ISSUE VI.
BELFIELD BANTER -HERSTORY EDITION-
“HISTORY OF WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH” CHLOE ZOU '25 History of Women's History Month Made to correspond with International Women's Day on March 8, Women's History Month is celebrated during March in the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. In 1969, women's rights activist Laura X pushed for the extension of the already existing Women's History Week into Women's History Month. After a series of celebrations of Women's History Week such as in Sonoma, California in 1978 and at Sarah Lawrence College in 1979, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed it as an official US holiday. Finally, in 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as Women's History Month. Why No Men's History Month? The existence of Women's History Month is essential, as it not only educates others about the contributions of women in the past but also allows young women and girls to see what is possible for their future. Some might ask: Why is there no Men's History Month? While men's contributions are important, they are, as a collective, not at risk of being unrecognized. On the other hand, there has historically been little effort to highlight women's voices. Even now, this gap in recognition can be seen in many aspects of our lives. For example, in American Studies, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was the only book we read by a woman.
“THE WOMAN OF THE STARS” KATE CHENG ‘26 Renowned yet often overlooked scientist and physicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin wrote one of the most fundamental PhD theses in astronomy while still in grad school, helping to revolutionize the study of stars. Payne attended Cambridge University and quickly fell in love with astronomy. She joined the Royal Astronomical Society as a Fellow and later became an Associate. However, Payne soon decided to move her education to America seeing no further pathways in astronomy in Britain because of gender bias. She arrived at Harvard in 1923, taking up a permanent residence in Massachusetts, what Payne called her “stony-hearted stepmother.” Using the Harvard collection of photographed stellar spectra, she studied the material composition of faraway stars and applied herself to a painstaking analysis of the limited data. In 1925, she wrote her dissertation describing her findings and hypothesizing that stars consisted of hydrogen and helium. Despite her confidence in the theory and her substantial data to back it up, her other male colleagues ignored the new idea. They declared the amounts of elements proposed by Payne to be mathematically absurd and refused to take the time to test any alternative conclusions.