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UGA Honors Trailblazers During Women’s History Month

UGA Honors Trailblazers During Women’s History Month

In 1984, Congress named March as Women’s History Month to honor the extraordinary achievements of women in America. In recognition of the 2017 Women’s History Month theme, “Honoring Women Trailblazing in Labor and Business,” the Institute for Women’s Studies at the University of Georgia is sponsoring numerous programs in March.

For instance, Evelyn Higginbotham, professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, will be speaking at UGA today as part of this month’s programming. Higginbotham, who received the 2014 National Humanities Medal from former President Barack Obama, is a renowned historian whose work has influenced the inclusion of women’s perspectives and voices in the development of oral history reports.

Christine L. Williams, professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, will present this year’s keynote address. Williams’ research focuses on gender, race and class inequality in the workplace, and she will be speaking on the topic of how the new economy is setting up leadership opportunities for American women.

The University of Georgia has had numerous accomplished women as students. Here are just a few:

  1. Charlayne Hunter-Gault: Media personality and civil rights activist. She was one of the first two black students to attend the university in 1961, and, furthermore, the first black female student at UGA.
  2. Natasha Trethewey: Pulitzer Prize winner and U.S. poet laureate. She serves as a Poet Laureate in her home state of Mississippi, and won the Pulitzer Prize for her set of poems on the history of the South- “Native Guard”.
  3. Kim Basinger: Academy Award winning actress. She attended the University of Georgia in the 70s before moving away to pursue a modeling career.
  4. Phaedra Parks: Entertainment lawyer and reality TV show star. She stars on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”, and has represented celebrities like Michael Jackson as an entertainment lawyer.
  5. Dina Titus: Politician. She has served as a Congresswoman for Nevada since 2013, and earned her Master’s degree from UGA in 1971.