March is Women’s History Month!

Posted by admin on March 13th, 2010 at 08:07pm

Just today I learned of yet another woman whose accomplishments are truly an example for women everywhere: Ellen Swallow Richards was the first American woman to earn a degree in Chemistry. She became a pioneer in applying scientific principles to domestic situations such as nutrition, physical fitness, sanitation, and efficient home management. She is also the founder of Home Economics as we know it … “home ec” was a familiar part of the junior high and high school curriculum experience (at least for the women of my own “Boomer” generation).

In addition, she undertook the first scientific water quality study in the United States and is known as the founder of Ecology. I’m truly not surprised but am gratified to learn that the first person who found the importance of ecosystems, ecology, and something so vital as water quality of our planet (aka Mother Earth) was a woman!

So how did it take so long for me to learn about Ellen Swallow Richards? After all, who hasn’t heard of Thomas Edison, Robert Fulton, or Luther Burbank? The names of these and other great men of science roll readily off the tongue, drummed into us during our formative years not only in school, but also by way of movies, books, and pop culture. But where were the women? Apparently they were there, just largely unacknowledged.

While still in school, few female names in the scientific realm were familiar to me. One was Clara Barton, probably because I wanted to be a nurse. She was not only known as the Angel of the Battlefield during the Civil War, but also founded the Red Cross. The other was Marie Curie … she discovered a new element, Radium, and formulated the theory of radioactivity, among other important scientific discoveries. She also was the first person to be granted two Nobel Prizes, one in Physics and one in Chemistry. Her husband, Pierre, was a co-laureate, being awarded the Prize for Physics. Under her direction, the world’s first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms (cancers) using radioactive isotopes! Here it was, barely into the 20th Century, and she was already connecting the dots.

But here’s the thing: it’s likely the real reason I was familiar with the story of the Curies was not because she or they figured prominently in my school texts but because of the 1943 movie about them, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. A very popular movie, it won a ton of Academy Award nominations. I remember watching it on tv with my mother … Greer Garson was her favorite movie actress of the era. I also remember a lot of Kleenex along with our popcorn, especially the part where Pierre was tragically killed by a runaway carriage. The thing is, it was more a part of pop culture than of my education.

So why weren’t these women and others a bigger deal in my school textbooks of the 1950s? I have no answer … it would be easy to lay it off to an especially male-centric view of anything relative to the fields of science or math in those days. Texts in those days were definitely skewed and any references to women or their accomplishments were sadly lacking.

But that would be a lazy choice today, given the growth of interest in Womens Studies at most colleges, and higher visibility of women in formerly male-dominated professions. We’re not there yet, however … legislation is still being passed in the areas of pay equity, for example. And given that, I think we women need to keep touting our own … those past and contemporary heroines who made their unappreciated mark on our lives. We have to take the responsibility for making sure our young women know about them and their amazing accomplishments.

So here’s to you, Ellen and Marie … may you continue to inspire countless women to stand on your shoulders in pursuit of both traditional and non-traditional careers. As for my part, I might just go find some more women to write about this month!

Yours in health (and other pursuits)

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