The first issue of Time magazine appeared on newsstands 90 years ago today. The co-creator, Henry Luce, founded other famous magazines, such as Life and Sports Illustrated. In 1935, he married Clare Boothe Luce, whose own life was filled with accomplishment. She edited two magazines — Vogue and Vanity Fair — and was a successful playwright. In the 1940s, she served two terms in the House of Representatives as the first woman sent to Congress by Connecticut. And in 1953, she became ambassador to Italy, one of the first women to represent America in a major nation. In the U.S. today, there are some 8,000 periodical publishers. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the ‘America’s Economy’ mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.
Sunday, March 2nd. The capital of the vanquished Confederacy was the site of the first chartered black-owned bank in the U.S., founded on this date in 1888 by former slave and Union Army veteran William Washington Browne. It was known as the Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain, United Order of True Reformers. The bank provided mortgage loans and other banking services that were difficult for African-Americans to obtain in the segregated climate after reconstruction. When the bank opened, Richmond had a population of just over 81,000 people, 32,000 of them African-American. Today, Richmond is home to over 210,000 people, just over half of them African-Americans. You can find more statistics on communities across the country by downloading the Census Bureau’s “dwellr” mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.
Saturday, March 1st. 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>.