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Honoring and celebrating the remarkable accomplishments of inspiring women leaders: Benazir Bhutto, Sarah Boone, Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown, Meta L. Christy DO, Admiral Michelle Howard, Mae Jemison, Katherine Johnson, Condoleezza Rice, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Madam C.J. Walker, in honor of Women’s History Month.
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WHEREAS, Women’s History is American History. Women’s History Month commemorates and encourages the study, observance, and celebration of the vital role women play in American history. Women’s History Month was first declared by an Act of Congress in March of 1987; and
WHEREAS, Benazir Bhutto was the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan and the first female Prime Minister of a Muslim-majority nation. Bhutto was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1953 and was the daughter of future Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She gained early education in Pakistan before moving to the United States for college. She attended Radcliffe College and Harvard University, earning a degree in comparative government. After earning her bachelor's degree, she attended Oxford University between 1973 and 1977. After returning to Pakistan in 1977, Bhutto was placed under house arrest after a military coup. After the death of her father, she inherited the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). In 1984, Bhutto moved to England where she continued her leadership of the PPP. She returned to Pakistan in 1986 and launched a campaign for open elections. On December 1, 1988, Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan. After losing an election bid in 1990, she became a symbol of opposition leadership and she returned to the Premiership in 1993. After being replaced in 1996, she placed herself in exile in Britain and Dubai. Bhutto returned to Pakistan in 2007 but was tragically assassinated shortly after returning; and
WHEREAS, Sarah Boone was one of the first African American women to earn a patent. Boone was born to enslaved parents in North Carolina in 1832. After gaining her freedom, she, along with her husband, children, and mother in-law, escaped to the North using a network connected to the Underground Railroad prior to the Civil War. While living in Connecticut, Boone worked as a dress maker. Through her work she developed a new style of ironing board that allowed clothing to be shifted without wrinkling, was padded, and was collapsible. Following her invention, she applied for and received U.S. Patent Number 473,653 in April of 1892. Sarah Boone is credited with being one of the first African American women to earn this formal distinction for their invention; and
WHEREAS, Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown was the first black woman to achieve the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Armed Forces. Johnson-Brown was born in 1927 in West Chester, PA, grew up in Malvern, PA, and worked on her family’s farm. In 1950, she graduated from the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing and went to work at the Philadelphia Veteran’s Administration Hospital where she became the Head Nurse. In 1955, Johnson-Brown decided to serve her country in the Armed Forces and joined the United States Army. She experienced racism while serving, but she persevered and served in a variety of posts at home and abroad. She was instrumental in training Army Nurses for service in Vietnam and was well known for her work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In 1979, Hazel Johnson-Brown was appointed as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps along with the rank of Brigadier General. She became the first Black woman to serve as Chief of the Army Nurses Corp and the first black woman to achieve the rank of Brigadier General in the armed forces. During her time as Chief, Brigadier General Johnson-Brown oversaw 7,000 army nurses as well as operations at numerous medical facilities. After retiring in 1983, she became the head of the government relations unit of the American Nurse’s Association and directed George Mason University’s Center for Health Policy; and
WHEREAS, Meta L. Christy, DO was the first Black American osteopathic physician. Dr. Christy was born in 1895 in Indiana and moved to Massachusetts in 1917. She attended the Massachusetts College of Osteopathy for two years before transferring to the Philadelphia College of Infirmary and Osteopathy (now the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine). Dr. Christy was the first Black graduate of the Philadelphia College of Infirmary and Osteopathy and was the first Black Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Following graduation, she returned to Indiana where she opened her own practice. She continued to practice osteopathic medicine throughout the Southwestern United States, and specifically catered to African Americans who could not receive medical care because of their race. After passing away in 1968, she has been recognized by numerous entities. In 1995, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Student National Medical Association created the Meta L. Christy Award to recognize exemplary performance in osteopathic medicine; and
WHEREAS, Admiral Michelle Howard became the first Black woman to become a United States Navy Admiral. Born in Riverside, Colorado in 1960, Howard entered the United States Naval Academy in 1978. After graduating from the Naval Academy, she served in a variety of leadership positions throughout her career and was appointed Commanding Officer of the USS Rushmore. By holding that command, she became the first African American woman to command a U.S. Naval Ship. Howard was the first woman to lead a U.S. Navy battle group when she took command of the Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group Two guarding the Persian Gulf during the War on Terror. In 2014, Admiral Howard made history when she was promoted to be the first female and the first Black woman to become a four-star navy admiral. She was appointed to be the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the second highest ranking officer in the Navy that same year. In June of 2016, Admiral Howard assumed command of United States Naval Forces Europe, along with United States Naval Forces Africa. She retired from the United States Navy in 2017; and
WHEREAS, Mae Jemison is the first African American woman to go to space. Jemison was born in 1956 in Decatur, Alabama and grew up in Chicago. She knew from young age that she wanted to study science, and upon graduating high school she attended Stanford University. While at Stanford, she served as the President of the Black Student Union and graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, as well as with a degree in African American studies. After graduation, Jemison attended Cornell Medical School and graduated with her Doctorate in Medicine in 1981. Following medical school, she served in in the Peace Corps as a medical officer in Africa for two years. After returning to the United States, Jemison opened her own practice and decided to apply to the astronaut program at NASA. She was selected in 1987 and was one of the fifteen individuals accepted into the program out of 2,000 applications. She trained with NASA at the Kennedy Space Center and was attached to the space shuttle Endeavor as a Mission Specialist. Jemison became the first African American woman to travel to space in 1992 when she completed 127 orbits around the earth, and returned to Kennedy Space Station; and
WHEREAS, Katherine Johnson was an instrumental figure in the integration of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the precursor to NASA. Katherine Johnson was born in 1918 and lived in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia. She had an affinity for numbers, attended high school by age thirteen and earned a degree in mathematics in 1937. After getting married and starting a family, she moved to Newport News, Virginia to obtain a position in the segregated West Computing Group at the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics in 1953. Following the Soviet Launch of the Sputnik satellite, Johnson began working for the Space Task Group. She completed trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 mission and worked on trajectory analysis for John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission. Johnson’s work was instrumental to NASA, and she retired in 1986. Her barrier breaking career was memorialized in the movie Hidden Figures in 2016, and she was recognized by President Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015; and
WHEREAS, Condoleezza Rice was the first Black woman to serve as the United States Secretary of State. Secretary Rice was born in 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama and attended the University of Denver where she earned a degree in International Relations. She joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1981, but left to serve as an Assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as The Director of Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, on the National Security Council under President George H.W. Bush. In 1993, Rice became the Provost of Stanford University and served in that position until she became a foreign policy advisor to the presidential campaign of Texas Governor, George W. Bush. When George W. Bush was elected to the Presidency in 2000, Rice was named National Security Advisor and was the first woman to hold that position. She served in that position through the 9/11 attacks and the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003. Following President Bush’s reelection, Rice was nominated by the President to be the first Black female Secretary of State. Following Senate confirmation, she served in that position until 2009. After leaving government service, Rice returned to Stanford University where she currently serves as the Director of the Hoover Institute; and
WHEREAS, Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the current United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield was born in 1952 in Baker, Louisiana and attended Louisiana State University. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield joined the foreign service in 1982 and was a career diplomat. She served the United States Department of State for 35 years in a variety of leadership positions such as Ambassador to Libera, Director General of the Foreign Service, and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. She retired from the foreign service in 2017, but was announced as Joe Biden’s nominee to be the U.S. Representative to the United Nations in 2021. Thomas-Greenfield assumed that position on February 24, 2021; and
WHEREAS, Madam C.J. Walker was an entrepreneur and the first Black woman millionaire in the United States. Madam Walker was born in 1867 as the daughter of Louisiana Sharecroppers and former slaves. She was orphaned at seven years old, married by the age of fourteen, and widowed at twenty years old. Madam Walker moved to St. Louis where she was a laundress, attended night school, sang in the choir of the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church and became involved in the National Association of Colored Women. Madam Walker created a line of hair care products for Black women after being stricken with a condition that caused her to lose most of her own hair. Her products became a massive success for Black women. After moving to both Denver and Pittsburgh she was able to grow her product and open a beauty school. Over time, Madam C.J. Walker’s company grew to employ over 3,000 people. Walker was deeply engaged in philanthropy and frequently gave to organizations like the NAACP and the black YMCA. Madam C.J. Walker passed away in 1919, and serves as an inspiration to many; and
WHEREAS, The achievements and accomplishments of Benazir Bhutto, Sarah Boone, Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown, Meta L. Christy DO, Admiral Michelle Howard, Mae Jemison, Katherine Johnson, Condoleezza Rice, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Madam C.J. Walker deserve continued recognition; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby honors and celebrates the lives and accomplishments of Benazir Bhutto, Sarah Boone, Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown, Meta L. Christy DO, Admiral Michelle Howard, Mae Jemison, Katherine Johnson, Condoleezza Rice, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Madam C.J. Walker, in honor of Women’s History Month.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That Engrossed copies of this resolution be presented to these outstanding and inspiring women as a sign of the sincere respect and admiration of this legislative body.
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