By: Suzette Cotto 

NFBPWC Public Relations Chair

Engage with NFBPWC on Social Media

Organization Page:   https://www.facebook.com/NatlFedBPWC/

Group Page: https://www.facebook.com/NatlFedBPWC/

Organization Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nfbpwc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2l_ciIxLyvbu1dbBOsV9Tg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nfbpwc_usa/

FEBRUARY Highlights in US Women’s History

February is Black History Month

Black History Month recognizes and honors important people and events in the history of African-American history.  In 1926 noted historian, Carter G. Woodson, originated the idea of “Negro History Week”. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans – former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
The tradition of what became Black History Month greatly influenced the expansion of academic scholarship and the corresponding recognition of the rich history of African Americans

Take the Black Women’s History Challenge

Celebrate Black History Month

February Highlights in US Women’s History

• February 1, 1978 – First postage stamp to honor a black woman, Harriet Tubman, is issued in Washington, DC

• February 4, 1987 – First “National Women in Sports Day” is celebrated by Presidential Proclamation

• February 11, 1989 – Rev. Barbara Harris became the first woman bishop in the American Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion worldwide.

• February 12, 1869 – The Utah Territorial Legislature passes a bill allowing women to vote

• February 15, 1921 – The Suffrage Monument, depicting Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott, sculpted by Adelaide Johnson, is dedicated at the U.S. Capitol

• February 15, 1953 – Tenley Albright became the first American woman to win the World Figure Skating championship

• February 17, 1870 – Esther Hobart Morris in Wyoming became the first American woman Justice of the Peace

• February 24, 1912 – Henrietta Szold founds Hadassah, the largest Jewish organization in American history, focusing on healthcare and education in the Israel and the U.S.

• February 24, 1967 – Jocelyn Bell Burnell makes the first discovery of a pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star

• February 27, 1922 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote

(Source:  https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/february/)