On this day in women’s history…
| March 19th, 2004March 19
1881: (Birthday) Edith Nourse Rogers, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts born in Saco, York County, Maine. Rogers was elected to the House of Representatives in 1925. She served in Congress longer than any other woman and was the first woman to have her name attached to a piece of major legislation. In Congress she fought for an end to child labour, the 48 hour week and equal pay for women. During the Second World War Rogers introduced legislation to establish the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). After the war, Rogers was a leading advocate of the G.I. Bill of Rights, which gave returning veterans the opportunity to go to college and to receive low-interest loans to buy houses.
1917: (A First) The U.S. Navy authorizes enlistment of women during World War I.
1975: By unanimous decision the U.S. Supreme Court invalidates a Social Security law which gave survivors benefits to women but did not give them to men
