Educators-Activists-Scholars
National Women’s History Month began as the National Women’s History Week, March 8, 1980 to celebrate the accomplishments and diversity of women. In 1987 a week was expanded to a month. The theme for this month is “Writing Women Back into History”. The accomplishments of women are seldom recognized nor written in the history books. Therefore, this month is set aside to recognize and celebrate women’s accomplishments such as Anna J. H. Cooper, Mary C. Terrell and Ida A. Gibbs.
Mary Lee Mills, RN, MSN, MPH, CNM, was born in 1912 and raised in a rural area outside Watha, in North Carolina. She was one of 11 children and the granddaughter of slaves. Her education began in a school house that had one teacher. Segregation was the law and educational opportunities limited or none existent for Americans of African descent. She started from poor beginnings and went on to achieve international acclaim as an African American nurse while providing health care, education and inspiration to the people she met.
