Women lag behind men in getting to the finish line.... professionally speaking. That makes it noteworthy when they become 'the first' in fields that men get recognition for routinely. How many 'first woman to....' can you name in these arenas? Who was the first woman to ...win a Pulitzer? A Nobel Prize? Or to become a doctor? A minister? A lawyer? A member of Congress? An astronaut? A Governor? Named to the Cabinet? A brigadier general? Let's look back, with the focus on American women......
The Pulitzer Prize is a coveted award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature and musical composition. Since its inception in 1917 it has been awarded in a total of 7 categories. Joseph Pulitzer was the originator of the prize and his visionary acumen has proven to have a lasting influence on journalism, literature, music and drama. The first award for literature, given in 1917, actually went to a team of four women. The joint work performed by authors Laura Richards and Maude Howe Elliott (along with two other female researchers) were recognized for their biographical treatment of Julia Ward Howe. Howe had been the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1908). She wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic. In 1918 Sara Teasdale would be the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Zona Gale would be the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921.
The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards given in recognition of academic, cultural, and/or scientific advances. Established by Swedish invent-or Alfred Nobel in 1895, the prizes are for Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics and Physiology or Medicine. Nobel was an arms maker, holder of 355 patents, but whose most famous invention was dynamite. He was a chemist, engineer and inventor who was once referred to as 'the merchant of death'. Not wanting that to be his legacy, he bequeathed 94% of his wealth to establish the 5 Nobel Prizes which were to be awarded on those who 'confer the greatest benefit on mankind'.
The prizes are generally regarded as the most prestigious award available in their fields. Each recipient receives a gold medal, a diploma and a large sum of money. The ceremony is held annually in Sweden (except for the Peace Prize). Jane Addams was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1931. Pearl S. Buck was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938. The first female recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was Gerty Cori in 1947. Maria Mayer was the first American female laureate in Physics (1963). The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to a woman for the first time in 2009, Elinor Ostrom.
Although not American, it is important to recognize the singular accomplishments of Marie Curie. A French immigrant from Poland, she is the first woman ever to receive a Nobel prize and the only person to win twice in two different categories! In 1903, she won for physics for her pioneering work on radioactivity and in 1911 she won for chemistry (discovery of radium and plutonium). Among her family, there were a total of five prizes awarded.
Looking back at some of the 'first women to achieve', this is a partial list:
1635: Anne Hutchinson was the first American woman to start a Protestant sect
1756: Lydia Taft was the first woman to vote legally in colonial America (MS)
1762: Ann Franklin was the first female newspaper editor in America
1776: Margaret Corbin, first woman soldier in American Rev; first female to receive a pension for her service
1784: Hannah Slater, first woman to receive be granted a patent
1812: Lucy Brewer, first woman to join the Marines
1848: Maria Mitchell, astronomer, first woman elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
1849: Elizabeth Blackwell, first American female doctor
1853: Antoinette Blackwell, first woman ordained as a minister
1865: Mary Surratt, first woman hanged by the federal government
1866: Mary Walker, first woman to receive Congressional Medal of Honor
1869: Arabella Mansfield, first woman lawyer admitted to bar (Iowa)
1870: Louisa Ann Swain, first woman to vote in general election (WY)
1871: Frances Willard, first woman to be a college president
1873: Ellen Richards, first woman admitted to MIT, 1st to earn degree in chem
1876: Louise Bethune, first woman architect
1878: Emma Abbott, first woman to form an opera company
1880: Belva Lockwood, first woman to argue before SCOTUS
1887: Susanna Salter, first woman mayor (KS)
1893: Florence Kelley, first woman to hold statewide office (IL)
1900: Margaret Abbott, first woman to win first place in Olympic event
1907: Dorothy Tyler, first female jockey
1908: The Sacred 20 are the first women to serve in the Navy (as nurses)
1911: Harriet Quimby, first female licensed airplane pilot
1916: Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic
1916: Jeanette Rankin, first woman elected to Congress
1921: Alice Robertson, first woman to preside over the House of Representative
1922: Rebecca Felton, first woman sworn in as Senator
1925: Nellie Ross, first woman governor (WY)
1926: Gertrude Ederle, first woman to swim the English Channel
1928: Amelia Earhart, first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean
1933: Frances Perkins, first woman to serve in the Cabinet (Sec of Labor)
1934: Lettie Pate Whitehead, first female director of major corporation (Coca-C)
1942: Anna Fox, first woman to receive Purple Heart
1944: Ann Baumgartner, first woman to fly a jet
1949: Harry Truman names the first woman treasurer and first female ambassador: Georgia Clark and Eugenie Anderson
1962: Judy Garland, first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammy
1964: Jerrie Mock, first woman to fly solo around the world
1964: Isabel Benham, first female partner in Wall Street bond house
1967: Muriel Siebert, first female member of NY Stock Exchange
1972: Anna Hays & Elizabeth Hoisington, first women brigadier general
1976: US service academies admitted women
1979: Susan B. Anthony, first woman to be pictured on a coin
1981: Sandra O'Connor, first female member SCOTUS
1983: Sally Ride, first American woman in space
1984: Geraldine Ferraro, first woman named VP on major party platform
1987: Aretha Franklin, first woman inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1988: Shawna Robinson, first woman to win NASCAR stock car touring series
1997: Madeleine Albright, first woman to serve as Sec of State
2007: Nancy Pelosi, first female Speaker of the House of Representatives
2013: Mia Hamm, the first female inducted into the World Football Hall of Fame
2014: Janet Yellen, first woman to lead the Federal Reserve
2016: Hillary Clinton, first female nominated for President by major political party, first woman to win the popular vote in a Presidential election