The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) is reminding New Yorkers there are a variety of resources available to help working mothers. NYSDOL found in the 2023 Gender Wage Gap Report that mothers face significant challenges in the workplace that contribute to the wage gap. The report also found the pivot to remote learning and pandemic-driven closures of childcare facilities elevated the severe impact of childcare access, which has long been a major problem for working women. [Read more…] about Resources Available for New York’s Working Mothers
Women
Lucy Hobbs Taylor: Northern NY’s ‘Girl Against the World’
Lucy Beaman Hobbs was born in Constable, in Northern New York, raised in Ellenburg and later schooled in Malone. Early in her life she made it her mission to earn her living by the use of her brain, not by the sweat of her brow. One obstacle stood in the way more than others – she was a woman. [Read more…] about Lucy Hobbs Taylor: Northern NY’s ‘Girl Against the World’
Jane Addams, Alice Hamilton & The Hague Women’s Congress
Berlin, May 1915. Three feminists on an historical mission — Jane Addams and New York native Alice Hamilton from the United States, and Aletta Jacobs from the Netherlands — meet Wilbur H. Durborough. The American photographer and filmmaker had traveled to Berlin with his cameraman, Irving G. Ries, to shoot footage for his war documentary On the Firing Line with the Germans (1915). [Read more…] about Jane Addams, Alice Hamilton & The Hague Women’s Congress
Not Until 1937 Could Women Serve On Juries in New York
Women’s inexorable march toward equality in politics and government in this country has been one of small steps, and there have been many obstacles to overcome. Sometimes in looking back, it is difficult to believe that certain milestones along the journey took so long to achieve. For example, it wasn’t until 1937 that women were eligible to serve on juries in New York State. [Read more…] about Not Until 1937 Could Women Serve On Juries in New York
The Sewing Girl’s Tale: Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, John Wood Sweet, a Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and author of the book, The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America (Henry Holt & Co., 2022), winner of the 2023 Bancroft Prize in American History, joins Liz Covart to investigate the first published rape trial in the United States and how one woman, Lanah Sawyer, bravely confronted the man who raped her by bringing him to court for his crime. [Read more…] about The Sewing Girl’s Tale: Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America
Mary Walker: Civil War Heroine, Medal of Honor Winner
In the latest episode of the A New York Minute in History podcast, Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts tell the story of Dr. Mary Walker: physician, heroine of the Civil War, and the only woman in history ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Born to progressive parents in Western New York, Walker would defy the odds to become a surgeon, spy for the Union Army during the Civil War, and go toe-to-toe with prominent suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. [Read more…] about Mary Walker: Civil War Heroine, Medal of Honor Winner
Madam C. J. Walker: Black Hair Care Entrepreneur
The latest History Twins podcast is about Madam C. J. Walker (1867 – 1919), who made a fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women, especially through the business she founded, the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.
The first child of her large family born free. Sarah Breedlove was a child near Delta, Louisiana where her parents die and she was orphaned by the age of seven. She moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the age of 10, working as a domestic servant. [Read more…] about Madam C. J. Walker: Black Hair Care Entrepreneur
Marguerite Kearns: Unfinished Women’s Rights Revolution (Podcast)
This week on The Historians Podcast the guest is Marguerite Kearns, author of Unfinished Revolution: Edna Buckman Kearns and the Struggle for Women’s Rights (SUNY Press, 2021). The book explores how Edna Buckman Kearns’s focus on women’s suffrage and world peace affected her family then and now. [Read more…] about Marguerite Kearns: Unfinished Women’s Rights Revolution (Podcast)
Layered Citizenship: Amended Podcast’s Final Episode
When the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, millions of Native American women still could not vote. The U.S. government did not recognize them as citizens. And if U.S. citizenship required renouncing tribal sovereignty, many Native women didn’t want it. But early-twentieth-century writer, composer, and activist Zitkála-Šá was determined to fight for both. [Read more…] about Layered Citizenship: Amended Podcast’s Final Episode
Author Asks: What Was The Suffrage Movement Really Like?
Marguerite Kearns started asking questions about her suffragist grandmother Edna Buckman Kearns when she was ten years old. She couldn’t understand why no photos of Edna were displayed in the home where she was raised. She realized later that family members hadn’t processed the grief of Edna’s death in 1934. They loved her, and reminders of family history, including photos, made the matter worse. [Read more…] about Author Asks: What Was The Suffrage Movement Really Like?
Trailblazing Women: Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Ferraro, born in Newburgh and later of the South Bronx, would make history as the first female Vice Presidential nominee for a major party. In 1984, Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale announced that Congresswoman of New York would be his running mate. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Geraldine Ferraro
Trailblazing Women: Mae Jemison
Mae Carol Jemison became the first African American woman accepted into NASA’s space training program on June 4th, 1987. Five years later, on September 12th, 1992, she became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Mae Jemison
Trailblazing Women: Jeannette Rankin
After helping to secure women the right to vote in Montana in 1914, Jeanette Rankin was the first woman to be sworn into Congress in April 1917. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Jeannette Rankin
Trailblazing Women: Amelia Earhart
In 1922, Amelia Earhart set a record for reaching the highest altitude for a woman pilot, flying to 14,000 feet. Six years later, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
In the following 10 years, Earhart continued to set aviation records for speed and distance. She also helped create a women’s aviation club, the Ninety-Nines, and was elected the first president. The organization still exists today and works to promote female pilots. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Amelia Earhart
Women Spies for the French Resistance
This week on The Historians Podcast the guest is Sarah Patten, author of The Measure of Gold (Ashland Press, 2020) a historical novel set in Europe in the Second World War with a focus on French Resistance women spies. Patten discusses the lives of actual spies including Virginia Hall, an American woman who later served with the CIA. [Read more…] about Women Spies for the French Resistance
Hair Stylist Miriam Cordwell Subject of Rockland History Podcast
On the latest episode of the “Crossroads of Rockland History” podcast the topic was the life and legacy of Miriam Cordwell (1908-1986) – the trailblazing, innovating and award-winning hair stylist. Clare Sheridan’s guest was Cordwell’s niece, Judith Brodil. [Read more…] about Hair Stylist Miriam Cordwell Subject of Rockland History Podcast
Suffrage Virtual House Party With Marguerite Kearns
In celebration of Women’s History Month, Peace Action New York State — one of the largest peace activist groups in New York — has announced a Virtual House Party on March 19th with author and activist Marguerite Kearns, who will discuss her soon-to-be-released book, An Unfinished Revolution: Edna Buckman Kearns and the Struggle for Women’s Rights (SUNY Press; June, 2021). [Read more…] about Suffrage Virtual House Party With Marguerite Kearns
Trailblazing Women: Mary McLeod Bethune
As a presidential advisor of African American Affairs during the Roosevelt administration, Mary McLeod Bethune formed the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, which would become known as the Black Cabinet. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Mary McLeod Bethune
Trailblazing Women: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett
Born enslaved in Mississippi in 1862, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett dedicated her life to fighting for racial and gender equality. She was a journalist, suffragist, advocate of racial justice, and anti-lynching activist. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett
Respectability and Reform: Irish American Women’s Activism
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
Tara McCarthy PhD’s book Respectability and Reform: Irish American Women’s Activism, 1880-1920 ( Syracuse University Press, 2018) explores the contributions of a small group of Irish American women in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era who emerged as leaders, organizers, and activists. [Read more…] about Respectability and Reform: Irish American Women’s Activism