When you think about the women you have known in your life, who stands out? Who inspires you? Who exemplifies courage? Who has vision? Who leads from the front?
My maternal grandmother, Janice Dorothy Smollen Goff, is at the top of my list. Born in 1908 in a small town in Texas, USA, Dotsie was a trailblazer, always pushing boundaries and embracing the colors and flavors of life. She and my grandfather lived in Cuba in the 1930s where she learned Spanish and a love of Cuban culture. She lived in New Orleans, LA, USA and San Antonio, TX, learning to cook regional cuisines. She fed the needy during The Great Depression. She was a journalist, a feminist, and a champion for people of color. She was one of the first women to serve on a grand jury in Galveston County, TX. Widowed in her 50s, she lived a rich life until she passed away at the age of 100. Dotsie had strength and fortitude in her genes. Her mother’s father and grandfather tragically died one day apart when my great grandmother was 9 years old, forcing my great-great grandmother to support the family by running their farm on the Texas frontier. She simply did what was necessary and broke the mold along the way.
Women’s History Month in the United States had humble beginnings as a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history, and society, originally organized by the school district of Sonoma, CA, USA in 1978. Today, each March we reflect on the contributions of women in our society whose stories are often overlooked and who succeeded despite challenges and discrimination. Consider that Marie Curie was not allowed to be educated in her native Poland because women were not allowed to attend university. She was also denied membership in the French Academy of Sciences because women were not admitted until 1962. She was the first of only two people to win the Nobel Prize in two different fields (physics and chemistry), and she and her husband, Pierre, discovered the elements polonium and radium. Imagine a world without her contribution to science.
Transportation is filled with amazing women who challenge the status quo to be leaders in their field. If you have seen the film Hidden Figures, you know of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan and their essential role in the 1960s manned space program at NASA. You are also likely familiar with other female transportation leaders, including Sally Ride, Carmen Turner, Sharon D. Banks, and Nuria Fernandez. But did you know that Emily Warren Roebling took over the reins of designing the Brooklyn Bridge when her husband became ill? Or that Olive Dennis helped introduce air-conditioning and ceiling lights to passenger rail cars? Or that Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space, was an engineer and a classical flautist? Whether by word or deed, all these women and so many more use a powerful tool to advance transportation: their voice. They stand up for themselves, their families, their peers, and their communities.
My grandfather would often ask my grandmother if she always felt compelled to speak.Her answer was always “yes.” To quote Melinda Gates, “Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them is the strongest force we have to change the world.” Who is your favorite woman pioneer in transportation? Let me know on the ITE e-Community or on Twitter: @BeverlyKuhn.
This is from the presidents message in the April issue of ITE Journal.