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American Women:
From Adventure to Invention

(courtesy of Nancy Kendall)

Is there a "woman Edison"? A female "Columbus"? A feminine counterpart to fast flyers Charles Lindberg and John Glenn? If so, who are they? From the list below, identify some of our most famous American women adventurers, explorers, and inventors.

Selections:
a. Amelia Earhart
b. Sacagawea
c. Maria Mitchell
d. Maya Ying Lin
e. Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
f. Sally Ride
g. Isadora Duncan
h. Margaret E. Knight
Type your answers in the empty box (or just remember them), and then check your answers.
  1. Imagine inventing a symbol that represents the meaning of an entire war. This Asian-American architecture student did just that when she entered a design competition for a memorial for Vietnam War soldiers. Her black marble walls meet in the shape of a V and are engraved with 57,939 names. Because the walls are shiny, they reflect back the living images of relatives and friends. Who was this inventive 21-year old woman?



  2. In 1932, this "First Lady of the Air" became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Fifteen hours and nineteen minutes after she left Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, she landed her flame-shooting plane in a farmer’s field in Londonderry, Ireland. Who was this female aviator who calmly explained to onlookers, "I’ve come from America"?



  3. In 1943, this U.S. Naval Reserve lieutenant served her country by working on the Navy’s "Computation Project" where she learned to program the world’s first large-scale digital computer. Her contributions are still felt today. The "compiler" and COBOL, a data processing language, are her inventions. Who is this computer pioneer who satisfied her curiosity as a child by disassembling alarm clocks?



  4. Did you ever wonder who invented the square-bottomed paper bag? In 1870, "Mattie," who had been always handy with tools, developed a paper folding device as well as other practical inventions like a window sash, a clasp for robes, and a shoe cutter. Who was this "woman Edison,"as biographers call her, registering 27 patents - more than any other woman of her time?



  5. This Native-American explorer whose name means "Bird Woman" served as a guide to Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition to the western United States in 1804. She knew how to survive living off the land, making the difference between the expedition’s success and failure of reaching the Pacific coast. This female "Columbus" has been honored by having a river, a peak, and a mountain pass named after her. Who is the most memorialized woman explorer in American history and was, according to Clark, "the inspiration, the genius of the occasion"?



  6. This largely self-educated astronomer from Nantucket, MA discovered a new comet in 1847, and a year later, became the first woman member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A public school is named after her, as well as a crater on the moon. As a professor of astronomy, she taught her students the power of observation over sophisticated tools. Who was this "explorer of the Heavens" who, colleagues claim, didn’t even own a decent telescope?



  7. This California dancer and free spirit greatly influenced dance expression in the early 1900s and established training schools for children in France, Germany, and Russia. Inspired by the art of Greece, she often danced barefoot, in loose, flowing tunics and with no scenery on-stage. Her training was classical ballet, her inspiration - nature. What modern dance pioneer imitated the passing clouds and the tumultuous sea all over the world, and set the stage for fresher, more personal ways to express ideas through movement?



  8. She was the first American woman to watch sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets every twenty-four hours. How’s that? In June, 1983, this United States astronaut became the youngest flyer and the first American woman to rocket into space. For over six days, she served as the flight engineer for the space shuttle Challenger, launching and retrieving satellites. Who is this scientist who has been stargazing ever since she was a child?



SOURCES

Portraits of American Women by G. J. Barker-Benfield and Catherine Clinton;
Gallant Women by Senator Margaret Chase Smith and H. Paul Jeffers;
Women Adventurers, Explorers, and Inventors by the Michigan Department of Education;
To Space and Back by Sally Ride and Susan Okie;
The U.S. Space Camp Book of Astronauts by Anne Baird;
Sally Ride: A Space Biography by Barbara Kramer; and The World Book Encyclopedia.

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