Began as a focal week in 1977, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month became a month-long celebration in 1980. May was chosen as the focal month because it commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States in 1843. This focal celebration provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Asian and Pacific Islander American women in schools, communities, and workplaces throughout the country.
May Highlights in US Women's History
May 1, 1950 - Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; named Library of Congress's Consultant in Poetry (later called Poet Laureate) in 1985.
May 5, 1938 - Dr. Dorothy H. Andersen presents results of her medical research identifying the disease cystic fibrosis at a meeting of the American Pediatric Association.
May 8, 1914 - President Woodrow Wilson signs a Proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
May 10, 1872 - Victoria Woodhull is nominated as the first woman candidate for U.S. president for the Equal Rights Party.
May 12, 1968 - A 12-block Mother's Day march of "welfare mothers" is held in Washington, D.C., D.C., led by Coretta Scott King accompanied by Ethel Kennedy.
May 21, 1932 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to complete a solo. transatlantic flight. She flew from Newfoundland to Ireland, a 2,026-mile trip, in just under 15 hours.
May 21, 1973 - Lynn Genesko, a swimmer, receives the first athletic scholarship awarded to a woman (University of Miami of Miami).
May 29, 1977 - Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to qualify for and complete the Indy 500 car race.
May Birthdays
May 1, 1830 (1930) - Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, labor leader and organizer
May 3, 1898 (1987) - Septima Clark, educator; Civil Rights activist; called "Grandmother of Civil Rights Movement"
May 3, 1912 (1995) - May Sarton, prolific writer and poet, professor
May 5, 1864 (1922) - Elizabeth Seaman, pen name "Nelly Bly", journalist; wrote expose of mental asylum (1887); set a record for circling the world in 72 days (1890)
May 11, 1875 (1912) - Harriet Quimby, first American woman licensed air pilot (1911), first woman to fly across the English Channel (1912)
May 11, 1894 (1991) - Martha Graham, modern dance innovator and choreographer
May 11, 1906 (1975) - Lt. Ethel Weed, military officer in the Women's Army Corp.; promoted women's rights and suffrage in Japan
May 15, 1937 - Madeline Albright, first woman to be U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001)
May 19, 1930 (1965) - Lorraine Hansberry, first African American woman to produce a play on Broadway, "A Raisin in the Sun" (1959)
May 23, 1810 (1850) - Margaret Fuller, author, editor, journalist, literary critic, educator, Transcendentalist, and women's rights advocate
May 26, 1951 - Sally Ride, astrophysicist, first American woman astronaut
May 27, 1907 (1964) - Rachel Carson, scientist and environmentalist; wrote "Silent Spring" which became cornerstone of modern environmental protection movement
May 31, 1912 (1997) - Chien-Shiung Wu, renowned physicist; first woman elected President of American Physical Society in 1975, elected to National Academy of Science (1958), received National Medal of Science (1975)
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