National Women’s History Month, part 1

I thought it would be really cool to tell you that March is National Women’s History Month.  Seems like everyone, whatever pigeon hole it might be, has their own spin on a month, week, day, etc.  The ones I’ve shared in the past have been a little silly – this one was different.  It sucked me in like a big black hole!

It started innocently enough when I stumbled upon a promotional item.  Then I decided to visit the website.  Then I decided to take their quiz.  Oh, yes, the quiz!  It all went downhill from there.

At that point I thought I’d focus on one pretty cool lady and I just took the quiz for fun.  I failed.  You heard me read me.  I failed.  Miserably.  We aren’t talking some choose-the-best-answer quiz.  It was all fill-in-the-blank.  Since I’m very competitive and I can totally relate to those who are also , I encourage you to go Test Your Knowledge of Women’s History.

Uh, yeah, back to the black hole.

All the answers I got wrong really set the ball in motion.  I started looking up the right answers at random and I’ve been reading since mid-morning!

I’m fascinated.  I had no idea – just NO idea.  No idea of what?  I’m not really sure.  I hadn’t planned on being so…so…swept away!  of course now I’m compelled to share.  I’m sure you’re saying, “But Sundi, this has nothing to do with coaching or training or being a virtual assistant.”

At this point I’m thinking it doesn’t really matter!  I found it cool and I want to share with someone what I learned.  So, today’s woman from history is Victoria Woodhull.  I’m going to share one woman a week during the month of March…not many at all compared to the 31 covered on the quiz.

In 1872 Victoria was the first woman to run for president!  (I don’t want to get off on a tangent but her running mate was Frederick Douglas a former slave.)  This would seem to be no small feat when women weren’t even allowed to vote!  For anyone who is in the mood to debate and argue please feel free to visit Wikipedia and type in Victoria Woodhull.  Better yet, just click!  You’ll find all the reasons why historians say she was, or was not, the first woman to run for president.

While some of you go debate, the rest of you can find out what other cool stuff she rocked at…Victoria and Tennessee, her sister, were the first female stock brokers.  She also took her turn at being a newpaper editor.  Imagine!  A female editor and newspaper owner in 1870!  This wasn’t some fly-by-night-rag as it ran for six successful years.

The following year Victoria was the second woman to petition Congress in person and address them regarding women’s right to vote.  During her address to the House Judicial Committee she argued that women had all the rights of men simply because women were citizens too!

As we all know politics and pioneering do not come without scandal and Victoria had her share…she believed in free love after all!  This is the stuff modern day soaps are written from people!  I couldn’t have made it up:

In 1872 the Weekly published a story that set off a national scandal that preoccupied the public for months. One of the most renowned ministers of the day, Henry Ward Beecher of Brooklyn’s Plymouth Church, had condemned Woodhull’s free love philosophy in his sermons. But a member of his church, Theodore Tilton, disclosed to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a colleague of Woodhull, that his wife confessed to him that Beecher was committing adultery with her, and this hypocrisy provoked Woodhull to expose Beecher. Ultimately Beecher stood trial for adultery in an 1875 legal proceeding that equaled, if not exceeded, the sensationalism of the O.J. Simpson trial a century later, holding the attention of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The verdict was ultimately a hung jury.

I had to get that straight from Wikipedia…I didn’t want anyone accusing me of sensationalizing a story from 1872.

Since I really should do something else with my day besides read history I’m shutting this down – until next week!

Nibbling away -

Sundi