Women of Connecticut played important roles, each of them fighting gender and/or race discrimination to open doors through which other women could follow.
Betty Tianti (1929-1994)
The first woman to accomplish many things, Tianti’s biggest achievement is arguably becoming the nation’s first female president of a state AFL-CIO federation. Starting at the bottom, Tianti first took a job as a machine operator where she joined the Textile Workers’ Union of America. She was promoted to machine fixer, elected union steward, then treasurer of Local 460 and president of the union. She continued up the ladder – most of which were firsts for women.
Adrianne Baughns-Wallace (b.1944)
Baughns-Wallace was the first female broadcast journalist in Connecticut as well as the first African American female to anchor TV news in all of New England. Interestingly, according to the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, Baughns-Wallace wasn’t looking for a career in journalism when she took her first on-air job; she was trying to overcome her fear of public speaking. She went on to win an Emmy nomination and the title, “most watched woman in Connecticut.”
Lydia Huntley Sigourney (1791-1865)
Sigourney has the distinction of being one of the first women to make a living as a writer. A teacher when she married, Sigourney was able to quit teaching and spend the time writing instead. Initially, she would donate money earned to charities, but as her husband’s business faltered, she began submitting her works (anonymously) to help support the household. As her work began to gain notoriety, she decided to publish under her real name, much to her husband’s distress. She became even more popular, with publishers fighting over the opportunity to publish her works.
Marian Anderson (1897-1993)
The first African American woman to sing with the Metropolitan Opera first had to beat racism. Anderson was reported to have a voice so beautiful that it only comes along once in a lifetime. She began singing in church at six and taught herself piano at eight. She started accepting invitations to sing at other churches, eventually charging a small fee for her services. For many years, her audiences in the United States were only African American, racism keeping her from reaching her full potential. In 1939, an invitation by Eleanor Roosevelt began a positive change for Anderson. Her popularity began to grow, as people became aware of the strength of her voice and the emotion she delivered with each note.
Maria C. Sanchez (1926-1989)
Sanchez was the first Hispanic woman elected to the Connecticut Legislature. Before her election, as an activist, Sanchez was involved in many positive organizations for the Hispanic community, including the Society of Legal Services and the Puerto Rican Businessmen Association. She worked to be sure children who spoke little English had educational opportunities available to them in their language.
Emeline Roberts Jones (1836-1916)
If you have a female dentist now, thank Jones for helping make it possible. Married to a dentist, Jones developed an interest in dentistry even though the world believed that women’s hands were too “frail and clumsy” for such precise work. Even though her husband was less than excited about Jones’ interest in dentistry, Jones eventually won him over by going behind his back, filling and extracting hundreds of teeth. When her husband died, Jones took over his practice.
For More Information on Women’s History
Important Women in Arkansas History
Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame
