Michigan became the 26th state in the Union 180 years ago on January 26, 1837.
Shirley Temple Black (April 23, 1928 - February 10, 2014)
We are sorry to mark the passing of Shirley Temple Black. She started as a child actress at at 3 and in her later life left Hollywood for a life as a diplomat. She was a representative to the 24th United Nations General Assembly; Ambassador to Ghana under President Ford; the first female Chief of Protocol; in charge of arrangement for Jimmy Carter’s Inauguration and Ball; and then Ambassador to Czechoslovakia under George H. W. Bush.
Top: Eleanor Roosevelt and Shirley Temple, 07/1938
Bottom left:: Photograph of Shirley Temple Black Shaking Hands with President Gerald Ford in the Cabinet Room after Being Sworn-in as Chief of Protocol, 07/20/1976
Bottom right: Shirley Temple Black, left, the U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia; listens to a reporter’s question following an informal ceremony marking the presentation of 130,000 pounds of donated medical supplies to the Czech government. The supplies are flown to Prague from Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, aboard a U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft, 10/25/1990
Congresswoman Marion Martin was the first woman to head the Department of Labor & Industry. She was elected to the House of Representatives (ME) in 1930 and went on to the Senate in 1934. Martin worked towards improving minimum wage, industrial safety, and child labor laws. She was born on this day in 1900. #HappyBirthday
Today is the first day of African American History Month. We wanted to share these three facts on why Social Security is vital to African Americans.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month in March, we salute Frances Perkins. She was one of our nation’s strongest voices in support of America’s workers and programs like Social Security designed to provide economic security for American families.
Read more about Frances Perkins here or click the graphic above.
Did you know?
More Social Security history here.
For Women’s History Month this year, we are featuring some of the pioneering women of the Ford administration. First, Jeanne Holm.
On March 8, 1976, President Ford appointed Jeanne Holm, Major General USAF (Retired), as Special Assistant to the President for Women. She succeeded Patricia S. Lindh, who had resigned to become Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Jeanne Holm enlisted in the armed services during World War II and later became the first woman to attend the Air Command and Staff College. She went on attain the rank of Major General in the Air Force, becoming the highest ranking woman in the Air Force and the first woman in any branch of the military to be named a two-star general.
As Special Assistant, Holm served as a liaison with women’s organizations and provided the President and White House staff members with advice on legislation, regulations, and executive orders. Her office also developed programs supporting women’s civil rights and encouraged recruitment of women for top-level government positions. For more on her work, see the Patricia Lindh and Jeanne Holm Files.
Americans have long celebrated our Nation as a beacon of liberty and opportunity – home to patriots who threw off an empire, refuge to multitudes who fled oppression and despair. Yet we must also remember that while many came to our shores to pursue their own measure of freedom, hundreds of thousands arrived in chains. Through centuries of struggle, and through the toil of generations, African Americans have claimed rights long denied. During National African American History Month, we honor the men and women at the heart of this journey – from engineers of the Underground Railroad to educators who answered a free people’s call for a free mind, from patriots who proved that valor knows no color to demonstrators who gathered on the battlefields of justice and marched our Nation toward a brighter day.
“Each February, we are reminded of our country’s greatest African American leaders with the celebration of Black History Month. Black
History Month provides us an opportunity not only to reflect on those
who advocate on behalf of the African American community, but also to
examine the critical concerns and issues facing African Americans today.
Even with all of the progress made over the past half-century, African
Americans still represent a disproportionate share of our nation’s poor.” - Congresswoman Gwen Moore.
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure becomes the first black woman to lead the agency that oversees #Medicare and #Medicaid. She is a major improvement over President Trump’s CMS administrator, who undermined Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/us/politics/chiquita-brooks-lasure-medicare-medicaid.html @CMSGov
