MARCH IS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

In 1980 President Jimmy Carter designated March 2-8, 1980, National Women’s History Week.  In his proclamation the president included these words, “ …But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.

Women have worked alongside men both in partnership and independently to build, tame, grow and improve America.  Despite a glass ceiling and discrimination women have participated and made contributions in every field of commerce, science, art, education and government.

Yet, so few of their accomplishments are acknowledged in our history books.  Too often, when recognition is given it is with an asterisk, the first female to….. .   When we fail to acknowledge and respect the contributions of women, society is the worse.

In 1987 Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. Every year since1987 there has been a Presidential Proclamation honoring the extraordinary achievements of American women.

Today starts National Women’s History Month 2011.  Let us recognize the contributions of women who, through their efforts, have made our lives and our society better. 

Throughout March Smithtown Matters will acknowledge the work of women who have made a difference. 

Rachel Carson – Biologist, Environmentalist and Author 1907 -1964

Rachel Carson wrote the book Silent Spring.  In the book Rachel wrote about the dangers of popular pesticides including DDT. The book was the beginning of the movement to overhaul the nation’s policy on pesticides. Rachel Carson was diagnosed with breast cancer and died of complications from the disease and its treatment.

Below is a time line prepared by Linda Lear www.rachelcarson.org

Rachel Carson’s Life

1907 May 27	Carson born in Springdale, Pa.
1918 September	Published first story in St. Nicholas Magazine
1925 -1929	Carson attends Pennsylvania College for Women; majors in science. Carson goes to Woods Hole, MA to study marine biology. Begins graduate work in zoology at Johns Hopkins University
1932 May	Graduates with MA in zoology from Hopkins; goes again to Woods Hole to study at Bureau of Fisheries.
1935	Writes radio scripts for Bureau of Fisheries and publishes articles on natural history of the Chesapeake Bay for The Baltimore Sun. Writes “The World of Water” later published as “Undersea” in The Atlantic Monthly, September, 1937. Father, Robert Carson dies.
1936 -1952	Appointed Junior Aquatic Biologist with the Bureau of Fisheries, U.S. Department of Commerce. Becomes staff biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service,
1939	retires as editor in chief of all USFWS publications.
1937	Sister, Marian Carson Williams dies, leaving two daughters Virginia and Marjorie who live with Rachel and her mother.
1941	Under the Sea-wind. A Naturalist’s Picture of Ocean Life published by Simon& Schuster.
1947	Publishes first of five pamphlets in Conservation in Action series for USFWS.
1950	Confirmed breast tumor removed. No further treatment.
1951	The Sea Around Us., excerpted in “Profiles” of The New Yorker. The Sea Around Us published by Oxford University Press. Resigns from Government service to write full time.
1952	National Book Award for Non-fiction for The Sea Around Us; Roger Christie, Marjorie’s son born. RKO film version released; Awarded the John Burroughs Medal, April 1952. The Henry Grier Bryant Gold Medal, Geographical Society New York Zoological Society Gold Medal. Awarded a Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for research on tidal life.
1955	The Edge of the Sea published by Houghton Mifflin Co.
1956	July “Help Your Child to Wonder,” Women’s Home Companion. Published posthumously as The Sense of Wonder, Harper& Row, 1965.
1957	Rachel adopts Roger Christie after the death of his mother.
1960 April	Carson has radical mastectomy for breast cancer.
1962 June	First of three installments of Silent Spring published as Reporter at Large in The New Yorker September Silent Spring published by Houghton Mifflin December Silent Spring, a book-of-the-month club selection
1963 January	Albert Schweitzer award from Animal Welfare Institute April 3 CBS Reports airs “The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson.”
1963 June 3	Carson testifies on the misuse of pesticides; US Senate Subcommittee of Government Operations. 88th Cong. 1st.sess.
1963 June 6	Carson testifies before the US Senate Committee on Commerce December Awarded the National Audubon Society Medal. Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1964 April 14	Carson dies in Silver Spring, Md. at age 56.