Diane Sawyer broke through new ground as a women journalist, becoming the first female correspondent on 60 Minutes and the anchor of ABC World News. Early Years Sawyer was born with the name Lila Diane Sawyer in Glasgow, Kentucky in 1945. Sawyer was one of three girls. Her father was a Republican politician and former Navy Captain during World War II and her mother was a grade school teacher. In high school Sawyer sang in choir and was the editor of her school newspaper. Sawyer also won the 1963 Miss Junior Miss of America pageant, which allowed her to tour across the country promoting the Coca-Cola Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1964-65. The experience gave Sawyer the confidence and experience to think under pressure with grace. Following high school, Sawyer, like her older sister Linda, attended the distinguished all girl Wellesley University in Massachusetts. Upon graduation with an English degree in 1967, Sawyer headed back to Kentucky. Early Career: Journalism and Politics Despite originally wanting to be a lawyer, after one semester at the University of Louisville’s law school, Sawyer decided her true calling was in journalism. Her first job in the field was a weather reporter for a local Louisville television station. Sawyer was not satisfied with just the weather. She worked into the night to learn how to work the camera and edit film, and she fought for actual news assignments. Eventually, Sawyer’s work paid off and she was promoted to a full-time news reporter. In 1970, Sawyer went to Washington to work as a press assistant for President Nixon’s White House. She earned the nickname of “the smart girl” from the president. After Nixon’s resignation, Sawyer loyally followed the disgraced president and assisted Nixon in writing his memoirs. From Politics back to Journalism After four years, Sawyer finally left politics and returned journalism as a CBS New correspondant. Sawyer rose through the different programs and up in the ranks and in 1984, she blazed a new trail for women journalists when she became the first female correspondent of the respected news magazine 60 Minutes. Five years later, Sawyer switched networks to work on ABC’s Primetime Live with Sam Donaldson. Sawyer also co-anchored ABC’s 20/20 from 1998 to 2000. And, in 1999 she returned to a.m. news co-anchoring Charles Gibson on Good Morning America. She would later return to Primetime in 2000 and cover important stories like the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Sawyer stayed at Primetime until 2006 when she moved onto become the anchor of ABC World News, the flagship evening news program. From growing up as the middle child in a small town in Kentucky to becoming the anchor of one of the most prominent news programs in the country, Sawyer is a role model to all aspiring young journalists. She’s won numerous awards, has been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame and still continues to find and share important news stories with the nation.
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Known for her marksmanship and her time spent performing with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, Annie Oakley made a name for herself in what, at her time, was considered a male dominated space. Early Life Born to the name Phoebe Ann Moses in August of 1860 in Darke County, Ohio, Oakley experienced family losses early on in life. Both her father and step father died when she was a just a kid. Until 10, Oakley lived at the county poor farm as a child. At the age of 10, Oakley was sent to work for a family that did not treat her well, which consequently led to Oakley running away and eventually reuniting with her mother. As a teen, Oakley honed in on her shooting and used her talent and marksmanship to earn money for her family by shooting game in the woods and selling it to a local shopkeeper. In fact, Oakley earned enough money to pay off her mother’s mortgage. Rising to be a Sharpshooter and Star Shortly after this, in 1875, Oakley decided to enter a shooting competition against a top touring shooter, Frank Butler. At only age 15, Oakley won not only the Thanksgiving Day match, but also Butler’s heart. The following year, the couple married and Butler continued touring with his male partner, until 1882, when his partner died and Oakley stepped on stage to join her husband. Crowds were so impressed by Oakley’s shooting that she soon became the main star and Butler stepped back to manage his wife’s widely popular act. Oakley made her own costumes, often described as modest or conservative, which helped distinguish her as she toured along the vaudeville circuit. In 1885, Oakley joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, a show where for the next 17 years she would perform and entertain audiences by shooting corks off bottles, holes through playing cards and more tricks . Two years later, at the American Exposition in London, Oakley gained international fame when she performed with Buffalo Bill Cody’s show in front of influential audience members such as Queen Elizabeth who remarked that Oakley was a “clever little girl.” In 1901, both Oakley and Butler suffered injuries in a train accident, which stopped Oakley from performing in the short term, but she was able to recover and return the stage. Not long after the accident, Oakley left the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, and began starring in a different role, one written for her, in the melodrama The Western Girl. Later in the decade, Oakley once again joined another western show before retiring with Butler in 1913. World War I and Later Life During the Great War, Oakley offered to both organize and train a regiment of women sharpshooters, but her petition to do so was ignored by the government. After this, Oakley transferred her efforts into raising money for the Red Cross through shooting demonstrations at Army camps. Oakley died on Nov. 3, 1926, and 18 days later, Butler, her husband of 50 years also passed. Oakley’s contribution and mark in the west as a strong woman made a sharp, long lasting impact. Nadia Comaneci was the first woman to ever win a perfect 10 at the Olympics in the sport of gymnastics. She was only 14 at the time. Early Years The Romanian gymnast was born in Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Romania in 1961. At the age of 6, Nadia was discovered by coach Bela Karolyi, who later went on to coach both the Romanian and U.S. teams to gold. Nadia became one of the first gymnastic students under Bela and his wife Marta’s gymnastics school in Onesta. In 1969, she won 13th place in the Romanian National Championships, and she only continued to progress. Just six years later she won the Romanian National Junior Championships and the following year, as a senior, she won the European Championships. Nadia became known for her original skills, clean technique and cool under pressure demeanor during competitions. Her skill and ability to perform landed her a spot on the 1976 Olympic gymnastics team. Competing in the Olympics At a time when Cold War tensions were high, and speculations about communist countries cheating, the small but mighty Nadia impressed the world with her with her smile and her skills. Nadia brought her best the the 1976 Montreal Olympics and not only warmed the heart of her audiences, but also the respect of her judges. In total, Nadia earned seven perfect 10 scores, three gold medals, including the highly esteemed individual all-around individual gold. The Romanian team also won bronze with Nadia’s help. In 1980, Nadia picked up even more medals, two gold and two silvers during the Moscow Olympics. Later Years In 1984, Nadia retired from the sport and worked as a coach for the Romanian National Gymnastics team. After a trip to the U.S. in 1984, Nadia’s movements were more closely monitored by government authorities. With the help of her former coach, Bela Karolyi,Nadia defected to the United States in 1989. In the States, Nadia reconnected with Bart Conner, a fellow gymnast she met during the Montreal Olympics. The two were later married in 1996. Today, Nadia and Bart live in Oklahoma and Nadia splits her time among a variety of activities including speaking engagements, commercial endorsements, gymnastics commentary and charity events. Nadia, Bart and their business manager Paul Ziert also work on a number of other gymnastics-related businesses, including a gymnastics academy, as well as a gymnastics’ magazine, production company and gymnastics supply company. Nadia continues to give back, from visiting Romania to support local charities in her home country, to serving as the Vice--Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Special Olympics International. As a 14 year old, Nadia wowed the world through her art, but even though she’s no longer competing on the beam, uneven bars, floor or vault anymore, Nadia continues to inspire young gymnasts from outside the arena today. With the Fourth of July right around the corner, many Americans will sing the Star Spangled Banner written by Francis Scott Key. And what did Scott see at twilight's last gleaming during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812? That the American flag, made by Mary Young Pickersgill, was still there. Mary Pickersgill was born in Philadelphia in 1776, the year the Declaration of Independence was signed, to Rebecca and William Young. During the Revolutionary War, Rebecca was a Flagmaker, a profession her daughter would also pick up. Later, Mary would be considered the “Betsy Ross of the War of 1812.” Early Years Mary learned the craft of flag-making from her mother as a child. In 1795, she went on to marry John Pickersgill, a Philadelphia merchant, but he died after the two had only been married for 10 years. At 29 years old, Mary moved to Baltimore and set up a flag shop. The War of 1812 As the British and Americans once again were at war during the War of 1812, Mary’s business largely catered and attracted military clients. In 1813, as the city of Baltimore prepared for an attack, the militia commander at Fort Henry, General George Armistead, placed a tall order. Armistead wanted a flag “so large that the British will have no difficulty seeing it from a distance.” Mary was recommended to him as the woman to make such a flag. And, in fact, her commission included two flags. Teamwork Creating a flag this large required a mammoth effort and so Mary enlisted help from her daughter,mother, nieces and other community seamstresses, and together, the women worked late into the night to complete the flag in six weeks. The result? A storm flag measuring 17 by 25 feet and a second garrison flag, measuring 30 by 42 feet and weighing 50 pounds. The garrison flag transformed Armistead’s vision into a tangible reality. The British saw the flag, saw the troops and so did Francis Scott Key, who was so inspired he wrote a poem about it the morning after the battle. Today, that poem is our National Anthem. Later Years Mary went on flag making and turned a profitable business. She served as an advocate for women and helped champion social issues impacting women. From 1828 to 1851, Mary was the president of the Impartial Female Humane Society helping disadvantaged women find jobs and housing. Mary died in 1857 and was buried in southwest Baltimore’s Loundon Park Cemetery. Her hard work and legacy live on as part of the American Dream and our history. Today, women of all ages, can admire her work on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. -Lisa Zimmermann During the middle of the 20th century, many knew Hedy Lamarr from her roles on the silver screen during MGM’s Golden Age. But Lamarr was not only a movie star, she was also a star in the scientific community as she co-invented a spread spectrum technique used in many of today’s wireless communications. Early Days Born in 1913 to the name Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, Lamarr was the only child of Gertrud Kiesler and Emil Kiesler in Vienna, Austria-Hungry. Her father was a bank director and her mother, a pianist. And, taking after her mother, Lamarr soon realized she also had performing in her future, but as an actress, not pianist. Lamarr moved to Berlin in the late 1920s to train in theater under producer Max Reinhardt. After her stint in Berlin, Lamarr returned to Vienna where she broke into the film industry working as a script girl and later as an actress. Soon after, in 1933, Lamarr landed a risqué role in the film Ecstasy, a role and movie that helped Lamarr gain international attention. Making Her Way Onto The Silver Screen In 1933, Lamarr married a wealthy Austrian munitions manufacturer by the name of Fritz Mandi. However, Lamarr was quite unhappy in the marriage as Mandi was selling munitions to the Nazis and very controlling of Lamarr and her career. Motivated to flee her marriage, Lamarr flew to the United States and began her acting career in Hollywood as “Hedy Lamarr.” Lamarr’s first American film was Algiers where she co-starred with Charles Boyer; the film was an immediate success. Praised for her beauty and exotic roles, Lamarr continued to land the leading female acts in films such as Lady of the Tropics alongside Robert Taylor in 1939, Boom Town alongside Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy in 1940 and other films throughout the 1940s, like Samson and Delilah in 1949. Creating an Invention to Assist The War Effort Alongside friend and composer, George Antheil, Lamarr helped create a communication system to aid the war effort and help the government create a jam-proof radio network to guide torpedoes. During her unhappy first marriage, Lamarr had listened in, and been privy to, conversations regarding torpedoes during her husband’s business meetings. This background knowledge proved useful in Lamarr and Antheil’s efforts. By creating a system comparable to piano rolls, Lamarr and Antheil constructed a frequency hopping structure that constantly changed the radio signals that would be sent to torpedoes. Though the invention was never used by the Army during World War II due to the military’s distrustfulness of civilian inventions and the overall complexity of Lamarr and Antheil’s system, the two received a patent in 1942. It wasn’t until decades later that the importance of their invention and its wider public usage functionalities were seen. The architecture of Lamarr and Antheil’s invention is used as a frame in a wide range of spread-spectrum communication technology we use today -- from military communications to cell phones, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. However, many didn’t even know of their invention until 1997 when the Electronic Frontier Foundation presented Lamarr and Antheil the Pioneer Award. That same year, Lamarr became the first woman to earn the Gnass Spirit of Achievement from BULBIE for the invention. Later Life Lamarr went on acting, but her films career roles took a downturn. In the end, she married six times and had two children, and adopted another, with her third husband John Loder. In 2000, Lamarr passed away at 86-years old in Orlando, Florida. The EDN Network reports that Lamarr often wanted to be more widely recognized by scientific communities for her invention and contributions to the development of new technologies, but that she was dismissed due to her fame in film, or turned down simply because she was a woman. This we won’t truly ever know, but Lamarr’s talents extended beyond the screen, beyond her looks and into the advancement and development of many of the modern day technologies we use today. She remains admired for her contributions to both the arts and the sciences. |
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