Celebrating The Women of Math on Pi Day

Happy #PiDay This may be the birthday of #AlbertEinstein but we are celebrating 3.14 by recognizing the important and transformative role women have had in Math. A huge gender gap still exists for Women and Girls in #Stem and #stemeducation In 2023, women comprised only 28% of the STEM workforce
All the more important to spotlight women who defied expectations and social "norms" to show that Yes! This Girl Can! Change the World.

1. Hypatia (370-415 AD) was an Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. After her father's death, she took up his work and became the world’s leading mathematician, astronomer, and teacher known for her number theory. She is considered the earliest female mathematician. Her teaching was considered pagan and she was killed by a gang of zealots. Her life and work became a beacon for other women to pursue studies despite prejudice.

2. Mary Somerville (1780–1872) was a Scottish mathematician, scientist, geographer, and astronomer. She began to study algebra on her own at 15 in secret because her parents disapproved. It wasn't til after the death of her first husband, who also disapproved of her studies, that she could study mathematics and astronomy openly and won her first medal for her work in 1811. Her work researching celestial mechanics brought her great acclaim. In 1833 Mary Somerville and Caroline Herschel were the first two women to be named honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society.

3. Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) was encouraged by her mother to study science, logic, and mathematics. She was fascinated by the new machines of the Industrial Revolution. Her mentor was Mary Sommerville who introduced her to Charles Babbage, known for his plans to make giant calculating machines. Ada was excited by his plans for a machine that combined calculating gears with a punchcard system, the components of the modern day computer. Babbage asked her to write an article on the “Analytical Engine” which included what are thought to be many early computer programs, as well as her views on how the machine could be used.. Ada Lovelace’s notes were vital to Alan Turing’s work on the first modern computers in the 1940s. She is considered to be “the first computer programmer.”

4. Euphemia Lofton Haynes (1890–1980) was an American mathematician and educator, She was also the first African American woman to earn her doctorate in mathematics. Euphemia founded the mathematics department at Miner Teacher’s College, an institution in Washington dedicated to training African American teachers, She dedicated her career to battling racial discrimination and pushing down roadblocks to educational access and equity. She co-founded the Catholic Interracial Council of the District of Columbia and received a Pro Ecclesia medal from Pope John XXIII for her work in 1959. Euphemia fought racial segregation in the D.C. school system supporting a lawsuit to desegregate the school system.

Discover more about trailblazing women in Math and STEM and you can get involved in Stem at The National Women’s History Museum and Girls Who Code.

Celebrating HERstory Every Day

“Well behaved women rarely make history”

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

It is #WomensHistoryMonth and in this month and every month we share our hope that EVERY girl will believe that Yes! she can make #HERstory

This #WomensHistoryMonth we celebrate the rule-breakers, the trailblazers, the fearless, and the indefatigable who said Yes! #ThisGirlCan!… and She Will! Guess what, history is filled with stories of women and girls just like YOU who made their own way, defied societal expectations and command, and bravely and independently pushed down doors, ignorance, harassment, and even threats to their lives and well-being. Every day we celebrate these women and now it is your turn-and we cannot wait to see YOU make HERstory.

Why do we study women's history? The lives of women and their role in, and impact on, our history has rarely been spotlit. We need to know women's stories, we need to look to them as models, beacons of inspiration to follow as we aspire to our dreams and follow our convictions. We need to learn about their lives and experiences. Their trailblazing paths will show us the way forward. Ensuring that every woman's story is heard and respected provides every little girl, and not so little girl, with the opportunities to understand and to know they can realize the power of their dreams because there was someone who came before them who showed that Yes! This Girl Can! Change the World. So, let’s make HERstory!

#ThisGirlCanChangetheWorld #EveryMonthisWomensHistoryMonth #TheFutureisFemale #BelieveinthePowerofYourDreams

"I desire you would remember the ladies", Abigail Adams- Celebrating Women's History Month

“... I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

— Abigail Adams in letter to her husband March 31, 1776

Abigail Adams was not a woman who kept her opinions to herself. She did not sit idly by in Quincy Massachusetts while her husband forged a new nation. As the wife and the mother of presidents, and her husband’s closest advisor, she had a unique opportunity to influence the decisions of how a young country would be shaped and she implored her husband to “remember the ladies.” ​Abigail​ ​like so many women was left alone​ ​to manage the farm and raise her children while her husband was in Philadelphia and England for months and years, ​all ​ in the midst of a revolution ​on her doorstep finding​ her life and her children’s lives in danger at all times. Abigail knew very well that the future of the new country would depend as much on its women as the men​ and she let her husband know that to not include women in the decisions and for them to have a real voice would set the new country on the wrong path​. It would be 144 years until women were recognized as having the right to legally participate as a citizen with the passage of the 19th amendment acknowledging women’s right to vote, and would not be until 1965 and the passage of the ​V​oting ​R​ights ​A​ct that all women were allowed to vote.

“Well behaved women rarely make history”

— Eleanor Roosevelt

American history is filled with stories of women, most unknown​,​ who made their own way, defied societal expectation and command, ​and ​bravely and independently ​pushed down doors, ignorance, harassment and even threats to their lives and well being. Women such as Mabel Ping-Hua Lee ​​who in a 1912 New York Times article​ ​was ​cited​ as “the symbol of the new era, when all women will be free and unhampered.”​ She was just 16 years old at the time and was already gaining notoriety for her work as a suffragist who had led over 10,000 in the New York suffrage parade. Mabel would go on to become the first Chinese woman to get a PhD in economics.​ Think of Maria Mitchell​, born who on Natucket in 1818. In 1847 at the age of 29 Maria discovered a comet. She was the first female astronomer in the United States, ​and was also the first American scientist to discover a comet​!​ ​Maria​ was a​ strong ​ advocate for science and math education for girls and ​became ​the first female astronomy professor.​ Then there is Charlotta Spears Bass. Throughout the first half of the 20th century Charlotta was the ​ editor of the African American newspaper The California Eagle. ​She worked as a​ journalist, ​civil rights ​activist, and politician​...she was also ​ ​the first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States ​in 1952. ​Charlotta dedicated her work to fighting what she called “The two-headed monster, Segregation and Discrimination.”  

“Where there is a woman there is magic.”

— Ntozake Shange

​Why do we study women's history? The lives of women and their role in, and impact on, our history has been overlooked for so long. We need to know women's stories, we need to look to them as models, for inspiration, to follow our dreams and convictions. We need to learn about their lives and experiences. Their trailblazing paths will show us the way forward. Ensuring that every woman's story is heard and respected let’s every little girl know there is a role model to show her that This Girl Can!

This #WomensHistoryMonth we celebrate the rule breakers, the trailblazers, the fearless and the indefatigable who said Yes! #ThisGirlCan and She Will!​

Be sure to follow us to help us celebrate. For more great stories and biographies visit The National Women's History Museum​ and PBS Videos on Women in American History

"Dream with Ambition" This Girl Can! Believe

"But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a county of possibilities."

Kamala Harris, Vice-President-Elect, November 7, 2020

How many times in the last 24 hours have we seen and heard little girls, ALL little girls, looking wide-eyed and smiling at images and footage of the soon to be Vice-President of the United States, Kamala Harris. How many little girls of color looked at their Mom and Dad with expressions of glee and exclaiming, “She looks like me!” The Vice-President elect has made history not only as the very first woman to be elected to higher office-about time wouldn’t you say!, but also the first woman of color and the first woman of South Asian descent -lots of glass shattered this week!

Kamala Devi Harris, a daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants has been elected to the second highest office in the land 100 years after the passage of the 19th amendment enfranchised women. Wearing. white, as she made her first public appearance as Vice-President elect, in honor of all who came before, the Kamala Harris spoke directly to every little girl and made it clear in NO way would she be the last to make history. It is also 55 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act abolishing the disenfranchisement of Black Americans. 35 years ago Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman to run for Vice-President and she was asked repeatedly throughout that 1984 campaign if she was “tough enough” for the job. Whether with a stiletto or Jack Purcell All Star, Kamala Harris has kicked a door down, a very big door, and in so doing she has shown EVERY girl that Yes! This Girl Can!…and She Will! Congratulations Madame Vice-President-elect.

“And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction. And see yourselves in a way that others may not simply because they’ve never seen it before, but know that we will applaud you every step of the way.”

~Kamala Harris, Vice-President elect , November 7, 2020

This Girl Can!...and She Did! Women Belong! Thanks to Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”

— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 Had she never been nominated to the highest court Ruth Bader Ginsburg would certainly be remembered as a single indomitable force who dedicated her life to championing women's fight for equality, and society's road toward equal justice.  At every point in her life she was pushed on closed doors in her quiet, often shy, demeanor which left many having never seen her coming! She left an unparalleled legacy of justice and equality with groundbreaking cases that changed the legal landscape and this country. She is responsible for changing women's legal rights and access, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg did so much more, for every woman, for every little girl, for everyone who has ever been told-"sorry, this isn't your door" she blazed a trail in her demure yet tough as nails  way- “Women belong,” she said, “ in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” and she dedicated her work and her life to ensuring just that.

“We should not be held back from pursuing our full talents, from contributing what we could contribute to society, because we fit into a certain mold––because we belong to a group that historically has been the object of discrimination.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought in every corner of her life with a steely determination. She said that starting out she had three strikes against her-she was Jewish, a Woman , and a Mother-all of which meant doors that swung open for men with far less ability were not even available to be seen for her. Cancer would be an incessant presence throughout, from her Mother, to her cherished Marty, to her own numerous private battles... but nothing, not even cancer, stopped her-she worked and battled through pain and loss with a laced glove iron hand and will. She found great joy in her Notorious RBG fame and how amazing that so many little girls would have such an icon to emulate. In her first ever case as a Supreme Court justice she showed she was not there to just fill a chair but would continue her fight for equality.

 In her first ever case as a Supreme Court justice she showed she was not there to just fill a chair but would continue her fight for equality.

"Sex, like race, is a visible, immutable characteristic bearing no necessary relationship to ability.

Sex, like race, has been made the basis for unjustified or at least unproved assumptions, concerning an individual’s potential to perform or to contribute to society…

These distinctions have a common effect: They help keep woman in her place, a place inferior to that occupied by men in our society."

In conclusion Justice Ginsburg quoted Sara Grimke:

"I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks."

 She showed that it simply didn't matter that you were born a woman-gender was irrelevant and she worked to her last days to ensure that justice for everyone would be secure. She simply changed how society is for American women, full stop. She was a revolutionary at every step of her life who created a revolution, so may her memory be just that, a revolution that fulfills her last wish and in her death may she blaze one last irrevocable trail again for us all. Thank You Justice Ginsburg.

“In my life, what I find most satisfying is that I was part of a movement that made life better, not just for women … gender discrimination is bad for everyone.”

“I do think that I was born under a very bright star...When you think about — the world has changed really in what women are doing. I went to law school when women were less than 3% of lawyers in the country; today, they are 50%. I never had a woman teacher in college or in law school. The changes have been enormous. And they’ve just — they’ve gone much too far [to be] going back.”