeskin. Foreword by Donald H. Karshan
- "The Artist was a Woman" // by Suzanne Bauman and Mary Bell
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1933 – 2020)
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was appointed by President Clinton in 1993 and served until her death in 2020. She attended Harvard Law School where she faced significant gender discrimination and a hostile environment. She became the first female tenured law professor at Columbia and was a director of Women’s Rights for American Civil Liberties Union in the 1970s. Throughout her tenure on the Supreme Court, she presented a strong voice on promoting gender equality. Her influence will continue to play a pivotal role in many controversial cases in the future.
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Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919)
Madam C.J. Walker is known today as one of the first African American women to become a millionaire, but her story is also that of an incredibly successful entrepreneur and business owner. Due to the lack of plumbing in their homes, African American women could not wash their hair frequently and would experience significant hair loss as a result. In her search for solving this problem for herself, Madam C.J. Walker began her professional career as sales agent selling hair products. She later developed a hair care system that solved the hair care needs of African American women. By the end of her life, in 1919, her business had 40,000 employees in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean and generated sales above $500,000. Madam C.J. Walker was a masterful business owner. She was a pioneer in employment practices. She was focused not only in personal wealth creation, but in empowering her employees to become independent, self-reliant career women and men, enacting policies such as generous commissions and extensive training. Through her employment practices and her marketing strategies, she influenced the perception of black women in society and provided opportunities to many black men and women to escape poverty, become economically independent and build wealth.
Resources:
- Bundles, A'Lelia. On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker. Washington Square Press, 2002.
- Dwojeski, Anne E., William Grundy, Erica Helms, Katherine Miller, and Nancy F Koehn. “Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur, Leader, and Philanthropist.” Harvard Business Review, hbr.org, last modified March 26, 2007.
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- Netflix mini-series “Self-Made” based on Madam C.J. Walker’s life.
Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956)
Voted by the Associated Press as the Greatest Female Athlete of the first half of the twentieth century, Babe Didrikson excelled in every sport she tried. She was an All-American in basketball, she competed in three Olympic events, played baseball with the House of David and then found her real home as a golfer. As a golfer she dominated both the amateur and, later, professional ranks, winning the U.S. Open in 1948. In 1953, the first Babe Zaharias Open was played. Didrikson set world records in the javelin, high jump, baseball throw and 80-meter hurdles. She also won two Gold medals and one Silver at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Due to some of the challenges she faced to play golf, Didrikson helped co-found the LPGA in 1949. Didrikson married George Zaharias in 1939 and he became her manager until her death from cancer in 1956.
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- Michals, Debra. "Mildred Ella 'Babe' Didrikson Zaharias." National Women's History Museum. 2015. ;