Beware the Ides of March!

Do you remember the first time you heard that ominous warning? It was probably in an English class when you were studying Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. I did not remember the behind-the-scenes details of that omen even though I knew the literary significance of that date: Julius Caesar was murdered on March 15 by members of the Senate.

Everything was fine until Caesar decided to add ten more days to the 355 day traditional Roman calendar and proclaimed himself dictator for life. That change was just too much! Et tu, Brute? Before Caesar made his fateful decisions, the Romans used a ten-month lunar calendar which began in March. The 15th or the Ides when the first full moon occurred was considered the beginning of the year and citizens held festivals and celebrated much like we do on January 1.

Clare Booth Luce

Edith Rogers

So in honor of the early Roman celebration of the Ides of March, I want to highlight several WWII women trailblazers who were born this month. The first woman is Clare Booth Luce, playwright and politician who was born on March 10, 1903.  She served in the U.S. House of Representatives during the war years from 1943-47. Then in 1953-56 she was appointed ambassador to Italy, the first woman appointed to a major country.

My second trail blazer is Edith Rogers who was born on March 19, 1881 and served as a YMCA and Red Cross volunteer in France during WWI. However, her rise to prominence came when at forty-four she was elected to Congress filling the vacancy following her husband’s death. Reelected seventeen times, she was the first woman to have her name attached to a piece of major legislation—the creation of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (May 14, 1942).

Dorothy Height, an African-American civil rights leader and women’s champion, was born on March 24, 1912. After completing her bachelor’s degree in education and her master’s degree in psychology in 1932 at NYU, she eventually found her home at the Harlem YWCA and helped integrate their centers in 1946. While there, she also met Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of the National Council of Negro Women and First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. This visit prompted Height to volunteer with the NCNW, the organization she would eventually lead for several decades. She was honored with both the President Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Metal for her lifetime of civil rights work.

Dorothy Height

Dorothy Stratton

The final trailblazer also named Dorothy Height was born on March 24, 1899, and she was instrumental in creating SPARS, the Women’s Reserve of the Coast Guard.  Dorothy began her career as an educator, earning three degrees and eventually becoming the first Dean of Women at Purdue. In 1942, she took a leave of absence to join the Women’s Reserve of the U.S. Naval Reserve and was a member of the first training class at Smith College. She then became the first woman accepted to serve in the Women’s Reserve of the Coast Guard and quickly rose through the ranks becoming Captain in 1944. She is credited with creating the name, SPAR which was an apt name for these women reservists who were indeed a supporting beam and “Semper Paratus” “Always Ready” After the war, she held several positions including the National Executive Director of the Girl Scouts of America.  She lived to be 107 and two years after her death, the Coast Guard named its third National Security Cutter in her honor.

For our nation, it is fortitudinous that each of these women was born in March and their lives and contributions can be celebrated today and throughout the year. Their impact is far greater than the few sentences used to describe them here, but my hope is that you will further explore their stories so they will no longer be hidden figures from the past. Thank you, Edith Rogers, Clare Booth Luce, Dorothy Stratton, Frances Perkins, Dorothy Height, Oveta Hobby, Dinah Shore and Eleanor Roosevelt. May we continue to learn from your example of service, dedication, hard work and persistence.