Barbara Jordan 1936-1996

“I had a law degree but no practice, so I went down to Harris County Democratic Headquarters [in Texas] and asked them what I could do. They put me to work licking stamps and addressing envelopes. One night we went out to a church to enlist voters and the woman who was supposed to speak didn't show up. I volunteered to speak in her place and right after that they took me off licking and addressing.”

Barbara Jordan is a political icon who is remembered for her extraordinary oratory skills and her commitment to public service. After serving as the first African American Texas State Senator, Ms. Jordan went on to become one of the first black southerners to be elected to Congress in 144 years. She quickly rose to prominence during Watergate as one of the greatest champions of the Constitution. Her beauty and elegance came from her challenge to women to reach for higher heights and to believe in themselves. She inspired a generation of women to include in their vision the belief that the ability to make the world a better place is inside each of us.

“For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future. We must not become the new puritans and reject our society. We must address and master the future together. It can be done if we restore the belief that we share a sense of national community, that we share a common national endeavor. It can be done.”

Shirley Chisholm 1924-2005

“I had met far more discrimination because I am a woman than because I am black.”
"Women in this country must become revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old, the traditional roles and stereotypes."

Shirley Chisholm challenged Americans to think boldly about what the person holding the top office in the land could look like. She was the first African American woman to win election to Congress. She served two terms in the New York State Assembly and seven times in the US House of Representatives. Her grass roots campaign for president in 1972 was to break barriers and leave a legacy that women deserved to have a voice.

"I ran for the Presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo. The next time a woman runs, or a black, or a Jew or anyone from a group that the country is ‘not ready' to elect to its highest office, I believe that he or she will be taken seriously from the start… I ran because somebody had to do it first. In this country, everybody is supposed to be able to run for President, but that has never really been true."

Margaret Smith 1897-1995

“The men have been given their chance -- why not let the women have theirs? At least it's worth a try -- for were it to do nothing else it would bring to the women as never before an awareness of their own individual responsibility in this matter of avoiding war and securing peace — of halting world suicide and making peace a reality instead of just a hope.”

Margaret Smith served four terms in the Senate and thirty-two years in Congress after being elected to fill a vacancy left when her husband died. She made her mark in politics with her “Declaration of Conscience” speech, a condemnation of the tactics used by her colleague Joseph McCarthy. “I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some soul searching -- for us to weigh our consciences -- on the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America -- on the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges.” Many thought this speech would take Ms. Smith to the White House. But it didn’t. So she took aim of her own goals ran in several presidential Republican primaries and became the first woman ever to have her name placed in nomination for presidency by either political party.

“Wars are man-made. Peace could be partially woman-made. But the blunt truth is that women have merely echoed the same fears of men who make war. I just have a notion -- maybe it's a woman's hunch -- that were there a half dozen outstanding American women -- women versed in world affairs -- to sit down with a similar group of women from France, England – and yes, even Russia -- to discuss means of attaining world peace -- that they could get somewhere. They might avoid the seemingly dangerous impasse that men have created to the moment.”

References

Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.britannica.com/
The Margaret Chase Smith Library – a congressional research library
http://www.pbs.org
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org
National Women’s History Project http://www.nwhp.org