Margaret Bourke-White went where few women, and not too many men, had been. She was the First Woman war correspondent, the First Woman allowed in combat arenas. She was also the First Westerner to photograph Soviet industry and the First Woman to have a photo on the cover of Life magazine.
Margaret White (Bourke was her mother’s maiden name, which she appropriated later) had a rocky academic career. She attended seven different universities, studying herpetology paleontology, zoology, art, swimming and aesthetic dancing. She also studied photography at the Clarence H. White (no relation) School of Photography in New York City. By the time she graduated from Cornell University in 1927, after providing the school newspaper with pictures of the campus, her love for photography had intensified. She set up her own commercial photography studio in Cleveland where she specialized in industrial photography. Her success contributed to her invitation to photograph Soviet industry in 1930.
She was an associate editor and staff photographer for Fortunemagazine when, in 1936, Henry Luce hired her as the First Woman photojournalist for Lifemagazine. That same year she became the First Woman to have a cover on Life. Her photos of the Fort Peck Dam project were featured in an article as well.
Bourke-White took photos during the depression that are said to rival those of Dorothea Lange (another student of the Clarence H. White School of Photography). After publishing her photos in Fortune, she published the book You Have Seen Their Faceswith Erskine Caldwell (whom she married for a short while). She later took photos of how Nazism was affecting Europe and how Communism was affecting Russia. It was at this time that she captured a rare picture of a smiling Stalin.
She spent World War II capturing history as it exploded, literally, around her. She was the only photographer on the scene in Moscow when the Germans raided the Kremlin, was with the Air Force in North Africa, and photographed Buchenwald as she traveled through Europe with General Patton as the war concluded. She admitted later, that “Using a camera was almost a relief. It interposed a slight barrier between myself and the horror in front of me.”
In all, Bourke-White was “torpedoed in the Mediterranean, staffed by the Luftwaffe, stranded on an Arctic island, bombarded in Moscow, and pulled out of the Chesapeake when her chopper crashed.” Her nickname became “Maggie the Indestructible.”
After the war she photographed the violence in the Pakistan-Indian partition and, at that time, took an iconic photograph of Ghandi, shortly before he was assassinated. She also photographed the unrest in South Africa, and the Korean War.
In her 50’s she recognized the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease but did not succumb to it readily, undergoing painful surgeries and treatment. Although her work was limited she continued to write and published her autobiography,Portrait of Myself. In all she published eleven books.
Bourke-White said that if you “saturate yourself with your subject…the camera will all but take you by the hand.” This may be accurate, but her eye for truth, her ability to see more in others than their faces, her appreciation for architectural detail, and her sense of the beauty of the ordinary were innate gifts. Today her photographs are in museums throughout the United States.
Captain Dianna Wolfson, of the U.S. Navy, is the First Woman to head a naval shipyard. She was appointed as the 50thperson to command the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and began her duties last week. The shipyard has 15,000 sailors and employees. Capt. Wolfson has an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has served aboard aircraft carriers and at naval shipyards, including as operations officer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
Brigadier General Laura Yeager is the First Woman to command an Army infantry division. This appointment is effective June 29 in the California Army National Guard. General Yeager’s career trajectory will feel familiar to many women. She is a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who served in Iraq, but left active duty when her son was born. She balanced four children and a career in the National Guard holding leadership positions in both Texas and California.
Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield is assuming the presidency of the U.S. Naval College, the First Woman president since it was founded 135 years ago. Admiral Chatfield was also a helicopter pilot, serving in Afghanistan. She has been a political science professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy, then served in Guam and the Arabian Gulf. She replaces a president who is accused of abusing his position so, like many women, she will be left with cleaning up the mess.
As the first woman ever elected to Congress, how were you greeted by your male colleagues when you arrived on the house floor in 1916?
Lori Lightfoot’s parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, but her mother pushed her to attend college and not let her background stand in her way. She graduated from the University of Michigan with honors and worked as a legislative aide for two years in Washington, D.C. She returned to her hometown to attend the University of Chicago Law School. While there, she led a movement to have a law firm banned from campus recruitment because their representative had made racist and sexist remarks directed toward a student.
Toni Preckwinkle got her first taste of politics while in high school, volunteering for Katie McWatt, the first African American woman to run for Chicago City Council. She obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago then taught history for ten years, losing one of her students to gun violence. She has campaigned for handgun legislation and has taken strong stances against police brutality.
Sylvia Garcia was born and educated in Texas. Her law degree is from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at a historically black university. She first ran for this seat in 1992 and lost to Gene Green, who then served for 26 years. When he retired, he supported Garcia and she won 63% of the vote in a seven-way primary. She is committed to women and immigrants, as well as affordable healthcare and equality for all. She was elected in eastern Houston.
Veronica Escobar serves El Paso, Texas, where she is a native. When Beto O’Rourke resigned from his seat in the House of Representatives to run for the Senate, Escobar ran for his seat in a majority-Hispanic district. Like Garcia, she won her primary handily, earning 61% of the vote in a six-way race. Escobar is focused on the economy, as well as immigration reform, and protecting the environment.
Ilhan Omar was the First Somali American elected to legislative office in the United States when she joined the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016. Now she is the First Somali American elected to the United States Congress and the First Muslim Woman elected to Congress. After she was elected, the U.S. House lifted their ban on head coverings on the floor of the House, so Omar is also the First Woman in Congress to wear a hijab. She supports free college tuition for those in certain income levels, Medicare for All, and LGBT rights.
Rashida Tlaib represents a portion of Detroit and its suburbs. She was the First Muslim Woman to serve in the Michigan legislature, one of ten Muslims serving in state legislatures in the entire United States. She is the First Palestinian-American Woman in Congress and also, along with Omar, the First Muslim Woman. She says, “Sometimes I say ‘Thank her’ because my Allah is She.” Tlaib supports Medicare for All, wants to abolish ICE, and supports a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sharice Davids is the first openly gay person elected to the U.S. Congress from Kansas. She is also the First Native American woman elected to Congress. She is an attorney, a former mixed martial artist, and a member of the Ho-Chunk people. She learned to be a strong woman from her mother who served in the Army for more than 20 years. Davids beat out a candidate who had been endorsed by Bernie Sanders in the primary. She is focused on having a Congress that functions better, and has worked in the past on social services for native populations.
Deb Haaland is also an attorney and represents the Albuquerque portion of New Mexico where she is a member of the Laguna Pueblo people. She shares a history with Davids as her mother was in the U.S. Navy. Her father also served in the Marine Corps and won a Silver Star in Vietnam. Haaland ran for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico on the Democratic ticket but lost to the Republicans whose Governor candidate, Susana Martinez, was the First Woman governor of New Mexico, and the First Hispanic Governor in the United States. Haaland wore traditional Pueblo dress when she was sworn into Congress. Her primary focus is on the climate and environment.