March 25, 2009
BYRD'S EYE VIEW: WV Women Make History
From the Desk of U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-WV
Washington, DC (HNN) -- The women of West Virginia have played important roles not only in the history of our beloved state, but also in the history of our great nation. Therefore, with March being celebrated as “Women’s History Month,” I want to acknowledge some great West Virginia women and their contributions.
In the days before West Virginia was officially a state, women like Anne Bailey and Betty Zane served as scouts and messengers, and, at times, participated in the fighting of the colonial Indian Wars and the American Revolution.
During the Civil War, Nancy Hart and Belle Boyd carried on espionage work for the Confederates. Another West Virginian, Nancy Hanks of Mineral County, married Thomas Lincoln, and had a baby boy she named Abraham, who served as our 16th President during the Civil War.
When the industrial revolution swept the country, West Virginia women crusaded as union organizers. “Mother” Jones and Fannie Sellins, for example, both played crucial roles in organizing the miners of West Virginia.
In the twentieth century, West Virginia women made their marks as public servants. In 1928, Minnie Buckingham Harper of McDowell County took a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates, making her the first African-American woman in the United States to serve in a legislative body. In 1969, Virginia Mae Brown of Charleston became the first woman to chair a United States regulatory commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The women of West Virginia have also enriched the cultural life of our country. In 1908, largely because of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, the first official Mother’s Day service in the United States was held in St. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton. Ida Reed of Barbour County published more than 2,000 Christian Hymns. Ellen King of Glenville, wrote “The West Virginia Hills,” which became one of our official state songs.
Our mountains have produced several notable female authors. Pearl S. Buck, the author of 85 books, including The Good Earth, which was awarded the 1932 Pulitzer Prize, is certainly the best-known of these. In 1938, Pearl Buck became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
But, we must not forget all those unnamed women who have toiled in our coal camps, worked on our farms, labored in our factories, taught in our school rooms, and managed family life in the homes of our state. While their names may not be in history books, many women have played an important part in the economic and social life of our state. This month let us remember the contributions of all of our West Virginia women, past and present. They are the guardians of our West Virginia ways. God bless them all.
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BYRD'S EYE VIEW: WV Women Make History
From the Desk of U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-WV
Washington, DC (HNN) -- The women of West Virginia have played important roles not only in the history of our beloved state, but also in the history of our great nation. Therefore, with March being celebrated as “Women’s History Month,” I want to acknowledge some great West Virginia women and their contributions.
In the days before West Virginia was officially a state, women like Anne Bailey and Betty Zane served as scouts and messengers, and, at times, participated in the fighting of the colonial Indian Wars and the American Revolution.
During the Civil War, Nancy Hart and Belle Boyd carried on espionage work for the Confederates. Another West Virginian, Nancy Hanks of Mineral County, married Thomas Lincoln, and had a baby boy she named Abraham, who served as our 16th President during the Civil War.
When the industrial revolution swept the country, West Virginia women crusaded as union organizers. “Mother” Jones and Fannie Sellins, for example, both played crucial roles in organizing the miners of West Virginia.
In the twentieth century, West Virginia women made their marks as public servants. In 1928, Minnie Buckingham Harper of McDowell County took a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates, making her the first African-American woman in the United States to serve in a legislative body. In 1969, Virginia Mae Brown of Charleston became the first woman to chair a United States regulatory commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The women of West Virginia have also enriched the cultural life of our country. In 1908, largely because of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, the first official Mother’s Day service in the United States was held in St. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton. Ida Reed of Barbour County published more than 2,000 Christian Hymns. Ellen King of Glenville, wrote “The West Virginia Hills,” which became one of our official state songs.
Our mountains have produced several notable female authors. Pearl S. Buck, the author of 85 books, including The Good Earth, which was awarded the 1932 Pulitzer Prize, is certainly the best-known of these. In 1938, Pearl Buck became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
But, we must not forget all those unnamed women who have toiled in our coal camps, worked on our farms, labored in our factories, taught in our school rooms, and managed family life in the homes of our state. While their names may not be in history books, many women have played an important part in the economic and social life of our state. This month let us remember the contributions of all of our West Virginia women, past and present. They are the guardians of our West Virginia ways. God bless them all.
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