Women's History Month occurs annually, beginning on March 1, and ending on March 31. It focuses on women's achievements and contributions to the world throughout history. Women's History Month is important because it commemorates the great women of our past, and paved the way for future females of this world.
Important figures in women's history include Ellen Ochoa, Kathrine Graham, Amelia Earhart, Michelle Obama, Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Malala Yousafzai, Clara Barton, Margarat Thatcher, Anne Frank, Cleopatra, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Marie Curie, and Kamala Harris.
Ellen Ochoa
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By Heather Lay
It’s now March. This means it’s time for St. Patrick’s Day and, most importantly, the influential Women’s History Month. Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10, 1958. She was also the first Hispanic woman to go to Space. While she may not be the first woman to go to Space, she notably made an incredible remark for not only women but Hispanics. She was born in the USA (to be exact, Los Angeles, California), but her parents were immigrants from Mexico. Despite her parents being divorced while she was in high school, she fortunately graduated. Making her way to be an astronaut, she got a degree in Physics from San Diego State University. In addition to being a doctor she became a researcher for NASA. Then for the 1990 NASA Group, she amazedly became an astronaut.
Nicolasa Machaca
By Heather Lay
Nicolasa Machaca was born in 1952 in Poopó Municipality, Bolivia. She was a child of indigenous Quechua farmworkers where they raised sheep and cows and planted potatoes and fava beans. She eventually went to school at the late age of 10. Because of this, she was bullied for being older than her peers. This made her drop out quickly. While she may not have received the opportunity to learn, she taught herself to read and enrolled herself in her community's reading courses. One community she joined was the Mothers' club, but she wasn't a mother. In 1974, she stood for her Indigenous community- Kurawara - at meetings of provincial leaders. She left her Indigenous community to oversee programs for women in her province. She was even nominated for the 2005 Nobel Prize.
Katharine Graham
By Katie Koski
Do you know who Katharine Graham was? She was one of the first female American publishers. Graham was born June 16, 1917, in New York City, and died July 17, 2001. She built her legacy as an American business executive who owned and published various news publications, most notably "The Washington Post," which she transformed into one of the leading newspapers in the United States. She died from head injuries from falling on a sidewalk in Sun Valley, Idaho. Katharine Graham was the best at what she did and loved it. Her work and legacy continue to make an impact to this day.