Today marks the birthday in 1899 of Dorothy Stratton, who left her position as Dean of Women at Purdue University in 1942 to take a commission in the Navy. Transferred to the Coast Guard, she organized and directed that service’s women’s reserve, which she named the SPARS. After the Second World War, Stratton was an official at the International Monetary Fund, and then was executive director of the Girl Scouts for 10 years. She died at the age of 107. In the U.S. military today, there are about 205,000 women on active duty. Of that total, over 38,000 are officers, and some 164,000 are enlisted. And there are 1.6 million female veterans. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.
Sunday, March 23rd. The ingenuity of one man helped to change the very shape of America’s cities — and indeed, those around the world. On this date in 1857 in New York City, Elisha Otis installed the first passenger safety elevator. His invention meant that riders were safe, even if the hoisting cable of an elevator broke. Within a short time, architects began to design increasingly taller buildings. And reversing centuries of practice, the elevator made the upper floors of a building more desirable for owners and renters than the lower ones. Making and installing elevators and escalators is a nearly $2.5 billion a year business for some 190 establishments in the U.S., providing jobs for more than 9,500 people. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the ‘America’s Economy’ mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.
Saturday, March 22nd. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race in hiring, promoting, and firing. While this act is a famous landmark in the national effort to assure equality of treatment, its ban on sex discrimination was not in the forefront of the effort. On this date in 1872, the state of Illinois enacted the first such ban on discrimination. It came about through the lobbying of America’s first female law school graduate, Alta Hulett, who had been refused admission to the Illinois bar. Today, nearly 42 percent of employed women 16 and older work in management, professional and related occupations, compared with just 35 percent of employed males. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.