Cool Chicks from History

Barbara Walters Has Announced Her Retirement In 2014. Let’s Not Forget How Groundbreaking She Was 40 Years Ago.

Representative Yvonne Brathwaite Burke leaves Queen of Angels hospital with her 6-day-old daughter Autumn Roxann. Yvonne was the first member of Congress to give birth while in office.

Woman weaving in Lachung, Sikkim.

May 1971

The first black students to attend Plymouth School (Monrovia, CA) arrive by bus with others as district integration plan went into effect.

1970

whitneymuseum:

In 1972, Alma Thomas became the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney. Her Late Night Reflections is on view now in Blues for Smoke.

Alma Thomas (1891–1978), Late Night Reflections, 1972. Acrylic on canvas, 28 ¾ x 44 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Purchase, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University Fund for Acquisitions and bequest of Marjorie Pfeffer by exchange. Photograph by Peter Paul Geoffrion

Today is the 100th anniversary of New York’s Grand Central Station. Jackie Kennedy Onassis played a significant role in preserving Grand Central and other New York City landmarks. A plaque in Grand Central commemorates Jackie’s role in preserving the station:

In an age when few people sought to preserve the architectural wonders that are a daily reminder of our rich and glorious past, a brave woman rose in protest to save this terminal from demolition. Because of her tireless and valiant efforts, it stands today as a monument to those who came before us and built the greatest city known to mankind. Preserving this great landmark is one of her many enduring legacies. The people of New York are forever grateful.

In the 1975 photo above Jackie is pictured with Ed Koch who was at the time serving in the House of Representatives. He went on to serve as Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Ed passed away today at age 88.

Image source

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the case which legalized abortion nationwide.

ourpresidents:

Barbara Walters interviews President Gerald R. Ford and Betty Ford. December 4, 1976.

livelymorgue:

After prohibiting them for 116 years, McSorley’s Old Ale House was ordered by Mayor John Lindsay to open its doors to women in 1970. The article from that August describes the first co-ed bar brawl in McSorley’s history, when Lucy Komisar, a vice-president of the National Organization for Women and pictured at right, was heckled and antagonized by patrons. Photo: Barton Silverman/The New York Times

You can still visit McSorley’s today and even visit the ladies room which was installed in 1986.

Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama provide bus to get black voters to the polls for a primary election, 1972.

Leslie Dughi dressed as a witch for Halloween in Tallahassee, Florida

1972

Feminist Gloria Steinem speaking at Cal State Long Beach, Calif., 1970.

“Our objection to women being regarded as sex objects is that it goes only one way. Men are beautiful, too.”

Sixteen year old Ulrike Meyfarth of West Germany competed in the High Jump competition at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. She won the gold medal by jumping 1.9 meters (74.8 inches).