The early 1920’s was a drastic time change for women all over the world. In 1920 the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution that stated women have the right to vote was passed (Middleton, K. n.d.). This initiated a world wind of change. In 1925, Florence Sabin becomes the first female member of the National Academy of Science. In 1929, Gerty and Carl Cori develop the “Cori cycle”. This development won them a Nobel Prize in 1947 for defining how energy moves throughout the body (Middleton, K. n.d.). In 1942, historian Mary Ritter Beard and archtivist Margarett Storrs Grierson establish the Nation’s first women’s manuscript collection at Smith College. In 1943, the first professional all-american girl baseball league is formed. In 1945, Harvard Medical school admits women for the first time (Middleton, K. n.d.). All of these events have gotten women to where we are today.
“She [Franklin] came very much closer to the discovery of the double helix than she has usually been credited with doing.”
Ann Sayre, Rosalind Franklin and DNA 1975.
It is difficult to find women, whose impact on science breakthroughs, that can be compared to Rosalind Franklin. Most women in this era were housewifes or working class. Any who were noteworthy were entertainers, performers, or rulers such as princesses or queens. One example includes Ella Fitzgerlad. She
was American born on April 25, 1917. She was famous for her most famous and influential jazz music of the 20 century (Biographies of Famous Women 2007).
