Groundbreaking Women Quiz
Who was the first woman to run for vice-president on a major party ticket?
- Geraldine Ferraro, a U.S. Representative from New York, was Walter Mondale's running mate on the Democratic ticket in 1984. They lost to incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush.
Which of the following women was the first female U.S. Secretary of State?
- *Madeleine Albright served under President Bill Clinton during his second term, from 1997 until January 2001. Not only was she the first woman in this position, but she was also at the time the highest-ranking woman in the United States government.
Which of these women made advancements of astronomical proportions in June 1963, when she became the first woman in space?
- Tereshkova (b. 1937), a Russian cosmonaut, circled the earth 48 times in the Vostok 6 during its famous flight.
Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1838-1927), a colorful reformer who advocated woman suffrage, free love, and socialism, was the first American woman to run for president. In which election was she a candidate?
- Woodhull, who was nominated by the National Radical Reformers, was apparently no match for Ulysses S. Grant.
In 1910 a pilot's license was granted to a woman for the first time. Who was the recipient?
- The French baroness was granted a license on March 8, 1910.
Which scientist won two Nobel Prizes?
- Marie Curie is considered the most famous of all women scientists. Her discovery of radioactivity earned her the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics. In 1911 she won it for chemistry.
The first female secretary of a branch of the U.S. military was Sheila Widnall. Which branch did she lead?
- Widnall (b. 1939) made history in 1993 when she was appointed secretary of the U.S. Air Force.
Which of the following women was the first to be awarded an M.D., gaining acceptance to Geneva Medical School in 1847?
- Blackwell (1821-1910) was admitted to the school (now known as Hobart and William Smith Colleges) almost by accident. The student body voted to allow her in, thinking it was a joke set up by a rival school.
Antoinette Blackwell (1825-1921) was a leader in the women's rights movement as well as a groundbreaker. In which of these areas did she achieve a "first"?
- Blackwell was the first female minister in a recognized denomination in the United States. She was ordained minister of a Congregational church in South Butler, N.Y., in 1853.
Former Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins (1880-1965) was the first woman to be appointed to a presidential cabinet. Which leader did she serve under?
- Perkins kept her post through all four of F.D.R.'s terms, serving from March 1933 to June 1945.
