Cool Chicks from History

Dominique Moceanu bounded on to the world stage in 1996 as the youngest member of the “Magnificent Seven,” the US’s first Olympic gold medal winning women’s gymnastics team.  Today she is a mother of two and an author. Her memoir, Off Balance, starts with the story of her parent’s marriage and follows her life to the present day.

Previously I read Shawn Johnson’s Winning Balance.  For me, Off Balance is a much more interesting book. Dominique is ten years older than Shawn, which gives her more life experiences to write about and more distance her period as a teenage Olympian.  Dominique also seems to have had a much more challenging life than Shawn, from her tumultuous childhood to her discovery of an unknown sister at age 23.  

Off Balance is worth picking up if you’re a gymnastics fan …or if you want to find out more about that secret sister.

Off Balance on Amazon

The Go For the Gold Gymnasts, Dominique’s children’s books, on Amazon

Dominique’s Tumblr

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen circa 1985

Ileana was the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Florida State Legislature (1982-1989) and the United States Congress (1989-present).  She currently chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.  

Four Mexican American women on stage in dance performance for 16th of September (Mexican Independence Day) celebration, circa 1945. Included are Lupe Gonzalez (2nd from right) and Nellie Solis (far right). 

Circa 1945

Cuban sculptor Rita Longa Aróstegui (1912-2000) in Indian Museum, Havana

Photographed by Deena Stryker circa 1963-1964

Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina in space.

Ellen has spent nearly 1,000 hours in space over four missions conducting atmospheric research and visiting the International Space Station.  Today she is Deputy Director of the Johnson Space Center.  Ellen is also a co-inventor on patents for an optical inspection system, an optical object recognition method, and a method for noise removal in images.

ourpresidents:

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy hosts a tea party for wives of new ambassadors.  The guests stand in front of the grand staircase in the Entrance Hall of the White House.

Guests include: Neila Zouiten Bourguiba (wife of Ambassador Habib Bourguiba, Jr. of Tunisia); Mrs. Frédéric Guirma of Upper Volta; Mrs. Sergio Fenoaltea of Italy (first name unknown); Helena Drozniak (wife of Ambassador Edward Drozniak of Poland); Mrs. Michel Gallin-Douathe of Central African Republic; Seelawathie Rambukwella Gopallawa (wife of Ambassador William Gopallawa of Ceylon); Mrs. Matrika Prasad Koirala of Nepal; Nepalese interpreter Bhinda Malla; Mrs. Il Kwon Chung of South Korea; Mrs. Emmanuel Datnongo Dadet of Congo; Virginia Rusk (wife of Secretary of State Dean Rusk); Mrs. Ousmane Diop of Senegal; Mrs. Seydou Conte of Guinea.

Though it was the convention of the time, I really hate it when women are listed as Mrs. Husband’s First and Last Name.  A quick google search suggests Mrs. Il Kwon Chung may be Park Hye Soo as that is the name given for his wife in this 1994 obit (although it may be a later marriage).

frenchhistory:

Issy[-les-Moulineaux], Thérèse Peltier [aviatrice] sur le Delagrange (17 septembre 1908) : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]

@credits

Thérèse Peltier (1873 – 1926) was a French sculptress and aviator. Popularly believed to have been the first ever woman passenger in an airplane she should perhaps instead be recognised as the first woman to pilot a heavier-than-air craft. A friend of fellow sculptor Leon Delagrange when he became interested in aviation Peltier soon followed

Carolina Amor du Fournier was associated with the Mexican journal La Prensa Médica Mexicana and was editor of Hummingbirds and Orchids of Mexico (1963).

Recreo (Recreation) by Petrona Viera, circa 1924. 

Museu Nacional de Artes Visuais (MNAV), Montevideo, Uruguay.

The daughter of Uruguayan President Feliciano Viera, Petrona is considered the first female professional painter in Uruguay.  She was part of the Planismo (flat-ism) movement of austere lines and bright colors.  Unlike other artists of her period, Petrona never studied in Europe.  Instead she worked at home with instructors such as Guillermo Laborde.  Deaf from the age of two, Petrona found another way to express herself in art. 

The figures in the painting above are playing “Martín Pescador,” a game similar in mechanics but not lyrics to “London Bridge is Falling Down.”

jessbennett:

womenofthe112th:

My new favorite Tumblr blog, brought to you by high school classmate Emily Nemens, who will post a watercolor portrait of each female member of the 112th Congress — roughly 94 — until the elections in November. 

As she puts it:

I want to both honor the breadth and diversity of women in power, but also bring attention to certain disconcerting characteristics that emerge when taken as a whole: the rainbow of power suits, the big hair, the gaudy jewelry and toothy smiles — and the idea that they collectively are only 17% of  Congress. 

Above: Rep Judith Borg Biggert — Republican. 

Spanish-American woman plastering adobe house in Chamisal, New Mexico.  July 1940.

According the photographer Russell Lee, once a year the women in the Spanish-American families replaster their adobe houses. Neighboring women are hired to help with the work.