Notable Firsts, Members of Congress

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Soon after arriving in Africa, Agnes Scott Alumna Trish Anderson '98 visited the home of a woman whose husband had died recently of AIDS and who herself had AIDS. The woman warmly invited Anderson in for tea and corn on the cob by the fire.
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SENATORS IN CONGRESS / REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS

Notable Firsts

FIRST woman to be named Secretary of State in the U.S., appointed in 1997

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT,
Wellesley

FIRST woman editor, The New York Post.

JANE AMSTERDAM, Cedar Crest

FIRST woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946

EMILY GREEN BALCH, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman to receive a college bachelor's degree.

CATHERINE BREWER BENSON, Wesleyan

FIRST scientist to identify the Hong Kong flu virus.

EARLA BIEKERT, Wesleyan

FIRST woman leader of the American Newspaper Publisher Association.

CATHLEEN BLACK, Trinity D.C.

FIRST woman to be Executive Vice President of the American Stock Exchange

SARAH PORTER BOEHMLER, Sweet Briar

FIRST African American woman to judge in the U.S.

JANE MATILDA BOLIN, Wellesley

FIRST African American woman general surgeon in the South.

DOROTHY L. BROWN, Bennett

FIRST to win Nobel Prize in Literature

PEARL S. BUCK,
Randolph-Macon Woman's College

FIRST female Rhodes Scholar, Georgia

ILA BURDETT, Agnes Scott

FIRST woman secretary of the Democratic National Party

DOROTHY VREDENBURGH BUSH, Mississippi University for Women

FIRST woman founder of a PBS station (in D.C.) in 1961.

ELIZABETH PFOHL CAMBELL, Salem

FIRST Hispanic woman judge Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

HON. AUDREY J.S. CARRION, College of Notre Dame of Maryland

FIRST environmentalist who awakened public consciousness through her book, Silent Spring in 1961.

RACHEL CARSON, Chatham

FIRST female CEO of a commercial airline.

BARBARA CASSANI, Mount Holyoke

FIRST Asian American woman appointed to a president's cabinet in U.S. history, Secretary of Labor, 2001.

ELAINE L. CHAO, Mount Holyoke

FIRST woman president of Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, racehorse breeder and owner of Secretariat.

PENNY CHENERY, Smith

FIRST woman manager in nuclear engineering, Philadelphia Electric Company.

MARTHA CHRISTINZIANO, Georgian Court

FIRST ever First-Lady to be elected to the Senate or Congress.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, Wellesley

FIRST woman to serve in a leadership role in the North Carolina legislature; two terms as house minority leader, one term as senate majority leader, one term as senate minority whip.

BETSY LANE COCHRANE, Meredith

FIRST woman to become a tenured full professor of neurosurgery in the U.S.

FRANCES K. CONLEY, Bryn Mawr

FIRST Republican woman to serve as Majority Whip in the Florida House of Representatives 1996-98.

FAYE BERRY CULP, Mississippi State College for Women, now Mississippi University for Women

FIRST woman to be ordained in a Southern Baptist Church, 1964.

ADDIE E. DAVIS, Meredith

FIRST woman announcer for a major league baseball team.

SHERRY DAVIS, College of Notre Dame of Maryland

FIRST woman president of the American Academy of T.V. Arts & Sciences.

DIANA MULDAUR DOZIER, Sweet Briar

FIRST female commanding officer of New York Port Authority Police Department.

LT. SUSAN DURETT, Georgian Court

FIRST African American woman to pass the bar in the state of Mississippi.

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN, Spelman

FIRST woman to manage a presidential campaign.

SUSAN ESTRICH, Wellesley

FIRST woman editor of the Christian Science Monitor.

KATHARINE FANNING, Smith

FIRST woman Vice-Presidential candidate.

GERALDINE FERRARO,
Marymount Manhattan

Georgia's FIRST and only Miss America.

NEVA LANGLEY FICKLING, Wesleyan

FIRST African American woman District Attorney in North Carolina.

BELINDA FOSTER, Bennett

FIRST American woman to climb three of the world's tallest peaks.

CHARLOTTE FOX, Hollins

FIRST woman elected to the Tennessee legislature.

SARA RUTH FRASIER, Wesleyan

FIRST woman and only the third person to complete a 2,700 mile run around Australia.

SARAH FULCHER, Salem

FIRST civilian woman scientist on a space shuttle mission (Space Lab Sciences I).

DR. MILLIE HUGHES-FULFORD, Texas Woman's University

FIRST woman manager of a major metropolitan radio station.

SUSAN BREAKEFIELD FULTON, Wilson

FIRST woman elected president of physicians at the Mayo Clinic and of the Minnesota Medical Society in 1994.

GAIL GAMBLE, Hood

FIRST woman sportswriter in the Atlantic Coast Conference, recently inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers' Association Hall of Fame.

MARY GARBER, Hollins

One of the FIRST woman lawyers to argue a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

SUSAN BRANDEIS GILBERT, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman to hold a key diplomatic reporting post with the U.S. Foreign Service in the Middle East.

APRIL GLASPIE, Mills

FIRST Hispanic woman named president of a comprehensive state college.

ELSA GOMEZ, College of St. Elizabeth

FIRST woman and first African American to be named director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

RHEA GRAHAM, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman to be elected governor of a state (Connecticut) in her own right.

ELLA GRASSO, Mount Holyoke

FIRST woman president of a major university (University of Chicago).

HANNA HOLBORN GRAY, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman awarded the American Geological Institute's Ian Campbell Medal; FIRST woman to teach science at Boston College; FIRST to head the California Department of Conservation; FIRST woman on the California Mining and Geology Board; FIRST woman named state geologist in Minnesota.

PRISCILLA PERKINS GREW, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman and African American and youngest person nominated as associate minister general in the Disciples of Christ Church.

CYNTHIA HALE, Hollins

FIRST female judge in the South.

MARY KERR MOREHEAD HARRIS, Peace

FIRST woman to become Director of the National Institute of Health in 1991.

BERNADINE HEALY, Vassar

FIRST woman ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA.

RACHELLE HENDERLITE, Agnes Scott

FIRST and only person to have won four Academy Awards for acting. The American Film Institute voted her the nation's leading screen legend of the 20th Century.

KATHARINE HEPBURN, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman general of the U.S. Army.

BRIGADIER GENERAL ELIZABETH P. HOISINGTON, USA retired, College of Notre Dame of Maryland

FIRST African American woman to serve as moderator and managing editor of PBS's Washington Week in Review.

GWEN IFILL, Simmons

FIRST woman president of the Florida senate.

ANTOINETTE JENNINGS, Wesleyan

FIRST woman judge, U.S. Fourth Circuit.

KAREN JOHNSON WILLIAMS, Columbia

FIRST woman to be appointed as the state's chief judge. FIRST woman to serve on the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals in 1983.

JUDITH S. KAYE, Barnard

FIRST woman to be ordained Bishop of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Conference in 1996.

CHARLENE PAYNE KAMMERER, Wesleyan

FIRST woman to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

JEANE KIRKPATRICK, Barnard

FIRST woman neurosurgeon in the U.S.

DOROTHY KLENKE, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman president of the State Bar of California.

MARGARET MORROW, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress from S.C.

ELIZABETH J. PATTERSON, Columbia

FIRST woman elected as Democratic Whip in the House of Representatives (10/10/2001) - the highest post held by a woman in the U.S. Congress; member of the 107th Congress for the state of California.

NANCY PELOSI, Trinity, D.C.

FIRST woman appointed to a Presidential Cabinet post.

FRANCES PERKINS, Mount Holyoke

FIRST African American woman appointed Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AULANA PHARIS PETERS, College of New Rochelle

FIRST woman commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

SHIRLEY DANIEL PETERSON, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman to chair a Financial Regulatory Agency.

SUSAN PHILLIPS, Agnes Scott

FIRST woman Chancellor in the State of Mississippi.

LENORE LOVING PRATHER, Mississippi University for Women

FIRST woman elected president of an NAACP chapter.

GLENDA COPES REED, Smith

FIRST director of the the Congressional Budget Office ('94 - '96); recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant"; served as vice chair of the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors and directed the White House Office of Management and Budget.

ALICE MITCHELL RIVLIN, Bryn Mawr

Founder of the FIRST missionary order of Catholic women in the U.S., Maryknoll Sisters.

SR. MARY JOSEPHINE ROGERS, Smith

FIRST person to observe that the X and Y chromosomes determine sex.

NETTIE STEPHENS, Bryn Mawr

FIRST woman General Manager for the Associated Press.

KELLY SMITH TUNNEY, Cottey

FIRST woman to head White House Council of Economic Advisors, appointed in 1993.

LAURA D'ANDREA TYSON, Smith

FIRST woman mayor of a capitol American city (Hartford) in 1967.

ANN UCCELLO, Saint Joseph College

FIRST woman publisher of TIME-LIFE.

LISA VALK, Hollins

FIRST woman to receive Scientific Achievement Award for cancer research.

ROSLYN WALLACE, Brenau

FIRST woman to command a naval base and highest ranking woman in the U.S. Navy.

REAR ADMIRAL LOUISE WILMOT, College of St. Elizabeth

South Carolina's current First Lady.

RACHEL GARDNER HODGES, Columbia

Senators in the 110th Congress	^ top ^

Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) Wellesley College, MA	Blanche Lambert Lincoln (AR) Randolph-Macon Woman's College, VA
Barbara Mikulski (MD) Mount Saint Agnes College, MD

Representatives in the 110th Congress	^ top ^

Tammy Baldwin (WI) Smith College, MA	Rosa DeLauro (CT) Marymount College, NY
Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX) Saint Mary's College, IN	Donna Christian-Christensen (VI) St. Mary's College, IN
Jane Harman (CA) Smith College, MA	Gabrielle Giffords (AZ) Scripps College, CA
Barbara Lee (CA) Mills College, CA	Sue Kelly (NY) Sarah Lawrence College, NY
Nita Lowey (NY) Mount Holyoke College, MA	Betty McCollum (MN) College of Saint Catherine, MN
Allyson Schwartz (PA) Bryn Mawr, MSS Simmons College, MA	Nancy Pelosi (CA) FIRST woman elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Trinity College, DC

Commencement Thought

"Over the past thirty years, individual women, their families, this university, and our society as a whole have been changed immeasurably as a result of a feminist social movement. You - both women and men - have inherited its accomplishments and also its unfinished agenda.

One item on that unfinished agenda is about encouraging new leadership - leadership on the part of people who were traditionally excluded from arenas of decision making and power, who had no say in shaping the big issues and policies that had an impact on their lives."

T h e W o m e n ' s C o l l e g e C o a l i t i o n
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email: colleges@womenscolleges.org

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