Profile America — This is Women’s History Month — a time to recognize the often overlooked vision, courage, and accomplishments of the nation’s women. One example is Clara Barton, who ministered to wounded soldiers in the Civil War, and went on to found the American Red Cross. Another is Grace Hopper, a long-serving naval officer who was a pioneer in computer programming. In recent years, women have excelled in educational attainment. In 1960, men received two-thirds of all college degrees. Today, almost 57 percent of all college students are women. Nearly 23 million women hold bachelor’s degrees, while the figure for men is 20.5 million. Women also lead in master’s degrees with 9 million having that distinction. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.
In addition to the wonderful women above, we want to spotlight the remarkable achievements of African American women throughout history. Po Campo spotlighted Chicagoan Bessie “Queen Bess” Coleman, the first American woman to receive an international pilot’s license. Read more here.
Sources: http://www.redcross.org/about-us/history/clara-barton
http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/Files/hopper-story.html
http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2012/tables.html “All races” table
