---

November 3

11-03 TABLE of CONTENTS: Military Women's Veteran's Benefits Anne Henrietta Martin helped women get the vote in Nevada DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and EVENTS QUOTES by Marge Piercy and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Unequal Benefits       Event 11-03-1977, by an act of the U.S. Congress, women who trained airmen in World War II and transported planes to England (unarmed) were finally granted veteran's benefits after seeking them in vain for 34 years.       The air force considered them civilians and blocked any veteran benefits for the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) headed by the undisputed greatest pilot of them all, Jacqueline Cochran.       In 1974, the National Organization for Women (NOW) joined in the campaign to get full military honors and benefits for the WASPS who flew 50 million miles during World War II. Thirty-nine lost their lives on duty. The women, among other things, towed the targets that rookie flyboys used live ammunition to shoot at. They weren't always accurate.       The women received no military benefits and even their burial expenses were paid for by their families.       The women received no military retirement, medical, or educational benefits that all men in WWII received, even those men who never left the U.S. or were in safe posts and never in any danger.       On May 22, 1979, the surviving WASPS - fewer than 800 - finally received official military status from the Defense Department.       HIStory ignores - denies - women's military deaths in WWII.       Another reason HERstory is so necessary. | PRIOR DATE |        | HOME |       | WOA INDEX |       | NEXT DATE |   | RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE | Anne Henrietta Martin       Event Nov. 03, 1914, Nevada's men vote in women's suffrage six years before the national franchise was ratified, thanks in great part to Anne Henrietta Martin (B. 09-30-1875), who headed the history department at the University of Nevada. She took the leadership role in the campaign which gave Nevada women the vote.       AHM was president of the militant National Woman's party, but joined Carrie Chapman Catt and Janna Addams in their Woman's Peace party. Her writings were published in the leading magazines of the day.       AHM had been active with Emmeline Pankhurst in London, England, and was arrested for demonstratiing there in 1910. Returning to Nevada, she led the state suffrage amendment to victory.       She ran for the U.S. Senate from Nevada in 1918 and in 1920, bypassing the standard political parties. She wrote extensively on women's rights and suffrage. Her leadership role with the National Woman's Party and her experiences with Pankhurst, some say, made her the dominant influence on Alice Paul next to Lucy Burns. | PRIOR DATE |        | HOME |       | WOA INDEX |       | NEXT DATE |   | RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE | 11-03 DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and EVENTS B. 11-03-1841, Isabella MacDonald Alden, author of nearly 75 books in the religious mode, mainly for children. At her peak she sold more than 100,000 books a year. She was a staff member of several magazines. B. 11-03-1876, Mary Augusta Leavitt, physician, early authority on anaesthesia. B. 11-03-1904, Jennie Lee, Baroness of Asheridge, Scott-born member of the British parliament 1929-31, 1945-70. Served as a member of the Labour party cabinet. Promoted the arts. B. 11-03-1949, Ann Wintour, editor, Vogue magazine, 1988. Formerly editor in chief of House & Garden. B. 11-03-1952, Roseanne Barr, comedienne. Her parents sold blankets and crucifixes door to door. In 1991, she revealed her father's sexual abuse of her. Event Nov. 03, 1970, Gertrude W. Donahey elected state treasurer, becomes the first woman to hold an elected state office in Ohio. Event Nov. 03, 1977, after 34 years, the U.S. Congress finally granted members of the Women's Auxilliary Service Pilots (WASPS) full veteran's benefits. Event 11-03-1987, the growing acceptance of women as political leaders was indicated by the re-election of Kathy Whitmire as mayor of Houston, TX, and the elections of mayors Annette Strauss of Corpus Christi, TX, Betty Turner of Charlotte, NC, and a black woman Carrie Saxon-Perry of Hartford, CT. Event 11-03-1987, Ann Dore McLaughlin, appointed Labor Secretary by President Ronald Reagan, the second woman to hold that post. Event 11-03-1990, Gro Harlem Brundtland, becomes Prime Minister of Norway for the third time and appoints nine women in her 19-person cabinet. | PRIOR DATE |        | HOME |       | WOA INDEX |       | NEXT DATE | | RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE | QUOTES DU JOUR PIERCY, MARGE:       "All women hustle. Women watch faces, voices, gestures, moods.       "She's the person who has to survive through cunning."             -- Marge Piercy, Small Changes, 1973 STANTON, ELIZABETH CADY:       "Throughout this protracted and disgraceful assault on American womanhood the clergy baptized each new insult and act of injustice in the name of the Christian religion and uniformly asked God's blessing on proceedings that would have put to shame an assembly of Hottentots."             -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1879. | PRIOR DATE |        | HOME |       | WOA INDEX |       | NEXT DATE | | RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE |