The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most honest, powerful and poignant accounts of World War II and was written by a German teenage girl. The Franks were a Jewish family living in Germany, then Austria throughout Hitler’s rise to power and during World War II. The family hid in a secret annex with four other people throughout the war but were discovered and sent to concentration camps in 1944. Out of the Frank family, only Anne’s father survived, and he made the decision to publish Anne’s diary. The Diary of Anne Frank has been translated into almost 70 languages and is an intimate portrayal of one of the most inhumane moments in history and is able to educate us on the universal human qualities of emotion, passion, love, hope, desire, fear and strength.
Emma Louise Piper (1845-1915) was the first African American teacher in Cambridge, MD after the Civil War. Emma was one of 41 New Bedford men and women, both Black and White, who participated in the efforts to educate the newly freed people. In 2012, a portrait of Emma Piper was presented by her New Bedford family members and installed on the walls of the Rock School, one of the oldest Black schools in Maryland, as a tribute to Emma and the many women who traveled south to teach and assist the freedmen to transition to a life of freedom.
The only woman to enlist in World War I from Mattapoisett, Florence Eastman (1894-1918) became the Head Army Nurse of the Isolation Hospital at Camp Mills, Mineola, Long Island, with 20 nurses and over 100 orderlies under her supervision. In 1918, Florence died at age 24 of the Spanish Influenza, contracted while devotedly treating infected soldiers. She was the only Mattapoisett volunteer that did not return from military duty during World War I.
Maggie Lena Walker devoted her life to civil rights advancement, economic empowerment, and educational opportunities for Jim Crow-era African Americans and women. As a bank president, newspaper editor, and fraternal leader, Walker served as an inspiration of pride and progress. Today, Walker’s home is preserved as a tribute to her enduring legacy of vision, courage, and determination.
Considered a living saint in New Bedford, Sister Mary Rosellen Gallogly (1930-2018) was a pioneer in developing services for the homeless, notably as director of Market Ministries Meals and Shelter, known today as Sister Rose House. An early female leader in the faith community, “Sister Rose” was one of three women in the Greater New Bedford Area Clergy and Religious Association, serving alongside Sister Marianna Sylvester and Rev. Pamela Cole.
This Bakersfield High School grad was one of the top athletes connected to Kern County (although she was born in Tulare County). The famed softball pitcher was inducted into the Bob Elias Hall of Fame in 1975. According to the hall of fame's record, Turner played for the Mears Lumber Company team in Bakersfield at age 11, took part in the World Softball Tournament for the Progressive Optical team at age 14. She joined the J.J. Krieg's World Amateur Alameda team in 1938 at age 16 while still a BHS student, according to the school's archives. She played professionally for the Parichy Bloomer Girls of Chicago, winning 153 games in six years. After throwing a perfect game, she was featured in Life Magazine in 1946 under the headline, "Wilda Mae Turner's Speed and Control Baffle Batters." Finishing her career with an impressive 0.14 earned run average, Turner became the first female manager in Women's Professional Softball League.
(https://www.bakersfield.com/bakersfield-life/womens-history-month-5-women-in-kern-history)
She was the first local female television producer/director who hosted her own TV program, "Sunny Today." The Texas-born trailblazer moved to Kern County in the late 1940s with her then-husband, who sold oil field equipment. Remarried by the mid-1950s, Scofield was active in the community, serving as president of the League of Women Voters during the 1960s, a charter member of the 60 Plus Club at Cal State Bakersfield and president of the Woman's Club who remained an active member for decades after. From her background in radio, Scofield later reached a wider audience with "Sunny Today," which she created to offer viewers an alternative to game shows and soap operas. Although morning programs would become a cornerstone of daytime television, there were no programs like that on the air in the late 1960s. The half-hour program ran weekdays from 1968 to 1975 covering a variety of topics including the Basque culture, how divorce affects families, finances for women and mental health.
(https://www.bakersfield.com/bakersfield-life/womens-history-month-5-women-in-kern-history)
The first female police officer with the Bakersfield Police Department, she was also the first woman in California to be promoted to lieutenant. The UC Berkeley grad taught math and art for five years at Tulare High School before taking and passing the civil service test for police in 1941. Officer Holman was promoted to police lieutenant in 1953, working often with juvenile offenders. She published a police textbook, "The Police Officer and the Child," in 1962. In 1963, she married then-Assistant Police Chief Charles H. Dodge Jr., who went on to serve two terms as Kern County sheriff. After 25 years with the department, Dodge retired in 1965 but she remained engaged with the community, speaking to local groups and staying active in the police department's benefit association.
(https://www.bakersfield.com/bakersfield-life/womens-history-month-5-women-in-kern-history)
Dr. Myrnie A. Gifford
She is acknowledged as the first person to observe a connection between valley fever and the fungus found in the sputum, a mucus-like substance found in the lungs of patients with the disease. Gifford attended Stanford University and UC Berkeley, working at San Francisco Hospital from 1919 to 1921 as an intern and then house director. She served as a physician in the Bay Area from 1921 to 1923 and was also a clinician before moving to Kern County, joining the staff of the Kern County Department of Health in August 1934. At that time, what we now know as valley fever was seen as two diseases: "valley fever," considered benign, and coccidioidal granuloma, which was often fatal. Gifford was able to establish a connection between the two diseases by recognizing the same characteristic rash in patients with both infections. Her work, as well as that of others from Kern County, is still referred to in scholarly discussions of the disease.
(https://www.bakersfield.com/bakersfield-life/womens-history-month-5-women-in-kern-history)
Designing more than 700 buildings in California, Julia Morgan is an architect and engineer with a long and prolific career. As the first woman architect to be licensed in California, Morgan paved the way for aspiring female architects everywhere. This famous female from San Francisco graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Civil Engineering. Morgan became the first female student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She’s best known for Hearst Castle in San Simeon—a must-see on the Central Coast. Throughout her career, she also designed many institutions serving women and girls.
(https://www.california.com/californias-most-famous-women-history/)
Bridget “Biddy” Mason is, simply put, an American hero. Mason had the cards stacked against her from the start. She was born into slavery, had no formal education, and faced many hurdles in her young life. However, this female historical figure overcame all of that to become a skilled midwife. With the money she saved up from her work, she became one of the first female African American homeowners in Los Angeles. Mason used her wealth to support various charities—she was also a founding member of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Today, she is remembered as one of the most influential Black Californians who shaped the state.
(https://www.california.com/californias-most-famous-women-history/)