31 Days of Notable Women- Marilyn Diaz, first female cop in Pasadena CA!

When Marilyn Diaz joined the Pasadena Police Department in 1974, she had to change into her uniform in the bathroom. There was no women’s locker room — because she was the department’s first female patrol officer. In March 2006, she was sworn in as chief of the Sierra Madre Police Department, becoming the first woman to head a city police department in Los Angeles County and one of fewer than a dozen female chiefs of municipal departments in California.

Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/28/local/me-chief28

31 Days of Notable Women- Dolores Huerta, advocate for farm workers

Meet an advocate for farm workers who isn’t a man! For more than 50 years, activist Dolores Huerta has worked tirelessly to advance the cause of marginalized communities. She is internationally recognized as a feminist, a farm worker advocate, a gay rights activist, and a labor leader among other things.

Source cited: http://doloreshuerta.org/

31 Days of Notable Women-Lisa Leslie, first WNBA slam dunk

Lisa Deshaun Leslie-Lockwood (born July 7, 1972) is a former American professional women’s basketball player in the WNBA. She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner. Leslie, a 6’5″ center, is the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. She was considered a pioneer and cornerstone of the league during her WNBA career. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history.

Source cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Leslie

31 Days of Notable Women- Kathryn Bigelow, first female director to win an Oscar

Kathryn Bigelow, who directed Zero Dark Thirty, was the first woman to win an Oscar as best director.

Source cited: http://www.care2.com/causes/where-are-all-the-minority-directors-at-the-oscars.html#ixzz2HxRepmmI

31 Days of Notable Women- Marlen Esparza, American Olympic Boxer

Marlen Esparza (born July 29, 1989) is an American boxer. In May 2012, she qualified to compete at the 2012 Olympics, becoming the first American woman to qualify for the Olympics in the first year that women’s boxing will be an Olympic event.

Esparza graduated from Pasadena High School in Pasadena, Texas in 2007. Esparza won a bronze medal at the 2006 Women’s World Boxing Championship.

Source cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlen_Esparza

31 Days of Notable Women-Anna Garlin Spencer, first woman minister of Rhode Island

“It is an old error of man to forget to put quotation marks where he borrows from a woman’s brain!” – Anna Garlin Spencer

April 17th is the anniversary of the birth of Anna Carpenter Garlin Spencer (1851 – 1931), minister, feminist, educator, pacifist, reformer and writer on ethics and social problems.

“She was the first woman in Rhode Island to be ordained and served as the minister of the Bell Street Chapel in Providence.”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Garlin_Spencer

 

31 Days of Notable Women-Carmen Mary Lawrence, Australia’s first Premier

“We all construct world views that give us a sense of meaning. Mostly it is about belonging to a group and having a sense of identity and purpose.” – Carmen Lawrence

Carmen Mary Lawrence (born March 2, 1948) is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Lawrence

31 Days of Notable Women-Flonzie Brown-Wright, author and lecturer

Flonzie (Goodloe) Brown-Wright became the first black woman to be elected County registrar. She is now an author and lecturer.

She appeared in the movie “STANDING ON MY SISTERS’ SHOULDERS”, a powerful documentary that reveals a missing chapter in our nation’s record of the Civil Rights movement. It depicts the movement in Mississippi during the 1950 and 60s from the point of view of the courageous women who lived it and emerged as its grassroots leaders. Their living testimony offers a window into a unique moment when the founders’ promise of freedom and justice passed from rhetoric to reality for all Americans. A film every American should see and never forget.

Source: http://www.sisters-shoulders.org/heroines.html

31 Days of Notable Women- Isabella V. Crawford, Canadian poet

Isabella Valancy Crawford (25 December 1850 – 12 February 1887) was an Irish-born Canadian writer and poet. She was one of the first Canadians to make a living as a freelance writer.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Valancy_Crawford

31 Days of Notable Women- Sally Ride, 1st woman in space!

Earth from space, ain’t she beautiful?

On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space when she blasted off on the Challenger as part of the STS-7 crew, according to NASA. She flew her second shuttle mission on October 5, 1984, again aboard the Challenger. That mission, STS-41G, was the first shuttle crew to include two women.

Sally Ride passed away on Monday 23, 2012 at the age of 61, the Associated Press reported. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, according to a statement posted on the website of Sally Ride Science, a science education company she founded in 2001.  She had been battling the disease for 17 months.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/sally-ride-dead-dies_n_1696459.html