History and Highlights for Women’s History Month

Written by: Rebecca M. Yassan

This week, WIST is highlighting the “Lost Women of the Manhattan Project” podcast by the Lost Women in Science Initiative. The podcasts were based on the book “Their Day in the Sun” by physicists Ruth Howes & Caroline Herzenberg. Both Ruth and Caroline worked at Argonne National Laboratory, and Caroline helped start the WIST Program!

“During World War II, thousands of scientists and engineers worked on the Manhattan project, the top secret push to develop an atomic bomb that would end the war. Two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did just that, while also killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. The devastating potential of nuclear weapons sparked a moral controversy that continues to this day. Hundreds of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project were women. Over the next few weeks we’ll be bringing you a few of their stories.”

Did you know each year the President issues a proclamation for Women’s History Month? The 2024 Presidential Proclamation can be found here.

To learn more about how Women’s History Month began, here are videos from the National Women’s History Museum and USA Today. I also encourage you to research other content from the National Women’s History Museum Channel or the many other external resources available online.

Recommended Movie: Woman in Motion

“Nichelle Nichols’ daunting task to launch a national blitz for NASA, recruiting 8,000 of the nation’s best and brightest, including the trailblazing astronauts who became the first Black, Asian and Latino men and women to fly in space.”  (Viewing Options Available.)

Stay tuned as WIST highlights more women throughout March!

The 19^th amendment empowered women to stand up and vote for what they believed in, and forever changed the landscape of our society. The impact of women’s access to vote in 1920 cast ripples through time and contributed to where we are today. Women now have the freedom to pursue higher education, the ability to become scientists and engineers, and the independence to choose their futures.

So, what is Women’s Equality Day, and why is it celebrated on August 26?

The roots of Women’s Equality Day started in 1945. Proclamation 2671, written by President Harry S. Truman, designated November 2 as Women’s Enfranchisement Day in honor of the 25^th anniversary of the first election in which women were allowed to vote.  Unfortunately, this date did not gain any traction, and it wasn’t until years later that the 19^th amendment was again recognized by a president.

In 1973, Congresswomen Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, and Patsy Mink pressured Congress and the president to celebrate women’s achievements and recognize the progress of women’s equality. They persisted, they fought for their beliefs, and they cast ripples through time.

Proclamation 4236, written by President Richard Nixon, officially declared August 26 as Women’s Equality Day. The day marked the anniversary of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signing the document granting American women the constitutional right to vote.

The persistence, the determination, and the tenacity of those women solidified our place in history.

“While we are making great strides to eliminate outright job discrimination because of sex in the Federal Government, we must recognize that people’s attitudes cannot be changed by laws alone. We must do all that we can to overcome these barriers against what is fair and right.” (Nixon, Proclamation 4236)

These words still apply today. Attitudes cannot be changed by laws alone. Attitudes are changed through educating our peers, reaching out to our communities, and reminding young girls that they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up.

The Department of Energy national laboratories recognize the call to action to promote and retain women in science and technology. Each year, Argonne hosts several outreach events for grade school and high school girls to educate them on the possibilities of pursuing a STEM education and overcoming barriers. These events open doors to a career path they may not have thought possible.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of Women’s Equality Day. Since 1973, each U.S. President has formally written a proclamation recognizing August 26 to commemorate this monumental milestone in women’s history. As we continue our journey toward equality and diversification, let us stand up for what we believe in and cast ripples into the next century.

If you are interested in learning more to support women in science and technology, please join wisttalk or reach out to Program Initiator Rebecca Yassan.

I’m thrilled to announce that the next WIST Program Initiator (PI) will be transitioning into the position during the month of August with an official start date in September! I’m confident that WIST will continue to thrive and progress the mission and Argonne’s culture further under this new leadership. While I’m very excited to see the direction the next PI takes, this time is also bittersweet for me, especially as I look back on all that WIST has accomplished and worked towards during the two years of my term in the role.

When I first became the WIST PI, we started by conducting focus group interviews and an overarching program management review to better understand the perceptions of WIST, program management needs, and the development of informed short- and long-term objectives. The results of these sessions, combined with WIST’s mission and the input of many WIST contributors, led to the development of campaigns in the following areas:

1. Increase visibility of the program mission across other DEIA efforts, with Argonne leadership and all employees;
2. Integrate and collaborate with relevant laboratory stakeholders, especially the Argonne Leadership Institute, Educational Programs, and the Employee Resource Groups (ERGs);
3. Influence outcomes of laboratory policy discussions relevant to WIST and broader DEIA objectives; and
4. Enhance professional growth and networking opportunities to promote and develop women at the Lab.

To these ends, I’m so pleased with the progress made on all four fronts, and this is in no doubt due to all the support provided to WIST from across the Lab, but especially from our In-Reach and Outreach Subcommittees, the Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED) and Science Careers in Search of Women (SCSW) Organizing Committees, and in particular the Co-Chairs of all these groups. What is truly impressive is WIST affected change in all four of the areas listed, while conducting very successful in-person IGED and SCSW outreach events to hundreds of female students in the Chicagoland area and beyond!

In terms of visibility, we saw a large expansion in interest in both subcommittees, enabling us to identify more challenges and opportunities and to develop creative approaches and solutions to them. Some of the most visible results include a refreshed WIST website, a new bimonthly e-newsletter with a Women@Argonne Spotlight Series, and rebranding of WIST materials and messaging to Open to All to enhance engagement across the entire Lab. WIST also actively engaged in broader DEIA discussions with the ERGs, DEIA Councils, Lab Leadership, and ALI, bringing the outcomes and results of those interactions to bear in collaborative discussion about  what WIST should pursue and how to best leverage laboratory resources to do so.

In terms of integration and collaboration, WIST connected directly with Institutional Partnerships STEM Education team and the Hispanic Latino Club (HLC) and Argonne African American (AAA) ERGs to develop a new joint outreach event to underrepresented students in Chicago Public Schools. See Yourself in STEAM is taking place in November 2023, and I am grateful to the STEM Education team for their expertise in engaging with students as well as their community engagement analysis of the Chicagoland area to help us develop an engaging program. I look forward to seeing these partnerships grow as WIST plans future outreach events, such as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED) and Science Careers in Search of Women (SCSW).

In terms of Laboratory policy impact, WIST raised issues surrounding (1) equity in attribution for patents and publications that led to participation in broader research integrity discussions and the provision of recommendations for standardizing expectations across all Laboratory facilities; and (2) the inclusion of DEIA into the performance review process that led to WIST’s development of specific guidance that was discussed in detail senior laboratory leadership, ALI, and HR. We will continue to advocate in these areas and others, as is part of our mission.

Finally, WIST launched several professional development and networking opportunities, including the year long Mentoring Circles program focused on small-group peer-to-peer mentoring, and the WIST Podcast Discussion Series, focused on mental/emotional health related topics and in partnership with HEW.

As my term as WIST PI comes to an end, I would like to personally thank all the individuals that brought concerns and challenges forward, formulated ideas, developed and worked towards solutions that WIST could push forward, and coordinated and managed our complex outreach events. WIST is very much a program that requires individual contributions of time and expertise, as well as continued joint efforts and partnerships. I look forward to seeing what all of WISTs contributors will do in the future!

Best,

Lauren Boldon

May 20, 2023

What an exciting day at Argonne! For the first time since 2016, Argonne opened its doors to the public.

WIST exhibited and was thrilled to have science fans of all ages stop by to make GAK and more!

Open House YouTube Video

Thousands celebrate Argonne’s transformational science at Open House | Argonne National Laboratory (anl.gov)