Heights Highlights - Women's History Month

Princess Diana of Wales

By: Lyndsey Kitchen

Princess Diana of Wales was one of the most influential women of the 1900s. Formerly known as Diana Spencer, she was born July 1, 1961, in Sandringham Norfolk, England. Diana was born into a very wealthy family that was in close contact with the British royal family. She grew up at Park House, which was one of Queen Elizabeth II’s estates. She spent her childhood playing with the Queen’s youngest sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. At the age of 9, Diana was sent to Riddlesworth,which is an all-girls boarding school. When Diana was 14, her grandfather died, her father succeeded to the earldom and became heir to the Spencer family mansion. This event led to Diana receiving the title of Lady Diana. At the age of 16, she dropped out of school entirely due to poor schoolwork performance. A year later, Diana moved to Switzerland to attend a school prominently known for its wealthy students. While she was attending this school, she met Prince Charles, who was dating Diana’s sister Sarah.

After Diana finished her schooling, she worked many odd jobs. She became a cleaning lady, a nanny, a kindergarten assistant teacher, and a cocktail server. Diana spent this time hiding her wealth. One of the families she nannied for did not even know she came for wealth until one day Dianna left a card signed, “Lady Diana Spencer.” Around this time, Diana rekindled her relationship with the royal family. Prince Charles and Diana were both staying at a mutual friend's house where they made a friendly connection. By this time, Prince Charles and Sarah had gone their separate ways and Charles was an eligible bachelor. Diana and Charles dated for one year and went on 12 dates during this time. Prince Charles proposed to Diana in 1981 at Windsor Castle. The couple was then married later that year which caused the Royal family to become a high point of popularity in the media. Princess Dianna and Prince Charles welcomed two children into the family, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Although the family seemed to be perfect, they had their struggles. Princess Dianna and Prince Charles both had affairs. Their dirty laundry was advertised all over the world and the royal family was then being seen in a negative light. The couple decided to stay together for years but was always seen arguing together in public. In August 1996, the couple officially divorced. Princess Dianna was stripped of her Royal Highness status. A year later, Dianna was involved in a fatal car accident. She passed away on August 31, 1997.

Although Dinna was known for her controversial marriage with Prince Charles, the world loved her. She was given the nickname, “The People’s Princess” because of her involvement with people around the world. Unlike other members of royalty, she sympathized with the poor and spent most of her time working with the sick and underprivileged. Most notably, Dianna made headlines in 1987, she shook hands with an AIDS patient. At this time, many people feared AIDS/HIV and believed the myth that the illness could be spread through touch. She changed the world’s view on AIDS through this small act.

Dianna was an advocate not only for AIDS but for domestic violence, leprosy, mental health, as well as many other taboo topics. Dianna was a humanitarian first and a princess second. She would frequently go into the poor neighborhoods in England and talk with homeless individuals living on the streets. She traveled to many African countries and helped the children and families who did not have the privileges of first-world countries.

Diana was also an amazing mother. She loved her children more than anything else in the world. In one instance she was attending a mother’s day celebration at Prince Harry’s school. There was a running competition for the mothers but a member of the royal staff said that Dianna was not allowed to compete because she was wearing a skirt. Dianna ignored the order and took off her shoes and ran with the other mothers. She even placed second in the race. She would do anything for her children and always wanted to make sure that she was more of a mother figure than royalty to them.

Diana will forever be known for her free spirit and her humanitarian work throughout the world. Whether she was no longer of royal statists when she passed away, she will always be known as Princess Dianna. She has changed the world forever and her humanitarian work will continue to inspire others for generations to come.

Claudette Colvin

By: Stella Illig

“I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, 'This is not right. '” This is a famous quote from Claudette Colvin who is an unspoken hero, who is a real life hero and should be known all throughout the USA.

Nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person, a young 15 year old African American by the name of Claudette Colvin, living in Alabama, did the same thing. She was the first African American arrested for not following bus segregation laws. She is now 82 and lives in the Bronx. She is a civil rights pioneer and a retired nurse aid.

Claudette remembers taking the bus home from school on March 2, 1955 like it was yesterday. Her bus driver told her to move, but she refused. She then was arrested and her books flew off her lap. She said, "All I remember is that I was not going to walk off the bus voluntarily," Her case went to trial in May. She agreed to follow through with the court case to help the resistance against segregation , because of that, proved herself a hero.

She was arrested and one of the four on trial during the Browder vs. Gayle case which ruled Montegomery’s segregated bus system unconstitutional . They found her guilty of assaulting the police officers. The civil rights organization dropped her because she was seen as uncontrollable. They did not see her as the right person to “organize” around. There are multiple reasons why Colvin is not as well known as Parks. One reason is she never really told her story to anybody. Another reason is because some black organizations did not tell her story because they didn't feel that it would be “relatable to adults because she was a teenager.” Claudette Colvin is a very strong woman and she should be recognized for her bravery.

Amelia Earhart

By: Kirsten Morealli

Throughout American history, there have been many women who have made impactful and important contributions. One of those such women was Amelia Earhart. She was an American Aviator in the 1900’s. Her first flight ever taken was in 1920, but her most famous flight was in 1932 when she became the second person and first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean. In 1922, she set her first of many aviation records by becoming the first woman to fly solo above 14,000 feet. Even as a child, Amelia went against the gender roles in place in the early 1900’s. She briefly attended college and took an auto repair course, both being activities that women didn’t normally participate in. Earhart even helped in World War I as a Red Cross nurse’s aid in Toronto, Canada. Overall, Amelia Earhart paved the way for women in aviation and gave other women someone strong and inspiring to look up to. She made women realize they did not have to follow the gender role stereotypes and could follow their dreams.

Ruby Bridges

By: Makenzie Rusnak

At the age of only 6 years old, Ruby Bridges furthered the cause of civil rights by being the first African American student to integrate into an elementary school. Ruby attended a segregated New Orleans elementary school in 1959. However, a year later, a federal court ordered Louisiana to desegregate within the next 6 years. Early in 1960, Ruby and 5 others passed an entrance exam to be certified as academically fit to be integrated to an all-white school. Though Ruby’s parents were torn on whether or not she should attend, the ultimate decision was it was best to not deny Ruby’s educational opportunity. Monday, November 14th 1960, Ruby entered an all-white elementary school. Large crowds formed outside in protest of allowing Ruby to be integrated, and parents pulled their children out of that specific school. Because of these gatherings, Ruby and her mother were escorted by four federal marshals to school every day that year. Though most people were very unaccepting of Ruby, one teacher, Babara Henry, a white Boston native, willingly accepted Ruby as her student. Baraba taught Ruby for over a year as a class of one.

Protests and racism continued throughout the city, and the racism highly affected Ruby and her family. But over time other African Americans also enrolled; including her 4 nieces. Rubystill lives in New Orleans at 67 years old with her husband, Malcolm Hall, and her 4 sons. After graduating from a desegregated high school, she became a travel agent for 15 years, and continued on to be a full time parent. Ruby impacted many lives, and is known as a lifelong activist for racial equality.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

By: Austin Malenich

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 15, 1933. She was the daughter of Nathan Bader and Celia Bader who were Jewish lower class citizens, but valued education and learning. She attended James Madison High School where her love of wisdom grew and by graduation she became one of the top students in her graduation class. Moving on from high school, she attended Cornell where she received high honors in Government and distinction in all sorts of subjects. Along with graduating college, in the same year she went on to marry Martin D. Ginsberg. Plus, she became a mother of two while tackling all the academics. With her ranking in life skyrocketing upwards, she later attended Harvard school of Law where she faced gender discrimination from her male peers. Ginsberg, along with 8 other females were the only women in a class consisting of 500 students. For her final year she switched over to Columbia school of Law where she became valedictorian of her graduating class. Finding work was rough for Ruth because in the 60s, being Jewish, a woman and a mother was a difficult combination that employers saw as weaknesses. Through the job search, Ruth landed a position as a law clerk for Edmund L. Palmeri, judge of the southern district for the state of New York where she served till 1961. The next chapter in her life landed her as a research associate for the Columbia school of Law for a project on International Procedure where she continued this position for a year. After this, she landed a job as a professor of law at Rutgers University where she taught from 1963- 1972. On top of that she worked for the ACLU on women's rights in 1971. She then went on to work at Stanford and landed a stop on the board of directors for ACLU all through the 70s. In 1980, she was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by former president Jimmy Carter. She served 13 years on the court where she would later be nominated for the United States Supreme Court by former president Bill Clinton in 1993. She became the first Jewish woman in history to serve on the supreme court. During her time on the court, her focuses were on LGBTQ rights, women’s rights and gender discrimination. During Women's History Month, we will remember her as a role model for young women, having a kind heart, the courage for her opinion to be heard and a strong mind full of wit. She sadly passed away on September 18, 2020 due to metastatic pancreatic cancer.