Great American Achievements by Women

Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation innovator and author. She was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the U.S.Distinguished Flying Cross for this setting this record. During her circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937, she disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean. A famous quote by Amelia Earhart is “Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others”.

She was the first woman assigned to the U.S. Cabinet. She was a great friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt. With being really close with Franklin D. Roosevelt, this could pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition.

During WWII, the men left for war, which left the women and children at home. Women had many important roles during WWII. During the war, there were more than 2.2 million women working in the war industry, farming, and building the equipment that men would use to fight the war. There were also women who joined as nurses to help out in the front lines. There were also defensive militias that women joined to defend the homeland.

WAVES stand for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service". It was a division of U.S. Navy, that consisted entirely of women. Women were brought into the military for only one reason, and that reason was due to the unusual state of affairs with WWII. At the end of the war, women in WAVES were not allowed to continue in Navy careers.

Jacqueline Cochran was a forerunner in the field of American aviation. She is regarded as one of the most gifted racing pilots of her generation. She was an imperative contributor to the formation of the wartime Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). A famous quote from her would be "I might have been born in a hovel but I am determined to travel with the wind and the stars."

Rosa Parks, a young African-American woman was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white male on a public city bus. According to a Montgomery city ordinance law, African-Americans were required to sit at the back of public buses. If a white rider would happen to tell them to move because the front of the bus was filled up, they would then have to oblige thus giving their seat up. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white male, thus making the bus driver inform the authorities to have her removed and taken to jail . Afterwords, the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized by a Baptist Minister named, Martin Luther King Jr.

Enovid is also known as Mestranol/norethynod. Enovid was the first fused oral contraceptive pill. It was sold as Enovid in the United Kingdom, and Enavid in the Untied States. It was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to be used for menstrual disorders. They later approved it for use as a contraceptive. In 1988, it was discontinued in the United States.

In 1963, Betty Friedan wrote a book called Feminine Mystique, which supported women's rights. Friedan was asked by one of her classmates in 1957, to conduct a survey of her former classmates from Smith College. The reason for this survey was for their 15th anniversary reunion. When the results came back, she found that many of them were unhappy with their lives as housewives. Friedan thus wrote a book after having interviews with dozens of housewives. She was originally going to publish this as a magazine article, but couldn't because no one would accept her work.

The Equal Pay Act is an United States federal law revising the Fair Labor Standard Act aimed at eradicating wage disparity based on sex. As part of his New Frontier Program, President John F. Kennedy was the one to set this act into action. Congress states that sex discrimination depresses wages, prevents the max amount of people working, causes labor disputes, sets up an unfair method of competition, and burdens commerce. "Enable every woman who can work to take her place on the labour front, under the principle of equal pay for equal work" is a famous quote by Mao Zedong.

The Civil Rights act was passed in 1964. This act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race in hiring, promoting, and firing. A famous quote about the Civil Rights act are "I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary." This was said by President Ronald Reagan himself.

Otherwise known as NOW, the National Organization for Women was created in 1966. NOW is an American feminist organization created to promote equal rights for women. NOW is such a big organization that each state had their own board meetings and websites. It was originally established by a small group of feminist who were dedicated to actively challenging sex discrimination in all areas of American society, but mostly in employment. The organization is composed of both men and women although it's purpose is to better the lives of women.

Shirley Chisholm is a pioneering African-American politician. In 1968 she became the first African-American congress woman. Four years after that, she became the first major-party black candidate to make a bid for the U.S. presidency. One of her famous quotes are "You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas."

President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, into law. Title IX is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded program or activity. The objective is to avoid use of federal money to support sex discrimination in education programs and to provide individual citizens’ effective protection against those practices. In addition to traditional educational institutions such as colleges, universities, and elementary and secondary schools, Title IX is also to be applied for any education or training program operated by a recipient of federal financial assistance.

Jane Roe was a pregnant mother who wished to obtain an abortion, but was denied due to a law that prohibited mothers from having abortions unless it was used to save a mother’s life. Jane Roe thus filed a lawsuit saying that the law violated the constitution. After many days, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jane. After the case ended, many thought that Jane had cause an uproar that was unnecessary. Many also thought that Jane has brought women home a great success.

Sandra Day O'Conner was the first women to sit on the United States Supreme Court. She was elected by Ronald Reagan to replace retiring justice member, Potter Stewart. Throughout her career, O’Conner has faced many situations where she was denied a job only for the fact that she was a woman. Many of the legal companies where unsure about hiring O’Conner because they were uncertain of how she would fare in the job. After searching and searching, she finally made it as a law secretary, and from there worked her way up into the position that she used to carry as a United States Justice.