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Why Is Simone Biles the World’s Best Gymnast? | Rio Olympics 2016 | The New York Times

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Why Is Simone Biles the World’s Best Gymnast? | Rio Olympics 2016 | The New York Times

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Why Is Simone Biles the World's Best Gymnast? | Rio Olympics 2016 | The New York Times

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Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician. She made important contributions to the United States space program during her career at the National Aeronautics and Space...

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Malala Yousafzai is a young Pakistani activist. In 2008 she began protesting the closing of girls' schools in her area. In 2012 she was shot as a result of her protests....

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Temple Grandin was born on August 29, 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, Temple was withdrawn and extremely sensitive to touch and sound. She did not talk until she was 3 ¹/ ₂ years old. A doctor determined that she had autism. Her parents were told to send her to an institution, a place where people with disabilities live together. They refused. Instead, they sent Temple to private schools. Teachers soon realized that she had a brilliant mind.

Grandin often felt nervous at school. Eventually, she became aware that animals and people with autism often have similar reactions to the world. Sights and sounds that are new or overwhelming may frighten them. While in high school, she designed a "squeeze machine" (also called a "hug machine") to calm herself. She modeled it on chutes that hold livestock in place. Versions of her machine are still used in schools for children with autism.

After high school, Grandin attended Franklin Pierce College. She went on to earn a master's degree at Arizona State University and a doctorate at the University of Illinois, both in animal science.

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Temple Grandin was born on August 29, 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, Temple was withdrawn and extremely sensitive to touch and sound. She did not talk until she was 3 1/ 2 years old. A doctor determined that she had autism.

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Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan politician and an environmentalist. An environmentalist works to protect the environment. She received the Nobel prize for peace in 2004....

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In the weeks leading up to the 2018 Swedish election, Thunberg sat in front of the parliament building with her sign. She wanted the lawmakers entering the building to do something about climate change. The first day of the strike she was alone, but more people joined her as the strike continued. After the election Thunberg returned to school four days a week but still skipped school on Fridays to strike. These were called Fridays for Future. It inspired hundreds of thousands of students around the world to participate in their own Fridays for Future. Students held strikes in many countries, including Belgium, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands.

Soon after Thunberg began her strike, she received invitations to speak about climate change. She spoke at various United Nations climate events, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the European Parliament, and in front of the legislatures of Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Her speeches were collected in a book and published as No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference (2019). In May 2019 Thunberg was named one of Time magazine's Next Generation Leaders. Seven months later, in December, she was named Time 's Person of the Year.

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Greta Thunberg is a Swedish activist who works to address the problem of climate change. She is the founder of a movement known as Fridays for Future. It is also known as...

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Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to become an astronaut. She was a part of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which orbited Earth for more than a week in 1992.

Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. She was the youngest of three children. When she was 3, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. Even as a young girl Jemison was deeply interested in science.

Jemison graduated from high school at age 16. She then received a scholarship to attend Stanford University in California. She graduated from there in 1977 with a degree in chemical engineering.

After Stanford, Jemison attended medical school at Cornell University in New York. She received her medical degree in 1981. She worked as a doctor first in Los Angeles, California, and then with the Peace Corps in West Africa.

Then Jemison applied to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to become an astronaut. She was one of only 15 out of 2,000 applicants accepted by NASA. Jemison entered NASA's astronaut program in 1987. In 1992 Jemison flew aboard the shuttle Endeavour as the science mission specialist. At the time she was the only female African American astronaut.

After retiring from NASA in 1993, Jemison founded her own company, the Jemison Group. The company created new technologies, especially to help developing countries. Jemison also created an international science camp for teenagers.

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Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to become an astronaut. She was a part of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which orbited Earth for more than a week...

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Procter began to exchange letters with George Boulenger, the keeper of reptiles and fishes at the British Museum (now the Natural History Museum) in London. Boulenger was so impressed with her that he hired her as an assistant in 1916 and became her mentor. When she was 19 years old, Procter presented her first scientific paper to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). She wrote other papers and also created models and drawings for the reptile exhibits at the British Museum.

After the British Museum, Procter worked at the ZSL London Zoo. In 1923 she became curator of reptiles at the zoo and helped design the Reptile House. She applied her knowledge of reptiles to the design of the building, which made the building revolutionary at the time. Also in 1923 she discovered and described a new species, or kind, of reptile: the peninsula dragon lizard. Procter was an expert in handling large pythons and crocodiles and became the first person to describe the behavior of Komodo dragons in captivity. She often walked around the zoo with Sumbawa, a Komodo dragon that she had tamed.

Procter's work with reptiles allowed her to identify when the animals were sick and how to treat them. She developed new ways to treat them, often using tools she designed herself. Procter continued to battle health problems and died on September 20, 1931, at the age of 34.

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Procter began to exchange letters with George Boulenger, the keeper of reptiles and fishes at the British Museum (now the Natural History Museum) in London. Boulenger was so impressed with her that he hired her as an assistant in 1916 and became her mentor.

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From Academic Kids

Elizabeth Muriel Gregory "Elsie" MacGill ( March 27, 1905 - November 4, 1980), made famous as the Queen of the Hurricanes, was a aeronautical engineer during World War II who did much to make Canada a powerhouse of airplane construction during her years at Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario. After her work at CC&F she ran a successful consulting business, and became famous again in 1970 as the co-author of the Royal Commission Report on the Status of Women.

Elsie was born in Vancouver on March 27, 1905, daughter of James Henry MacGill, a prominent Vancouver lawyer, and Helen Gregory MacGill, British Columbia's first woman judge. Her mother was an advocate of women's suffrage and influenced Elsie's decision to study engineering. She became the first Canadian woman to graduate with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto in 1927.

She took a job with Austen Motors in the US, and when they started to move into aircraft manufacturing she enrolled at the University of Michigan in aeronautical engineering. In 1929, she was the first woman to graduate with a masters degree in aeronautical engineering. Just before graduating she was struck by polio and wrote her final exams from a hospital bed. She was told that she would probably spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, but refused to accept that possibility and forced herself to learn to walk with two strong metal canes. To help pay her bills, she wrote magazine articles about planes and flying, while continuing studies at MIT in Boston.

In 1934, she started work at Fairchild Aircraft's Canadian operations in Montreal, as Assistant Engineer. In 1938, she was the first woman elected to corporate membership in the Engineering Institute of Canada. Later that year she was hired as Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Canada Car and Foundry, where she designed a new trainer, the Maple Leaf Trainer II. Although unable to pilot the plane due to the weakness of the muscles in her legs, she nevertheless flew on most test flights in the observer's seat. Unfortunately the Maple Leaf did not meet Commonwealth standards, and was not widely built in Canada. However the CCF had a branch plant in Mexico where the Maple Leaf went into production for their air force as it had excellent high-altitude performance for a trainer, important as they commonly operated from 7,000ft.

The Maple Leaf was designed and first built in CCF's Ft. William (now Thunder Bay) factories, where she had moved. At the time Ft. William did not even have a road connection to the rest of Canada, served entirely by rail and boats on Lake Superior. Things soon changed when the factory was selected to build the Hawker Hurricane for the RAF, and quickly expanded from about 500 workers to 4,500 by war's-end, half of them women. For much of the war her primary task was to streamline operations in the construction of the Hawker Hurricane, eventually producing over 1,400 of them by 1943 when production ended. She was also responsible for the fitting of skis and de-icing controls for winter operations. Her role in this successful production run made her famous, even to the point of a comic book being published in the United States about her, using her then-famous nickname. She also published a paper on her work in 1940, Factors Affecting the Mass Production of Aeroplanes, which won her the Gzowski Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1941.

At this point the factory looked for new work and ended up with a contract from the US Navy to build SB2C Helldivers. This production did not go nearly as smoothly, and a continual stream of minor changes from Curtiss-Wright meant that full-scale production took a long time to get started. The Navy was increasingly frustrated and visited the plant, and the next week the production line boss, Bill Soulsby, and MacGill were both fired. Rumors spread about shoddy treatment of the Navy brass by Soulsby, but the rumors ended soon after when Soulsby and MacGill married two weeks later.

MacGill and Soulsby then moved to Toronto and set up a aeronautical consulting business. In 1946, she was the first woman to serve as Technical Advisor for ICAO, where she helped to draft International Air Worthiness regulations for the design and production of commercial aircraft. In 1947 she was Chairman of the Stress Analysis Committee of this part of the United Nations, the first woman to chair a committee in the UN.

In March 1953, the American Society of Women Engineers made her an honorary member with a medal and named her "Woman Engineer of the Year", it was the first time that the Award had gone out of the United States. She was awarded the Centennial Medal by the Canadian government in 1967, the Ninety-Nines awarded her the Amelia Earhart Medal in 1975, and in 1979 the Ontario Association of Professional Engineers presented her with their gold medal.

In the 1960's she devoted considerable time and energy to women's organizations, serving as national president of the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs from 1962 to 1964. In 1967 she was named to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women and co-authored the report published in 1970. For this work she was given the Order of Canada in 1971. As a founding member of the National Action Committee, she was involved in all its activities until her death. MacGill once said: "I have received many engineering awards, but I hope I will also be remembered as an advocate for the rights of women and children."

Elsie MacGill died on November 4, 1980 in a car accident in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Three years later she was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame, and in 1992 she was a founding inductee in the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in Ottawa.

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Elizabeth Muriel Gregory "Elsie" MacGill ( March 27, 1905 - November 4, 1980), made famous as the Queen of the Hurricanes, was a aeronautical engineer during World War II who did much to make Canada a powerhouse of airplane construction during her years at Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario.

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Simone Biles was a bright, bubbly, bouncy little girl. She couldn't sit still, and her favorite place to be was the trampoline in her grandparents' backyard, where she flipped and twisted in the air for hours. Any move her siblings could do, she could do too.

Simone was born in 1997. When she was 6 years old, her day-care group went on a field trip to a gym. Simone loved watching the gymnasts train and perform. She couldn't just watch them, though-she had to try their moves. She was so good that one of the coaches sent a letter home with her, inviting Simone to take gymnastics classes.

CRAIG BARRIT/GETTY IMAGES FOR SK-II

Simone loved the classes, and she was excellent at climbing, swinging, jumping, and tumbling. She had a lot to learn, though. Most of the gymnasts in her class had started lessons when they were toddlers. At 6, Simone was the oldest child in her class. That would change quickly.

Several times a year, the gym held exhibitions to demonstrate the gymnasts' skills. At one of these, young gymnasts had to climb 10 feet up a rope, using just their arms and holding their legs straight in front of them. Simone was so strong that she climbed 15 or 20 feet into the air and had to be coaxed back to the ground.

The coaches could hardly keep up with Simone. When one girl performed a standing back tuck, Simone was sure she could do one too. Her coach didn't believe her, so Simone tried the trick and nailed it on the spot.

At 9, Simone learned why she couldn't sit still: She had ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Her brain moved fast and her body did too-which made it hard for her to concentrate in school but which also made her an amazing gymnast. "The challenges we face help define who we are," Simone wrote. "My challenge is also my superpower: ADHD." Simone's superpower would help make her one of the most dynamic gymnasts ever seen.

Medal Winner

Simone is one of the greatest athletes in history. At age 16, she won two gold medals at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, including the all-around (the total score from competing in all events). She has now won 25 world medals, 19 of them gold. That's the most in world gymnastics history.

Simone competed in her first Olympics in 2016. She was the first female U.S. gymnast to win four gold medals in an Olympic Games. Since then, Simone has debuted moves never successfully done in competition, including a double-double dismount from the balance beam. The move became known as the Biles. Several signature moves have been named after Simone.

ALEX LIVESEY-GETTY IMAGES

Fast Facts

Simone is the most decorated female gymnast in America.

One of her signature moves is a triple-double (double backflip with three twists in the air). It's known as the Biles II.

She is the first Black woman to win an Artistic Gymnastics World Championships all-around title-and she's won this title five times.

Simone is the first woman gymnast to win three consecutive all-around world titles.

At the 2018 World Championships, Simone had a painful kidney stone. She still won gold and collected the all-around title.

JARED WICKERHAM-GETTY IMAGES

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This is Simone: Read the Story of Simone Biles

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Simone Biles was a bright, bubbly, bouncy little girl. She couldn't sit still, and her favorite place to be was the trampoline in her grandparents' backyard, where she flipped and twisted in the air for hours. Any move her siblings...

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Who Is Ibtihaj Muhammad?

Fencing champion Ibtihaj Muhammad was born in 1985 in New Jersey. She discovered fencing when she was 13 years old and has gone on to earn numerous medals and accolades for her achievements in the sport. In 2016, she secured a spot on Team USA. In qualifying for the Olympics, Muhammad made history when she became the first Muslim woman who wears a hijab, a traditional Muslim headscarf, to represent the United States. She became the first female Muslim-American athlete to win an Olympic medal when she took home the bronze in the team sabre event at the Summer Games in Rio.

Early Life

Ibtihaj Muhammad was born on December 4, 1985 in Maplewood, New Jersey. She is one of five children born to parents Eugene and Denise Muhammad. From a young age, Muhammad had a competitive streak and loved sports. However, participating in sports at school sometimes conflicted with her religious observance to dress modestly. Often when playing sports, her mother Denise had to alter the uniforms to add long sleeves or covering for her legs. When she was 13, Muhammad and her mother discovered fencing when they saw a high school fencing team practice as they drove home. "The kids were wearing their long pants and hats, and my mom just thought, 'This is perfect,'" Muhammad said. "That's where it all began." Fencing was an ideal opportunity to participate in sports while wearing a hijab. Unlike when she played other sports, she also did not feel out of place amongst her teammates.

When Muhammad first tried fencing in middle school, she didn't particularly care for it, but she soon changed her mind. From a practical and financial standpoint, she viewed fencing as an opportunity to obtain a sports scholarship to a prestigious university. She also changed her weaponry from the epée, finding the saber better suited to her personality. (Of the three fencing disciplines, the foil, the epée, and the saber - the saber is considered the fastest and most forceful.) Soon her enthusiasm grew and Muhammad began attending the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a non-profit organization that introduces and teaches the sport of fencing (and life skills) to underprivileged inner-city youth in New York City. There, she met other kids from similar backgrounds and more encouragement to pursue the sport.

Muhammad attended Maplewood's Columbia High School, where she excelled and became captain of the fencing team for two years and helped win two state championships.

Career Beginnings

Ibtihaj Muhammad attended Duke University on a scholarship. She graduated in 2007 with dual bachelor's degrees in international relations and African-American studies with a minor in Arabic. During her first year at college in 2004, she earned All-America honors with a record of 49-8. From there, she went on to place second at the mid-Atlantic/South Regional and 21st at the Junior Olympics. The following year, she finished 11th for saber at the NCAA Championships, and earned her second consecutive All-America honors. A third would come in 2006.

"Fencing has taught me so much about myself and what I am capable of. I want to be an example for minority and Muslim youth that anything is possible with perseverance. I want them to know that nothing should ever hinder them from achieving their goals-not race, religion, or gender." - Ibtihaj Muhammad, Duke Magazine, 2011

Muhammad also serves on the council for the U.S. Department of State's Empowering Women and Girls Through Sport Initiative, which encourages girls across the globe to reach their potential.

Becoming A Champion

In 2009, Muhammad elevated her training when she was coached by the 2000 U.S. Olympian, Akhi Spencer-El. That same year, she won a national title. Since then Muhammad has become a five-time Senior World Team medalist. She helped her team take home gold for the United States in 2014 in Kazan, Russia. Throughout her career, she has earned numerous medals for both team and individual events on the World Cup circuit. In 2012, Muhammad was named Muslim Sportswoman of the year.

"What I loved most about fencing was it allowed me to pursue my desire to be involved in sports, but also allowed me to be myself as Muslim woman." - Ibtihaj Muhammad, Elle Magazine, 2016

In 2016, Muhammad earned a spot on the U.S. Saber Fencing Team for the Olympics in Rio. She is the first Muslim woman to wear a hijab, a traditional Muslim headscarf, to represent the United States at the Olympics. She has stated that qualifying for an Olympic team means a great deal not only for her and her family, but also for the Muslim community. She is seen as a symbol of promise for a community that sees few Muslim women playing at an elite level of sport.

At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, Muhammad won her first qualifying round in the individual saber event, but was defeated by French fencer Cécilia Berder in the second round. Muhammad went on to become the first female Muslim-American athlete to win an Olympic medal when she took home the bronze in the team sabre event. Muhammad and teammates Dagmara Wozniak, Mariel Zagunis and Monica Aksamit defeated the Italian team 45-30 for the win.

"A lot of people don't believe that Muslim women have voices or that we participate in sport," Muhammad said in an interview with USA Today. "And it's not just to challenge misconceptions outside the Muslim community, but within the Muslim community. I want to break cultural norms."

She added, "It's a blessing to represent so many people who don't have voices, who don't speak up, and it's been a really remarkable experience for me."

The Entrepreneur

Muhammad has traveled the world for her sport, but also as a speaker at various public engagements and at conventions relating to sports and education. Often she would find herself frustrated with the lack of modern fashion that was modest in design for observant Muslim women.

Seeing that void in the marketplace, and with the suggestion and encouragement of her brother Qareeb, Muhammad founded her online shop Louella in 2014. Her e-tail shop offers an affordable fashion alternative for the Muslim market. Her brother helped connect her to a manufacturer in Los Angeles, where all the clothing is made. He now runs the manufacturing end and she and her sisters design the products. Starting her own business and working with her family has become another outlet for Muhammad, who hopes to transition to operate her company full-time after retiring from her sporting career.

On November 13, Mattel announced that it was honoring Muhammad with the unveiling of a new Barbie doll in her likeness. Part of the brand's annual Shero program, which celebrates notable women and their achievements, the doll is the first in Barbie's lengthy history to come with a hijab.

The Olympic medalist responded to the news by posting an Instagram photo of her with a doll, writing, "I'm proud to know that little girls everywhere can now play with a Barbie who chooses to wear hijab! This is a childhood dream come true."

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Fencing champion Ibtihaj Muhammad was born in 1985 in New Jersey. She discovered fencing when she was 13 years old and has gone on to earn numerous medals and accolades for her achievements in the sport. In 2016, she secured a spot on Team USA.

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Introduction
(1914-65). Canadian businesswoman Viola Desmond was a beautician and a mentor to young black women through her beauty school in the province of Nova Scotia. She is perhaps best remembered, however, for refusing to move from a whites-only section of a public movie theater in 1946. Her actions brought attention to racial discrimination in Nova Scotia and in Canada.

Desmond was born Viola Irene Davis on July 6, 1914, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her father was raised in a middle-class black family and eventually became a barber. Her mother was the daughter of a white minister and his wife. Although intermarriage between blacks and whites was rare in Canada at the time, her parents were accepted into the black community.

Entrepreneur
After graduating from high school, Davis taught for a short time in two racially segregated schools for black students. She then studied at the Field Beauty Culture School in Montreal, Quebec. It was one of the few such institutions in Canada at the time that accepted black students. She continued her training in the United States. After returning to Canada she married Jack Desmond. Viola opened Vi's Studio of Beauty Culture in Halifax and eventually a beauty school, the Desmond School of Beauty Culture. Both her establishments catered to black women. Desmond also created a line of beauty products specifically formulated for black hair and skin.

In 1946 Desmond was driving through the small town of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, when her car broke down. To pass the time while waiting for repairs, she went to the Roseland Theater to watch a movie. When she entered the theater she tried to sit in a seat on the main floor. However, the ticket taker told her that her ticket was for the balcony. She went back to the ticket seller and tried to buy a ticket for the main floor, but the seller said that the main floor was reserved for white customers. Desmond reentered the theater and sat on the main floor anyway. When the manager told her to move, she refused, and the manager called the police. The police dragged Desmond out, injuring her hip and knee, and took her to jail.

The following morning Desmond went to trial. She was charged with attempting to defraud the government. By having a balcony ticket, she did not pay the extra one-cent amusement tax placed on main-floor seats, where she had sat. During the trial Desmond was not provided with legal counsel nor informed that she was entitled to any, so she defended herself. The judge ruled against her and fined her $26. At no point in the proceedings was the issue of race mentioned. However, it was clear that Desmond's real offense was violating the unstated rule that black people were to sit in the balcony seats, segregated from white people on the main floor.

With community support behind her, including the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NSAACP), Desmond decided to fight her conviction. Her white lawyer chose not to take on the violation of Desmond's rights. Instead, he brought a civil suit against the theater and its manager, claiming that the manager acted unlawfully when he forcibly ejected Desmond from the theater. The lawyer was seeking compensation for Desmond on such grounds as assault and false imprisonment.

The suit never made it to trial. Desmond's lawyer later applied to the Supreme Court to have the criminal conviction put aside. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Maynard Brown Archibald considered the case. In 1947 he ruled against Desmond, stating that the decision of the original court should have been appealed to the County Court. Since the 10-day deadline for filing an appeal to the original conviction had passed, the conviction stood.

Eventually Desmond's marriage fell apart, and she moved to Montreal. Segregation in Nova Scotia was legally ended in 1954. Desmond died on February 7, 1965, in New York, New York.

In 2010 Desmond's sister, Wanda Robson (with Ronald Caplan), published Sister to Courage, about Desmond's experience. That same year Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis granted Desmond a pardon at a ceremony in Halifax. The pardon recognized that Desmond's conviction had been a miscarriage of justice and that charges should never have been filed.

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Introduction (1914-65). Canadian businesswoman Viola Desmond was a beautician and a mentor to young black women through her beauty school in the province of Nova Scotia. She is perhaps best remembered, however, for refusing to move from a whites-only section of a public movie theater in 1946.

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After earning a degree, Montague moved to Washington, D.C. She was determined to become an engineer. She got an office job with the navy. At first her boss made it very difficult for Montague to succeed, but she kept working hard and learning new skills. She took computer programming classes at night, and she earned promotions despite the obstacles. In 1971, during the Vietnam War, Montague was given a month to design a warship using a computer program. She did it in less than 19 hours. For this accomplishment, she received the U.S. Navy's Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1972. The navy began using her system to design all its ships and submarines.

Montague worked with other government agencies and taught at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. She retired in 1990. She was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame in 2018. Montague died on October 10, 2018, in Little Rock.

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After earning a degree, Montague moved to Washington, D.C. She was determined to become an engineer. She got an office job with the navy. At first her boss made it very difficult for Montague to succeed, but she kept working hard and learning new skills.

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Climate change strikes: Greta Thunberg in Montreal | CBC Kids News

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Climate change strikes: Greta Thunberg in Montreal | CBC Kids News

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Wangari Maathai - Defender of the Earth, fighter for democracy

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Wangari Maathai - Defender of the Earth, fighter for democracy

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Against the Odds: the Story of Raye Montague

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Against the Odds: the Story of Raye Montague

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Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad Is Changing The Perception Of Muslim Women | Paid Content

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Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad Is Changing The Perception Of Muslim Women | Paid Content

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Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad Is Changing The Perception Of Muslim Women | Paid Content

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Great Minds: Katherine Johnson, Human Computer

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Great Minds: Katherine Johnson, Human Computer

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Great Minds: Katherine Johnson, Human Computer

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Women Who Changed the World - Wangari Maathai - The Woman who planted 40 million trees

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Women Who Changed the World - Wangari Maathai - The Woman who planted 40 million trees

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Women Who Changed the World - Wangari Maathai - The Woman who planted 40 million trees

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Mae Jemison: First African American Woman in Space | Biography

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CANAdooDAday | Viola Desmond: Canadian Civil Rights Champion | CBC Kids

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Malala’s Magic Pencil | Malala Yousafzai tells us about her children’s book

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Malala’s Magic Pencil | Malala Yousafzai tells us about her children’s book

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Malala's Magic Pencil | Malala Yousafzai tells us about her children's book

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Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor - Read Aloud Picture Book | Brightly Storytime

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Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor - Read Aloud Picture Book | Brightly Storytime

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Wangari's Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter ~ KIDS STORY READ ALOUD by Will Sarris

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A Computer Called Katherine - Suzanne Slade - Biography - Kids Book Read Aloud - Black History Month

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A Computer Called Katherine - Suzanne Slade - Biography - Kids Book Read Aloud - Black History Month

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Founders of the Fempire: Mary Edwards Walker

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Founders of the Fempire: Mary Edwards Walker

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Founders of the Fempire: Mary Edwards Walker | Lifetime

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At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Walker traveled to Washington, D.C., to offer her services. Because she was a woman, she was not given a surgical post. She then worked as a volunteer in a hospital while trying to gain a regular appointment to army medical service. Walker also organized the Women's Relief Organization, which helped the visiting wives and mothers of wounded soldiers.

In 1863 Walker traveled to Tennessee. There she was hired to be an assistant surgeon with a unit of the Union Army. In April 1864 she was captured by Confederate soldiers. She was held in prison for four months. After her release, Walker was assigned to a women's prison hospital and then an orphanage. She left government service in June 1865 and was awarded the Medal of Honor that year. Walker remains the only woman to have won the medal in wartime.

Walker left the medical profession and became active in dress reform-the effort to introduce more comfortable, practical clothing for women. Walker was eventually distanced from this and other women's reform movements. She died in Oswego on February 21, 1919.

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Mary Edwards Walker was an American doctor. She is thought to have been the only official woman surgeon employed for battlefield duty during the American Civil War (1861-65)....

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Eugenie Clark was a U.S. ichthyologist, or a scientist who studies fish. She was a pioneer in the field of marine biology and is noted for her research on poisonous fish and…

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Association for Library Service to Children

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Mary Anning was an English fossil collector. She discovered several dinosaur specimens that were important in the early development of paleontology. Early Life Mary Anning...

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Autumn Peltier is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) environmental activist. She has spent more than half her young life working to bring clean water to Indigenous peoples in Canada.…

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USPS unveils stamp in honor of Mote’s ‘Shark Lady’ Dr. Eugenie Clark

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Pura Belpré was the first Puerto Rican librarian to be hired by the New York Public Library system. A gifted storyteller and puppeteer, she celebrated the stories that had been handed down across generations of her family, and her story "Pérez and Martina," which she published in 1932, has become a classic of children's literature.

Pura Belpré also believed in welcoming everyone to the library, offering numerous programs and titles in Spanish to her neighbors at a time when such "community outreach" - especially to the Spanish-speaking community - was unheard of.

Learn more about Pura Belpré, her legacy of librarianship, and the children's book award in her honor from the following resources!

The Pura Belpré Book Award

Celebrating Latino Cultural Experiences

The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA affiliate.

A list of Previous winners of Pura Belpre Award is availabe on the ALSC website.

More diverse perspectives

For additional awards that celebrate diverse perspectives, see the award list in our multicultural literature section.

2023 Pura Belpré Winners

See the list of all of the 2023 ALA Youth Media Award winners.

Author Award Winner

Frizzy, written by Claribel A. Ortega, illustrated by Rose Bousamra

Honor Books

The Coquíes Still Sing, written by Karina Nicole González, illustrated by Krystal Quiles

The Notebook Keeper: A Story of Kindness from the Border, written by Stephen Briseño, illustrated by Magdalena Mora

Tumble, written by Celia C. Pérez and published by Kokila

Young Adult Award Winner

Burn Down, Rise Up, written by Vincent Tirado

Honor Books

Breathe and Count Back from Ten, written by Natalia Sylvester

High Spirits, written by Camille Gomera-Tavarez

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, written by Sonora Reyes

Illustrator Award Winner

Where Wonder Grows, illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia, written by Xelena González

Honor Books

The Coquíes Still Sing, illustrated by Krystal Quiles, written by Karina Nicole González

A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters, illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh

Magic: Once Upon a Faraway Land, illustrated and written by Mirelle Ortega

Phenomenal AOC: The Roots and Rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, illustrated by Loris Lora, written by Anika Aldamuy Denise

Srta. Quinces, illustrated and written by Kat Fajardo

Still Dreaming / Seguimos soñando, illustrated by Magdalena Mora, written by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez

Meet Pura Belpré in these books by and about her! These books include stories by her, picture book biographies of her, historical accounts of her contributions to librarianship, and collections in which she is featured among groups of notable Latinos/Latinas who helped shape the United States.

Interviews with Lucía González, Lulu Delacre, and Meg Medina

Learn more about Pura Belpré from the author and illustrator of The Storyteller's Candle - Lucía González and Lulu Delacre!

The full interviews with Lucía, Lulu, and Meg are available in our Meet the Authors section.

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Pura Belpré was the first Puerto Rican librarian to be hired by the New York Public Library system. A gifted storyteller and puppeteer, she celebrated the stories that had been handed down across generations of her family, and her story "Pérez and Martina," which she published in 1932, has become a classic of children's literature.

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Brenda Berkman: Deciding To Be A Firefighter

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Brenda Berkman: Deciding To Be A Firefighter

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Brenda Berkman: Deciding To Be A Firefighter

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Brenda Berkman: Pioneering Woman Firefighter

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Brenda Berkman: Pioneering Woman Firefighter

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Brenda Berkman: Pioneering Woman Firefighter | History

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Brenda Berkman grew up in Minneapolis, where as a child she became acutely aware of gender preference in favor of boys. Her application to the Little League Program was turned down solely on the basis of her gender. She also became interested in firefighting as a young girl.

She earned her B.A. from St. Olaf College in Minnesota, an M.A. in history at Indiana University, a J.D. from New York University Law School, and an M.S. in fire protection management from City University of New York.

In 1977 the New York Fire Department (FDNY) for the first time allowed women to test for firefighter positions. Berkman, then an attorney, was one of five hundred women who passed the written test. Then FDNY changed its scoring system for the physical test from pass-fail to a rank-ordered test. (One personnel department official openly described it as the toughest test the department had ever given.) Berkman was one of 90 women who took and failed the test.

On behalf of herself and the other women, she filed complaint with the city. Her goal was to determine the legality of the test and to find out if it truly measured the real abilities that the job demanded. She and her attorney tried to work with the personnel dpartment to develop a fairer test, but this offer was refused, and the matter went to court.

In 1982 the court ruled that the FDNY's physical abilities test violated federal law and ordered the department to develop a new test, which all of the plaintiffs would be allowed to take. Of that group, 41 women were eventually hired. Five were fired out of training (three of whom were later reinstated), and several others resigned. For many years, the women in this class were the only female firefighters in the department.

Berkman worked as a member of the FDNY for 25 years and retired in September 2006 with the rank of captain (only the third woman to achieve that rank). Throughout her career and after retirement, she has been active in firefighter recruitment and in pre-training programs.

Berkman is a founding member and former president of the United Women Firefighters (1982-1986) and served as a trustee of the Women in Fire Service (1983-1992). She taught at the FDNY fire academy and the United States National Fire Academy.

Her many awards and honors include the Susan B. Anthony Award from the National Organization for Women (1984), a Revson Fellowship on the Future of the City of New York, from Columbia University (1987-1988); the Distinguished Alumni Award from St. Olaf College; and the Women of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women (2002). For her support of labor history and labor archives, she was honored by the New York Labor History Association in 2005.

Berkman was a featured participant in the PBS program "Sex, Power, and the Workplace" (1992), and she was the subject of the off-Broadway play "Firework" (2002). She and other FDNY female firefighters were profiled in the PBS documentary Taking the Heat (2006). National Public Radio's Debbie Elliot interviewed Berkman about the film and her experiences.

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Sisters in the Brotherhoods - Brenda Berkman

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Brenda Berkman grew up in Minneapolis, where as a child she became acutely aware of gender preference in favor of boys. Her application to the Little League Program was turned down solely on the basis of her gender. She also became interested in firefighting as a young girl. She earned her B.A.

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Take it from Dr. Temple Grandin: ‘Explore and experiment’

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Take it from Dr. Temple Grandin: ‘Explore and experiment’

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Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter | Science for Kids

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The true story of Mary Anning: The girl who helped discover dinosaurs

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The true story of Mary Anning: The girl who helped discover dinosaurs

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Lis Hartel, the lady with 'legs of god'.

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Olympic Girl Power: The Incredible Story of Lis Hartel

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Olympic Girl Power: The Incredible Story of Lis Hartel

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Lorraine Jackson recounts the life of a woman who not only helped break the gender barrier of Olympic-level equestrian sport, but did so while completely paralyzed from the knee down.

Her name is Lis Hartel. She was not only the first woman to ride for an Olympic Equestrian Team, but also the first female medalist, and the first Olympic level equestrian to medal despite a major physical disability. Her career makes her a hero to horse lovers, women and equine therapy advocates alike. Not to mention anyone who loves a good tear-jerker.

Born on March 14, 1921 in Hellerup, Denmark, Lis was just a normal horse-loving girl who grew up riding alongside her sister under her mother's watchful loving eye. She began in dressage, her first and last love, but as a teenager also competed in show jumping. She married at 20 to a fellow horse lover, and was pregnant with her second child at 23 when tragedy struck in the insidious form of polio. Initially, she was almost entirely paralyzed, but with the help of her mother and husband, she decided to immediately begin her rehabilitation process to ride again. After delivering a healthy baby she started learning to lift her arms again, learned to crawl, and finally to walk with the help of arm crutches.

Determined to get back to competitive dressage riding, Lis decided to pick up where she left off and rehabilitated on her Olympic prospect and longtime family mare, Jubilee, a Thoroughbred/Oldenberg cross. she suffered several dramatic falls even at the walk and trot as she learned to balance and cue with little or no muscle control. But only three years after her initial illness, Lis competed at the Scandinavian Riding Championships in 1947 and finished in second place. At the time, no one on the international scene was aware of Lis's condition, and it was Jubilee's first foreign test. While her scores that year would have qualified her to compete in the Olympics, it was not her disability or her skill that prevented her from competing in the 1948 Olympic Games: women were still not allowed. It would be another four years before the gender bar was lifted and Lis would represent Denmark in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

While Lis was not able to mount and dismount Jubilee without the aid of her husband (she remained completely paralyzed from the knee down the rest of her life) she managed to clinch the Olympic silver medal, the first woman ever to do so and in the first year *women were allowed. In one of sport's finest hours, the gold medal winner, Henri Saint Cyr of Sweden, carried Lis from her horse to the Olympic podium, and it was said to be one of the most emotional moments in Olympic History.

Lis would go on to win another silver medal in the 1956 Olympics in Stockholm, the Gold in the unofficial World Championships of 1954, and was a seven time Danish National Champion. She was inducted into numerous sporting halls of fame and considered a national hero in Denmark, but Lis always said she considered her greatest accomplishment to be opening the first Therapeutic Riding Center in Europe. Her advocacy of riding for people with disabilities was one of the major forces for making therapeutic riding an accepted rehabilitation, and she was a key spokesperson for the Polio Foundation.

Lis passed away in 2009 at the age of 87 after 75 years of riding and coaching. Lis fought innumerable odds to ride again, to compete again, and to create new standards for her sport and her passion. She embodies the message of the Olympics, and truly, it is stories like hers that make the Olympics an insatiable element of our collective human experience.

Go Lis. Go Riding.
*In addition to Lis Hartel, three other women made their Olympic dressage debut that year: Germany's Ida von Nagel, Norway's Elsa Christophersen, and USA's Marjorie Haines.

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Olympic Girl Power: The Incredible Story of Lis Hartel

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Lorraine Jackson recounts the life of a woman who not only helped break the gender barrier of Olympic-level equestrian sport, but did so while completely paralyzed from the knee down. Her name is Lis Hartel. She was not only the first woman to ride for an Olympic Equestrian Team, but also the first female medalist,...

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Clara Hughes’ impact across the Olympic spectrum

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Clara Hughes’ impact across the Olympic spectrum

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Clara Hughes’ impact across the Olympic spectrum: Who Delivered | CBC Sports

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Bell Let's Talk 2015 - Clara Hughes Testimonial

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On National Child Day, meet clean water activist Autumn Peltier

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On National Child Day, meet clean water activist Autumn Peltier

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On National Child Day, meet clean water activist Autumn Peltier | CBC Kids News

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Ranking the 250 Greatest Canadians: 103 - Elsie MacGill

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Take it from Ibtihaj Muhammad: 'It's not easy being the first'

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Take it from Ibtihaj Muhammad: 'It's not easy being the first'

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Take it from Ibtihaj Muhammad: 'It's not easy being the first'

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Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first US Olympian to wear a hijab

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Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first US Olympian to wear a hijab

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Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first US Olympian to wear a hijab

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Simone Biles' Floor Routine to “Tokyo Drift” & “Jokers"

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Simone Biles' Floor Routine to “Tokyo Drift” & “Jokers"

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🤸‍♀️ Simone Biles' Floor Routine to “Tokyo Drift” & “Jokers" 🎵

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RIDE THE WIND: The Bessie Stringfield Story

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Bessie Stringfield, Southern Distance Rider

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Bessie Stringfield, Southern Distance Rider

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Bessie Stringfield, Southern Distance Rider - National Motorcycle Museum

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Ann Ferrar, journalist and author of “Hear Me Roar: Women, Motorcycles and the Rapture of the Road,” considers Bessie Stringfield one of her life’s greatest inspirations. Ferrar met and spent […]

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Hall of Famer Spotlight: Bessie Stringfield

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Hall of Famer Spotlight: Bessie Stringfield

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Hall of Famer Spotlight: Bessie Stringfield | American Motorcyclist Association

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For Black History Month, February’s Hall of Famer Spotlight is Bessie Stringfield, an impactful motorcyclist who helped break down barriers.

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Kathrine Switzer: First Woman to Enter the Boston Marathon

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Kathrine Switzer: First Woman to Enter the Boston Marathon

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Kathrine Switzer: First Woman to Enter the Boston Marathon | MAKERS.com

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Kathrine Switzer: A Pioneer In Women’s Sports

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Kathrine Switzer: A Pioneer In Women’s Sports

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Kathrine Switzer: National Women's Hall of Fame

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Kathrine Switzer: National Women's Hall of Fame

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Switzer, Kathrine - National Women's Hall of Fame

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As the first woman to officially enter the Boston Marathon, Kathrine Switzer broke the gender barrier and paved the way for women in running. Born into a military family stationed in Germany, Switzer later attended Syracuse University, earning a B.A. from the Newhouse School of Journalism (1968).

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Children’s Book Author Beverly Cleary Dies At 104

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Children’s Book Author Beverly Cleary Dies At 104

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Children’s Book Author Beverly Cleary Dies At 104 | NBC Nightly News

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Why Beverly Cleary is my favourite Children’s Author

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Why Beverly Cleary is my favourite Children’s Author

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Why Beverly Cleary is my favourite Children’s Author – Cape Breton Regional Library

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Erin Phillips, Librarian Cape Breton Regional Library

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Have you ever wanted to ask author Beverly Cleary a question about her much-loved books, the vivid characters she created, or her life as a writer? We asked our readers and you responded with more than 500 entries, and we selected about a baker's dozen for Mrs. Cleary to answer.

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Hispanic Heritage: Millo Castro Zaldarriaga

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Hispanic Heritage: Millo Castro Zaldarriaga

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This post is about a young Cuban girl who believed in her dream. The determination of MILLO CASTRO ZALDARRIAGA, broke the island's taboo against female drummers.

Eventually she would perform with her sisters, Anacaona in Cuba's first all female dance band. Her connection to the United States comes at age fifteen when she plays her bongó drums at an extraordinary birthday party in New York.

It's Hispanic Heritage Month, and a great time to revisit Millo's inspiring story. The courage of the Drum Dream Girl makes you think about Dreamers right here in the United States. Young people who stepped forward to identify themselves with hope of a pathway to citizenship. Brought to the U.S. as children they are American in every way, except on paper. These young people went to American schools, grew up in American communities, pay taxes and contribute to society-but are waiting for their dream of legal citizenship. Sometimes they are called the 1.5 generation, unauthorized immigrants who came as children are technically first-generation residents of the US given that they were born in another country. Their life stories have more in common with the US-born children of immigrants. A recent Washington Post-ABC survey found 86 percent support for dreamers who are eligible to renew two-year work permits under a deferred action program also known as wait for Congress to take action on their behalf.

Millo's story is about tenacity, equality and following your dreams no matter what. I'm a fan of Cuban music and the island has a long tradition of drumming. Despite being told that only boys can play drums, and her father's disapproval she keeps practicing, dreaming and drumming. Imagine a ten year old girl of Cuban, Chinese and African descent changing such a long held taboo.

Millo went on to work as a successful jazz drummer performing alongside leading jazz musicians of the time. At age fifteen, cheered on by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt she played her drums at Franklin Delano Roosevelt's birthday celebration.
The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do. -Sarah Ban Breathnach

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Hispanic Heritage. Millo Castro Zaldarriaga

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This post is about a young Cuban girl who believed in her dream. The determination of MILLO CASTRO ZALDARRIAGA, broke the island's taboo against female drummers. Eventually she would perform with her sisters, Anacaona in Cuba's first all female dance band.

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Sylvia Townsend Obituary (1943 - 2023) - Legacy Remembers

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View Sylvia Robertson Townsend’s obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

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Jacqueline Cochran - The Chuck Yeager Foundation

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Jacqueline Cochran By Shannon White Something inside Jacqueline Cochran always told her she would make her mark on the world. The woman who would earn the title “First Lady of Flight” did so and then some. Born in May 1910, Jackie was raised by a foster family in extreme poverty. As a child, she toiled…

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On May 18, 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound and, at the time of her death in 1980, she held more speed, altitude, and distance records than any other male or female pilot in aviation history.

Cochran held an important role in the formation of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, a surprising role in the early space program, and held several leadership roles in the aviation community. When Cochran died in 1980, she was heavily decorated for her work during World War II, and had held a series of presidencies reflecting her leadership role in aviation, among other feats. Cochran was a two-time president of the women's flying organization the Ninety-Nines (her good friend Amelia Earhart was a founding member) and the first female president of the Fédération Aéronatique Nationale (FAI, the official keeper of aviation records). She was a six time recipient of the Harmon Trophy in the Aviatrix category and a one time recipient in the National category.

Here's six things you may not know about this barrier breaking, record holding pilot.

Entrepreneurial Early Life on Her Terms

Cochran grew up in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, and always lived life on her own terms. At 10 years old she left her job in the cotton mills for a live-in position at a beauty salon, and later briefly studied nursing. Determined to succeed, Cochran left the Florida panhandle but returned to hairdressing and, by the early 1930s, worked her way up to the fashionable Antoine's salons in Saks Fifth Avenue stores in New York City and Miami. Throughout her public adult life, Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran, born Bessie Mae Pittman, maintained she was an orphan while privately staying in contact with the Pittman family.

How She Started to Fly

When contemplating starting her own business she learned to fly at the suggestion of her future husband Floyd Odlum, founder and president of the Atlas Corporation, to market the venture. In 1932, she soloed at Roosevelt Flying School on Long Island and received her license after only three weeks of lessons; she then immediately pursued advanced instruction at the Ryan School of Aeronautics and built up flight time. She earned her instrument rating and commercial and transport pilot licenses and entered the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from London, England, to Melbourne, Australia, flying a Granville R-6H QED, only to be forced down by mechanical difficulty in Bucharest, Romania.

Flying Cosmetics and Setting Records

In 1935 she established Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics, Wings of Beauty, in Chicago, Los Angeles, and eventually on New York's Fifth Avenue, successfully competing with Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden beauty houses. Cochran flew around the country delivering test products and building up distributors, and she formulated a moisturizer to combat dry skin resulting from high altitude flight. After a flight, Cochran always took time to repair her makeup and comb her hair as a personal preference, while also cognizant of the public view of women pilots as non-feminine.

But first and foremost, Cochran was an ambitious record setter. She set two women's speed records in her Beech D-17W Staggerwing in 1937, followed by three major (men's and women's) flying records and, after three attempts, she won the prestigious 1938 Bendix Trophy Race flying Alexander de Seversky's P-35 pursuit plane.

World War II and Forming the WASP

As war in Europe approached, Cochran was one of several women who felt women should be utilized in wartime aviation. In 1941, Cochran selected a group of 27 highly qualified U.S. women pilots to ferry military aircraft in Great Britain for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), as most male military pilots were flying in combat. In 1942, Cochran, at the request of Army General Henry "Hap" Arnold, organized the Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) to train civilian women pilots in anticipation of a similar domestic shortage of American military pilots during World War II. Based first at Houston and then Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, the WFTD received primary flight training in military aircraft from military instructors. The WFTD soon merged with Nancy Love's Women's Auxiliary Ferry Squadron (WAFS, a group of experienced pilots) to form the civilian Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) with Cochran as director. From 1943 to 1944, 1,074 women flew over 60 million miles ferrying aircraft and personnel, towing targets, and other transport duties. The WASP flew every military aircraft including Boeing B-17 and B-29 bombers. The WASP were disbanded in 1944, and Cochran was at the center of complications that prevented the group from being absorbed into the USAAF's Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). The WASP finally received retroactive military status in 1977.

By the time of her death, Cochran received the Distinguished Service Medal for her leadership of the WASP and three Distinguished Flying Cross awards for other records. She was also a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Setting Records After the War

Following the war, Cochran earned more speed records including multiple ones in her Lockheed Lodestar. In 1953, she borrowed a Canadair F-86 Sabre jet (because military aircraft were not available to civilian and especially female pilots) to break the sound barrier; she was coached by Major Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier.

For several years Cochran traded records with French pilot Jacqueline Auriol, a matter of pride for both nations. In 1961, she received permission to fly a company-owned Northrop T-38 Talon and promptly set straightaway courses, speed over various distance closed courses, and altitude records, including an absolute altitude record of 56,071.80 feet that bested Auriol's. In May 1964, now 58 years old and allowed to fly a USAF Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, she set three new speed records and flew Mach 2, twice the speed of sound.

Cochran and the Early Space Program

Cochran supported the Lovelace Clinic's Woman in Space Program that, in 1960-1961, offered medical testing, exactly like the NASA tests given to prospective male astronauts, to highly-qualified female pilots; 13 women passed these initial tests. However, it ended there as NASA was not ready to allow women in the space program. A complex woman, Cochran later held an ambivalent attitude of women as prospective astronauts or commercial airline pilots.
This content was migrated from an earlier online exhibit, Women in Aviation and Space History, which shared the stories of the women featured in the Museum in the early 2000s.

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On May 18, 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound and, at the time of her death in 1980, she held more speed, altitude, and distance records than any other male or female pilot in aviation history.

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Zaha Hadid:  A look back at her work - BBC News

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Zaha Hadid | Biography, Buildings, Architecture, Death, & Facts

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Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-born British architect known for her radical deconstructivist designs. In 2004 she became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Learn more about Hadid’s life and career, including her notable buildings and various other awards.

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Zaha Hadid | The Pritzker Architecture Prize

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Zaha Hadid (1950-2016) was born in Baghdad Iraq and commenced her college studies at the American University in Beirut in the field of mathematics. She moved to London in 1972 to study architecture at the Architectural Association and upon graduation in 1977, she joined the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). She also taught at the Architectural Association (AA) with OMA collaborators Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis.

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Florence Nightingale: Changing the Field of Nursing

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Florence Nightingale: Changing the Field of Nursing

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Florence Nightingale: Changing the Field of Nursing - Fast Facts | History

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Although primarily remembered for her accomplishments during the Crimean War, Nightingale's greatest achievements centred on attempts to create social reform in health care and nursing. On her return to England, Nightingale was suffering the effects of both brucellosis and exhaustion. In September 1856 she met with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to discuss the need for reform of the British military establishment. Nightingale kept meticulous records regarding the running of the Barrack Hospital, causes of illness and death, the efficiency of the nursing and medical staffs, and difficulties in purveyance. A Royal Commission was established, which based its findings on the statistical data and analysis provided by Nightingale. The result was marked reform in the military medical and purveyance systems.

In 1855, as a token of gratitude and respect for Nightingale, the Nightingale Fund was established. Through private donations, £45,000 was raised by 1859 and put at Nightingale's disposal. She used a substantial part of these monies to institute the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, which opened in 1860. The school formalized secular nursing education, making nursing a viable and respectable option for women who desired employment outside of the home. The model was taken worldwide by matrons (women supervisors of public health institutions). Nightingale's statistical models-such as the Coxcomb chart, which she developed to assess mortality-and her basic concepts regarding nursing remain applicable today. For these reasons she is considered the foundational philosopher of modern nursing.

Nightingale improved the health of households through her most famous publication, Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not, which provided direction on how to manage the sick. This volume has been in continuous publication worldwide since 1859. Additional reforms were financed through the Nightingale Fund, and a school for the education of midwives was established at King's College Hospital in 1862. Believing that the most important location for the care of the sick was in the home, she established training for district nursing, which was aimed at improving the health of the poor and vulnerable. A second Royal Commission examined the health of India, resulting in major environmental reform, again based on Nightingale's statistical data.

Florence Nightingale was honoured in her lifetime by receiving the title of Lady of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and by becoming the first woman to receive the Order of Merit. On her death in 1910, at Nightingale's prior request, her family declined the offer of a state funeral and burial in Westminster Abbey. Instead, she was honoured with a memorial service at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. Her burial is in the family plot in St. Margaret's Church, East Wellow, Hampshire.
Louise Selanders
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

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Florence Nightingale - Homecoming and legacy

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Florence Nightingale - Florence Nightingale - Homecoming and legacy: Although primarily remembered for her accomplishments during the Crimean War, Nightingale's greatest achievements centred on attempts to create social reform in health care and nursing. On her return to England, Nightingale was suffering the effects of both brucellosis and exhaustion.

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Florence Nightingale: The Mother of Nursing

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Florence Nightingale: The Mother of Nursing

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Florence Nightingale: The Mother of Nursing

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On May 12, it is the birth time of a great woman. We write this editorial for her honor. Florence Nightingale (Figure 1), the founder of modern nursing of professional nursing, was born in Florence, Italy, on 1820, in an English family; she was named of the city of her birth. Florence learned mathematics, language, philosophy and religion (all subjects that later influenced on her work) from her father (1).

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Kate Sessions, San Diego Women's Hall of Fame, 2006

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Kate Sessions - San Diego History Center

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Kate Sessions - San Diego History Center

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San Diego History Center | San Diego, CA | Our City, Our Story

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Katherine Olivia Sessions was born on Nob Hill in San Francisco November 8, 1857. After graduation from high school in Oakland, she spent two months traveling with family friends in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). After a brief time in business college, she entered the University of California at Berkeley in 1877, where she studied science and graduated in 1881. Her essay for graduation was entitled "The Natural Sciences as a Field for Women's Labor".

Miss Sessions' horticultural career began after teaching briefly in San Diego where she accepted a position in 1884. She accepted a teaching position in San Gabriel, but returned to San Diego after a short time there. In 1885, she joined her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Solon Blaisdell, as partner in a new venture - the purchase of the San Diego Nursery.

As owner of a flower shop and a succession of nurseries in Coronado, City Park, Mission Hills and Pacific Beach, she became a central figure in California and national horticultural circles with her landscaping, plant introductions, and classes. She published articles in newspapers and in California Garden, the publication of the San Diego Floral Association, which Miss Sessions helped to found in 1906. Appointed supervisor of agriculture and landscaper for the city schools in 1915, she taught horticulture and botany to the schoolchildren and supervised their school gardens traveling from one school to another during the year.

Kate Sessions' correspondence with leaders in the field of horticulture kept her current with new discoveries and spread her knowledge and reputation. Her work in plant introduction won for her international recognition and, in 1939, she was awarded the prestigious Frank N. Meyer medal of the American Genetic Association. She was the first woman to receive the award.

It is in Balboa Park that the legacy of Kate Sessions is most obvious. She leased land in what was then called "City Park" in 1892 for a nursery. For this privilege, she was to plant one hundred trees a year in the park and furnish three hundred more for planting throughout the city. In 1902 she was instrumental in the formation of the park Improvement Committee with her friends George Marston and Mary B. Coulston. Their work resulted in assuring the park's place in the life of the community.

Kate Sessions died March 24, 1940. She has come to be called the "Mother of Balboa Park" and a bronze statue of her was erected there in 1998.

Never having had children, she once wrote to her longtime friend, the renowned botanist, Alice Eastwood:

"Our friendship developed through flowers...our children, which I am growing and you are naming."

Return to Biography.

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Kate Sessions 1857-1940 - San Diego History Center | San Diego, CA | Our City, Our Story

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Katherine Olivia Sessions was born on Nob Hill in San Francisco November 8, 1857. After graduation from high school in Oakland, she spent two months traveling with family friends in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). After a brief time in business college, she entered the University of California at Berkeley in 1877, where she studied science and graduated in 1881.

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Katherine Olivia Sessions (1857-1940) Start by listening to The Tree Lady, a book about Kate Sessions life, action, and accomplishments. (5 min 37 sec) https://www.youtube.com/embed/EpZNg7V7gxs?si=ZeTcQqXpkjaX7r0I Katherine Olivia Sessions (1857-1940) Kate Sessions operated a nursery in City Park (now Balboa Park) in exchange for planting 100 trees annually in the park and providing 300 trees to…

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Melba Liston's Solo on Manteca makes Dizzy Scream and Dance

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Bio

Although a formidable trombone player, Melba Liston was primarily known for her arrangements, especially working with Randy Weston, and compositions. Growing up mostly in Los Angeles, some of her first work came during the 1940s with two West Coast masters: bandleader Gerald Wilson and tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon. In Gordon's small combos, she began to blossom as a trombone soloist, and Gordon wrote a song as a tribute to her, "Mischievous Lady." Despite her obvious talent as a soloist, Liston became an in-demand big band section player, which likely fueled her later work as an arranger. During the 1940s, Liston also worked with the Count Basie band and with Billie Holiday.

Following a brief hiatus from music, she joined Dizzy Gillespie's bebop big band in 1950, and again for two of Gillespie's State Department tours in 1956 and 1957, which included her arrangements of "Annie's Dance" and "Stella by Starlight" in performances. She started her own all-woman quintet in 1958, working in New York and Bermuda, before joining Quincy Jones' band in 1959 to play the musical Free and Easy. She stayed in Jones' touring band as one of two woman members until 1961.

In the 1950s, Liston began a partnership that she would return to on and off for more than 40 years. From the seminal 1959 recording Little Niles through 1998's Khepera, Liston was the arranger on many of Randy Weston's albums. Her arrangements, with a powerful base of brass and percussion and expressive solo performances, helped shape and embellish Weston's compositions.

Other affiliations during the 1960s included co-leading a band with trumpeter Clark Terry, and writing for the Duke Ellington orchestra, singers Tony Bennett and Eddie Fisher, and the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra. During the 1970s, she worked with youth orchestras in Los Angeles, continuing to write for Basie, Ellington, and singer Abbey Lincoln. Liston also became a staff arranger for the Motown label. Later that decade she took up residence in Jamaica, where she taught at the University of the West Indies and was director of Popular Music Studies at the Jamaica Institute of Music.

Slowed by a stroke in 1985, which effectively ended her playing career, she was able to resume work as a composer and arranger in the 1990s through the aid of computer technology. Liston's career helped pave the way for women in jazz in roles other than as vocalists.
Selected Discography
Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy In South America, Vol. 1 & 2, CAP, 1956
And Her 'Bones, Fresh Sounds Records, 1956-58
Quincy Jones, Q Live in Paris, Warner Brothers, 1960
Randy Weston, Tanjah, Verve, 1973
Randy Weston/Melba Liston, Volcano Blues, Verve, 1993

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Although a formidable trombone player, Melba Liston was primarily known for her arrangements, especially working with Randy Weston, and compositions. Growing up mostly in Los Angeles, some of her first work came during the 1940s with two West Coast masters: bandleader Gerald Wilson and tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon .

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Have you ever heard of Melba Liston?

Chances are the answer is "no". She is not a figure who is often studied in the world of music - but she is an inspiring and interesting woman for young people of all ages to learn about.

Melba Liston was a "true unsung hero of Jazz" and a trailblazer for women instrumentalists. She was one of the first female trombone soloists in a big band jazz ensemble, and one of the first women to compose and arrange for big band jazz acts.

About Melba Liston

Melba Liston (1926-1999) was a talented jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger who broke barriers for women in music. She began playing trombone at age seven and was playing solos on the radio by age eight. As a teenager, she joined big bands and eventually became known for her arrangements and compositions, working with famous musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, and Randy Weston.

The picture book Liston's work helped pave the way for women in jazz, proving that women could excel in roles beyond singing.

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is an excellent resource for children wanting to learn more about her. Enjoy this read-aloud I created for you - with some of Melba Liston's music playing in the background.

Learn About Melba Liston and Other Jazz Greats

Each February in our SQUILT LIVE! membership, we Jump into Jazz! This year, 2025, we have lessons about Charlie Parker and Melba Liston. Our PLUS members have access to our ENTIRE archive of lessons (over 200 recorded lessons!), including the following Jazz lessons:

🎵 Scott Joplin
🎵 Jelly Roll Morton
🎵 Florence Mills
🎵 Benny Goodman
🎵 "I Got Rhythm"
🎵 Wynton Marsalis
🎵 John Coltrane
🎵 Vince Guaraldi
🎵 Trombone Shorty
🎵 Dizzy Gillespie
🎵 Ella Fitzgerald
🎵 Duke Ellington

Music Appreciation for Children

Give your children a well-rounded music education and appreciation! Learning about musicians like Melba Liston broadens our world and enlivens our spirits!

Whether it is through our PDF products or our LIVE! membership, we hope you can take advantage of all that SQUILT has to offer.

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Have you ever heard of Melba Liston? Chances are the answer is "no". She is not a figure who is often studied in the world of music - but she is an inspiring and interesting woman for young people of all ages to learn about.Melba Liston was a "true unsung hero of Jazz" and a trailblazer for women instrumentalists.

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Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician and writer, is often referred to as “the first programmer” because she helped revol

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Margaret Knight Invented a Machine that Shapes the Way We Shop

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Margaret Knight Invented a Machine that Shapes the Way We Shop

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Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

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Margaret Knight Invented a Machine that Shapes the Way We Shop

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Margaret E. Knight was an American inventor best known for a machine that mechanized the manufacturing of flat-bottom paper bags.

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Margaret E. Knight: Machine for Making Flat-Bottom Paper Bags

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Margaret E. Knight: Machine for Making Flat-Bottom Paper Bags

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NIHF Inductee Margaret Knight Invented the Paper Bag Making Machine

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National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee Margaret Knight invented a paper bag making machine that could automatically cut, fold and glue flat-bottomed paper bags.