>> TRUE, THE GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY IS A WOMAN, AND IF I'M TO BE A SYMBOL, THEN LET IT SIGNIFY THE KIND OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY PRECIOUS TO THE TYPICAL KENTUCKIANS FROM WHOM I COME AND WITH WHOM I REMAIN.

THANK YOU.

AND GOD BLESS YOU.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> OF COURSE, I REMEMBER THAT DAY.

VIVIDLY.

DECEMBER 13, 1983.

I. THERE HAD NEVER BEEN A WOMAN GOVERNOR IN KENTUCKY BEFORE AND THERE HAD ONLY BEEN A HANDFUL OF WOMEN GOVERNORS THROUGHOUT OUR NATION.

SO THERE WAS NATIONAL INTEREST AND NATIONAL ATTENTION.

THROUGHOUT MY CAMPAIGN I HAD TO CONVINCE THE VOTERS THAT I NOT ONLY HAD GOOD IDEAS AND EXPERIENCE BUT THAT A WOMAN, A WOMAN COULD LEAD THE STATE.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> ALTHOUGH MARTHA LANE COLLINS WON THE ELECTION, NOT EVERYONE WAS CONVINCED THAT SHE WOULD BE A STRONG LEADER.

AN ARTICLE IN THE LEXINGTON PAPER THE DAY AFTER THE NURSING WROTE "MARTHA LANE COLLINS TOOK OFFICE AI A FREEZING DAY BENEATH A CLOUD OF LOW EXPECT TICIANS AND SCEPTICISM."

NO MATTER THAT SHE HAD BEEN LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AND CLERK OF THE KENTUCKY SORT OF APPEALS.

IN MANY PEOPLE'S MINDS SHE WAS A RURAL GIRL FROM SHELBY COUNTY, A FORMER CHEERLEADER AND BEAUTY QUEEN, A SCHOOLTEACHER AND HOUSEWIFE.

>> GOVERNOR, DID YOU SET OUT TO BE A TRAILBLAZER?

>> NO, THAT REALLY WASN'T WANTS WHAT I WAS SETTING OUT TO DO.

I DID REALIZE THAT IN BEING THE FIRST WOMAN GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY, I OPENED THE DOOR THAT WILL NEVER, EVER BE CLOSED AGAIN.

SO NO WOMAN RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY WILL EVER AGAIN HAVE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION CAN A WOMAN DO THIS JOB.

>> KENTUCKY WOMEN HAVE FACED THAT QUESTION SINCE THE LATE 18TH CENTURY.

THERE'S NO WAY TO MENTION ALL OF THEIR NAMES, BUT ONLY TELL SOME OF THEIR STORIES, STORIES OF WOMEN WHO MADE AND ARE MAKING HISTORY.

>> WE BENEFIT EVERY DAY FROM WHAT THEY DID AND WHAT THEY DO.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> MAJOR FUNDING FOR DREAMERS AND DOERS: VOICES OF KENTUCKY WOMEN IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY TOYOTA MANUFACTURING, KENTUCKY AND THE THOUSANDS OF KENTUCKY TEAM MEMBERS THAT MAKE UP THE TOYOTA FAMILY SALUTING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF KENTUCKY WOMEN AND SUPPORTING THE EFFORTS OF ALL KENTUCKIANS, MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD.

AND BY THE HAINES FOUNDATION, HONORING TWIN AND MARY JO GAINS BY SEEKING WAIST TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL INSTITUTIONS IN KENTUCKY.

FRONTIER NURSING UNIVERSITY, BRINGING NURSE MIDWIFE AND NURSE PRACTITIONER EDUCATION TO NURSES IN COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE NATION AND BEYOND.

AND BY JERRY AND MADELINE ABRAMSON.

THE KENTUCKY ARTS COUNCIL.

CARLA WALLACE.

AND THE HONORABLE JOHN YARMOUTH.

.

>> IN THE NEW AMERICAN LAND THAT WAS TO BE CALLED KENTUCKY, IT FELL TO THE WOMAN TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CULTIVATION OF THE EARTH AND ALL IT COULD PRODUCE.

IT WAS THE NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN WHO WAS TAUGHT NEVER TO BE WASTEFUL OF THE TREES, PLANTS, AND THE WATER.

HER CONVICTION WAS THE LAND BELONGS TO EVERYONE.

FROM THIS SPIRITUALITY SPRANG A CIVILIZATION THAT WOULD BE MISUNDERSTOOD BY THOSE WHO WOULD COME TO INHABIT THE NEW LAND.

MOST OF THE ACCIDENTS OF DESCENE INDIGENOUS WOMEN DISAPPEARED FROM THE LANDSCAPE, KILLED IN EUROPEAN WARS, CHILD BY EUROPEAN DISEASES OR IN THE HILLS WHERE NEW WHITES VENTURE BUT NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN LEFT THEIR FOOTPRINT BY HERR REVERENCE FOR THE EARTH'S BOUNTY.

WOMEN CONTINUED TO PLAY A KEY PART IN THE SETTLING OF FRONTIER KENTUCKY.

LIFE FOR FRONTIER WOMEN WAS HARSH AND UNCERTAIN.

THEY TRAVELED BY WATER ON PLAT BOATS OR JOURNEYED THROUGH THE CUMBERLAND GAP.

SOME WERE POOR, OTHERS WELL TO DO, BUT NO MATTER THEIR STATION IN LIFE, KENTUCKY WOMEN WERE HAMPERED BY LAWS, AND THEY HAD NO SAY IN CHANGING THOSE LAWS.

IN 1806, NANCY HANKS MARRIED THOMAS LINCOLN AT BEECHLAND IN WASHINGTON COUNTY WITH KENTUCKY.

AS A GIRL, NANCY BELONGED TO HER GUARDIAN, AND WHEN SHE MARRIED EVERYTHING SHE OWNED BELONGED TO HER HUSBAND.

HER LEGAL STANDING AS A WIFE WAS SIMILAR TO THAT OF HER HUSBAND'S HORSES, LAND OR ANYTHING ELSE HE MIGHT OWN.

BUT A WIDOW OR THE LEGAL HEAD OF A HOUSEHOLD COULD OWN LAND, OPERATE BUSINESSES AND MAKE WILLS.

ONCE MARRIED, SHE LOST THOSE RIGHTS.

MARRIED OR SINGLE, NANCY HANKS COULD NOT VOTE.

>> ONE BY ONE THE REPUBLIC CREATED NEW STATE CONSTITUTIONS THAT DEFINED CITIZENSHIP IN A WAY THAT SECLUDED WOMEN EXPRESSLY.

A CITIZEN, THEN, AT THE STATE CONSTITUTIONAL LEVEL WAS WHITE AND MALE OF A LEGAL AGE.

ONE BY ONE THE STATES SECLUDED WOMEN EXCLUDED WOMEN.

>> WOMEN WERE EXPECTED TO KNOW BEST ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN'S MORAL EDUCATION.

THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY WOMEN ASSUMED LEADERSHIP ROLLS IN ORGANIZING OF THE AGAINST SLAVERY, ILLITERACY AND PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS.

OUT OF THE CAMP REVIVALS OF THE EARLY 1800S, SOME WOMEN IN KENTUCKY JOINED THE UNITE SOCIETY IN CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING WHERE THEIR EDUCATION, CRAFT WORK AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP WOULD BE VALUED.

THE SHAKERS DID NOT ALLOW MEN AND WOMEN TO BE JOINED IN MARRIAGE, SO WOMEN LIVED WITHOUT FEAR OF DYING IN CHILDBIRTH, AND BECAUSE THEY PRACTICED EQUALITY OF THE SECTIONS, WOMEN WHO JOINED THE COMMUNAL SOCIETY HELD LEADERSHIP ROLES EQUAL TO THAT OF MEN.

THE POST CIVIL WAR ERA BROUGHT NEW LEGISLATION AIMED AT ALLOWING EXPANDED CITIZENSHIP BUT THIS TIME FOR BLACK MEN.

WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS BEGAN FOCUSING ON THEIR RIGHTS TO FULL CITIZENSHIP.

LEADING THE CHARGE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS TO VOTE WERE THREE REMARKABLE LADIES FROM VARIED BACKGROUNDS, JOES MEAN HENRY, LAURA CLAY, AND MADELINE BRECKENRIDGE.

JOSEPHINE HENRY, A VER VERSAILLS SCHOOLTEACHER AND POPULAR WRITER, FOR A RADICAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN KENTUCKY WAS THE HEROINE WHO CALLED TECHNOLOGIES TO THE DISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT OF MARRIED WOMAN.

>> NO ONE WOULD HAVE EXPECTED A WOMAN OF SUCH SMALL STATURE TO HAVE POSSESSED SO MUCH INTELLECTUAL FORCE.

>> WROTE ONE REPORTER.

>> MANY WHO CAME PREPARED TO SCOFF WERE MIGHTILY IMPRESSED.

>> IT TOOK MANY YEARS OF WORK, BUT WE WON BASIC FISCAL EQUALITY FOR KENTUCKY WOMEN WITH THE 1894 MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTIES RIGHTS ACT, THE ACT WAS A VICTORY OVER FOSSILIZED IGNORANCE, SELFISHNESS, AND TYRANNY.

>> ALTHOUGH MARRIED WOMEN WOULD NOT GAIN CONTROL OVER THEIR OWN WAGES UNTIL 1900, THE NEW LAW GAVE WIVES MORE CONTROL OF THEIR REAL ESTATE AND PERSONAL PROPERTY, INCLUDING ITS DISPOSAL THROUGH A WILL.

KENTUCKY WOMEN WOULD NO LONGER HAVE TO GIVE UP RIGHTS TO THEIR PROPERTY UPON TAKING THE VOWS OF MATRIMONY.

>> BUT THIS WAS JOSEPHINE'S REAL QUEST, THAT WOMEN SHOULD HAVE PROPERTY, AND THIS COMES BACK TO THE IDEA THAT WITHOUT PROPERTY, WITHOUT ECONOMIC SECURITY, YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE.

>> WHEN WE WENT THROUGH ALL THE LEGISLATION IN KENTUCKY, WE LEARNED THAT WOMEN WERE CLASSIFIED IN MANY OF THE STATUTES AS WOMEN, LUNATICS AND CHILDREN, A PROTECTED CLASS.

WELL, THAT WAS NOT TO BE IN THE EARLY '70S, AND SO WE DECIDED WE WOULD DO SOMETHING TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES.

>> DOLORES DELLAHADN'TE OF LOUISVILLE WAS THE CO-FOUNDER OF WOMEN'S POLITICAL CAUCUS AND CHAMPION ADVOCATE FOR A FAIR CREDIT LAW.

>> WE WANTED TO ADDRESS ONE OF THE KEY ECONOMIC BARRIERS FOR WOMEN, AND THAT WAS TO BE ABLE TO ESTABLISH CREDIT IN YOUR OWN NAME, AND THAT'S HOW THAT PIECE OF LEGISLATION IN THE EARLY '70S CAME ABOUT.

>> THE FEDERAL EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT PASSED IN 1974.

SHORTLY AFTERWARD, HOUSE BILL 529 AND HOUSE BILL 368, TWO FAIR CREDIT GENDER NEUTRAL BILLS IN THE KENTUCKY LEGISLATURE, HAD PASSED.

FINALLY, WOMEN IN THE COMMONWEALTH HAD AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH CREDIT IN THEIR OWN NAME.

>> AND HAVE YOU NOTICED MEN WHO ATTACKED OUR EFFORTS TO OWN PROPERTY AND HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE SELDOM ADDRESSED THE ACTUAL UNEQUITIES IN THE LAW?

INSTEAD, THEY ATTACKED US PERSONALLY.

>> THIS REMARK BY JOSEPHINE HENRY NO DOUBT REFERRED TO AN ASSERTION IN THE COURIER-JOURNAL BY ITS POWERFUL AND CONTROVERSIAL EDITOR HENRY WATTERSON.

>> MASCULINE FEMALES, MEMBERS OF THE SHRIEK SISTER HOOD, NOT CONTENT TO OCCUPY THEMSELVES WITH MATTERS MORE IN KEEPING WITH THEIR SEX DESIRE TO POSE AS PLATFORM OR TORS AND BEINGS OVERPOWERING INTELLECTUAL TYPE.

>> MARY BARR CLAY, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION, BROUGHT MANY WOMEN SUFFRAGE LEADERS TO HER OHM TOWN YET HER LOWER SISTER LAUER WAUGH WAS NOT CERTAIN SHE WOULD GET INVOLVED.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY, A LEADER IN THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION SAID TO MARY BARR CLAY.

>> IS YOUR DEAR SISTER LAURA GOING TO DEVOTE HERSELF TO OUR CAUSE BY SPEAKING OR IS SHE GOING TO BE A LAWYER?

>> AS A SINGLE WOMAN WHO MANAGED HER OWN PROPERTY IN MADISON COUNTY, LAURA CLAY LEARNED THE VALUE OF INDEPENDENCE THE HARD WAY, BY WITNESSING HER PARENTS' BITTER DIVORCE IN 1978.

SHE SAW COMMAND HOW HER MOTHER, MARY JANE WARFIELD CLAY, FAILED TO RECEIVE HER FAIR SHARE OF MARITAL PROPERTY.

POSSESSED OF OF AN IMPRESSIVE INTELLECT, LAURA THROUGHOUT THE REST OF HER LIFE, DEVOTED HER TIME, TALENTS, FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND EFFORTS TO SUFFRAGE.

SHE ORGANIZED THE KENTUCKY EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION AS A VEHICLE TO WIN THE VOTE.

WHERE LAURA CLAY SHUNNED THE PROFESSIONAL LIFE, LOUISE SOUTHGATE CHOSE TO VEER FROM 19TH CENTURY STANDARDS IN HER CAREER CHOICE AS A PHYSICIAN WHEN WOMEN IN MEDICINE WERE SELDOM DOCTORS.

SHE COMBINED MEDICINE WITH HER PASSION FOR WINNING THE FRANCHISE PRESIDENT OF PIONEER WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION.

ALTHOUGH HER PRACTICE WAS IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY WITH A STRONG ASSOCIATION WITH THE SALVATION ARMY'S WILLIAM BOOTH MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, DR.

SOUTHGATE GAVE HER TIME TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE FOR STUDENTS AT HINDMAN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL.

WHEN LAURA ASKED DR.

SOUTHGATE TO SPEAK AT THE CONVENTION OF THE KENTUCKY EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION IN 1910, LOUISE CHOSE AS HER TOPIC THE SISTER HOOD OF WOMEN.

IF THE TIGHTLY WANTS CONTROVERSIAL ENOUGH FOR THE TIME, SHEIKS POUND ODE HER IDEAS FOR BIRTH CONTROL DEAL.

PLANNING.

MADELINE MCDOWELL BRECKINRIDGE WAS A GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF SENATOR HENRY CLAY, A SOCIAL ACTIVIST AND A NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST IN LEXINGTON.

>> KENTUCKY WOMEN ARE NOT IDIOTS.

EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO KENTUCKY MEN.

>> THROUGH HER WRITINGS AND WORK SHE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN MANY ADOPTION OF LEGISLATION TO ESTABLISH THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM, CHILD LABOR LAWS, AND COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

IT WOULD SEEM WATTERSON HAD ALL FOUR OF THESE WOMEN IN MIND WHEN HE CONTINUED HIS PUBLIC BLISTERING.

>> THEY ARE ASSEMBLY WHO ISY AND POS BOSSY FEMALES AND SWISH-TAILED THEORIZERS.

WOMEN OBTAINING THE VOTER SUPERFLUOUS BECAUSE WOMEN WOULD ADD NOTHING TO THE BALLOT.

I DOUBT NINE OF TEN WOMEN H. WOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THE BALLOT IF THEY HAD IT.

POLITICS WILL ONLY POLLUTE THEIR DOMESTIC INTERESTS AND COARSEYEN THEIR FEMININE CHARACTER.

>> THROUGHOUT THE LAST HALF OF THE 1800S, JOSEPHINE HENRY, DR.

LOUISE SOUTHDATE, MADELINE BRECKENRIDGE AND LAURA CLAY WERE A REMARKABLE FORCE FOR KENTUCKY SUFFRAGE.

THE 15TH AMENDMENT PASSED THROUGH THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON MAY 21st, 1919, BY A VOTE OF 304 TO 89.

AFTER PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON FINALLY ANNOUNCED HIS SUPPORT.

IT SUCCESSFULLY PASSED THROUGH THE SENATE TWO WEEKS LATER.

WOMEN WON THE VOTE AFTER A LONG AND ARDUOUS FIGHT.

THEY HAD FOR OVER 70-PLUS YEARS REFUSED TO GIVE UP.

LAUER A, JOSEPHINE, DR.

SOUTHGATE AND MADELINE DIDN'T ALWAYS GRAEME LAURA WANTED SUFFRAGE ON STATES RIGHTS BASIS, OTHERS WANTED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN CONTROL.

AFTER SPENDING DECADES WORKING FOR SUFFRAGE, LAURA ULTIMATELY DID NOT SUPPORT THE FEDERAL AMENDMENT.

THE AMENDMENT WAS RATIFIED AND SIGNED INTO LAW IN KENTUCKY BY GOVERNOR EDWIN P. MORROW ON AUGUST 26, 1920.

>> KENTUCKY WOMEN OF THE LATE 19TH AND 20th CENTURIES WANTED THE VOTE NOT ONLY FOR THEMSELVES BUT TO HELP FUTURE GENERATIONS WOMEN ACHIEVE THINGS WE HADN'T EVEN IMAGINED.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> I THINK IT'S CREDIBLY THAT YOUNG WOMEN TODAY UNDERSTAND THAT EVERY FREEDOM THEY HAVE, EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE WITH EQUALITY IN THIS SOCIETY IS BASED ON THE SACRIFICES THAT WERE MADE BY THE SUFFRAGEETTES.

>> WE OWE A GREATELL DEBT TO THAT MOVEMENT AND TO THE BRAVE FOLKS WHO WERE A PART OF THAT MOVEMENT.

OUR WHOLE STRUCTURE OF GOVERNANCE IN THIS COUNTRY WAS BASED ON THE IDEA THAT WE WOULD HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY, AND CERTAINLY THAT MOVEMENT HELPED US A CHIEF EXECUTIVE WHAT OUR FOREFATHERS ENVISIONED AS A TRULY REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY.

>> THOSE WOMEN STANDING IN THE COLD, WAITING FOR THE VOTE, NOT GIVING UP, LOSING THEIR CHILDREN AND BEING PUT IN JAIL AND FORCE FED SO THAT WE CAN VOTE TODAY, I'M VERY HONORED BY THAT, AND I BELIEVE THAT I AM HERE BECAUSE OF THE SUFFERING THEY DID.

>> THE INK WAS HARDLY DRY AT 19TH AMENDMENT WHEN HENRY WATTERSON'S PREDICTION AND EDITORIALS WERE TO BE PROVED COMPLETELY WRONG.

IT WAS POETIC JUSTICE THAT WATTERSON LIVED TO SEE MARY ELLEN FLANNERY, A STORMY SCHOOLTEACHER FROM BOYD COUNTY, BM THE FIRST WOMAN IN KENTUCKY AND THE SOUTH ELECTED TO A STATE LEGISLATURE.

SHE WAS ELECTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN NOVEMBER 1921, UNSEATING THE INCUMBENT BY 250 VOTES MEANWHILE, DURING THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20th CENTURIES, KENTUCKY WOMEN WERE ENTERING THE WORKFORCE OUTSIDE THE HOME.

SOME WHO WERE ABLE TO COMPLETE THEIR HIGHER EDUCATION FELT EMPOWERED TO CHALLENGE SOCIETY'S TRADITIONAL ROLES FOR WOMEN AND SOUGHT NON-TRADITIONAL DEGREES.

MARGARET, INC.

ALWAYS FROM BOURBON COUNTY GAME THE FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN TO EARN A MASTERS DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.

SHE WENT ON TO PIONEER THE DEVELOPMENT AIR CONDITIONING.

THE UNSKILLED WERE POORLY PAID AND WORKED LONG HOURS IN BUILDINGS THAT WERE OFTEN DIRTY, NOISY, AND BADLY VENTILATED.

IN 1911 REPORT SHOWED WORK DAYS OF SOMETIMES 14 HOURS WERE NOT UNCOMMON.

OFFICE JOBS WERE FIRST HELD BY MEN WHO WERE THOUGHT TO HAVE SPECIAL ABILITY TO OPERATE THE TYPE WRITERS COMING INTO USE IN THE 1970S.

HOWEVER, JOBS AS TYPISTS PROVED DEAD END AND LOW-PAYING.

WOMEN SOON BECAME HEIRS TO THIS WORK AS WELL.

WOMEN WITH AN EDUCATION BECAME TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS, OCCUPATIONS THAT PAID LITTLE BUT OFFERED DESIRABLE CONDITIONS AND HIGHER STATUS.

SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE WOMEN WON THE RIGHT TO VOTE, WOMEN WERE PERMITTED TO HOLD SOME ELECTIVE AND APPOINTED OFFICES.

SOME BELIEVED THE APPOINTMENTS TO BE INSIGNIFICANT BUT KENTUCKY WOMEN TOOK THESE RARE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES SERIOUSLY.

NETTIE DEPP WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE ELECTED TO ANY PUBLIC OFFICE IN BARREN COUNTY.

WORKING WITH CHILDREN PROBABLY SEEMED LIKE THE ONLY GOOD POLITICAL FIT FOR A WOMAN, BUT NETTIE HAD HER OWN IDEAS AND A CLEAR VISION FOR EDUCATION REFORM.

>> SO WITH MUCH INTERNATIONAL FORTITUDE, SHE SPOKE VERY PLAINLY.

THE NEWSPAPER SAID SHE SPOKE LIKE A MAN, AND PEOPLE LISTENED.

>> AS SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOL, SHE IMMEDIATELY SET HER SIGHTS ON IMPROVING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, DEMANDING REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRIMITIVE ONE-ROOM SCHOOL HOUSES.

BUT THIS WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

DEPP INITIATED A UNIFORM CURRICULUM PLAN IN ORDER TO UNIFY THE SCHOOLS IN HER COUNTY.

>> NETTIE WAS AN ADVOCATE FOR ENFORCING THE COMPULSORY EDUCATION LAWS.

ACE AS A MATTER OF FACT, SHE TRAVELED TO FRANKFORT TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE NEED FOR THE COUNTY JUDGES TO ENFORCE THE COMPULSORY EDUCATION LAWS.

AND SHE ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED THEM TO BE ENFORCED IN BARREN COUNTY.

>> THE STUDENT ENROLLMENT OF BARREN COUNTY, MORE THAN TRIPLED.

>> SHE UNIFIED TWO BOARDS OF EDUCATION AND CREATED THE FIRST FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL RECENTLY IN 1913, THE LIBERTY FEMALE COLLEGE HAD JUST CLOSED, SO SHE SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEASE THAT BUILDING AND BEGIN THE FIRST FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL IN THAT FACILITY, WHICH SHE DID.

>> EMMA GUY CROMWELL WAS APPOINTED STATE LIBRARIAN IN 1896 BY THE KENTUCKY SENATE 24 YEARS BEFORE WOMEN SECURED THEIR VOTING RIGHTS.

>> EMMA GUY CROMWELL ACTUALLY CAME FROM A LITTLE BITTY PLACE CALLED SCOTSVILLE, KENTUCKY, QUITE INCREDIBLE THAT SHE WAS A PART OF THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT AND FOUR YEARS AFTER GETTING THE RIGHT TO VOTE, SHE BECAME THE FIRST ELECTED OFFICIAL SECRETARY OF STATE OF KENTUCKY.

>> IN 1937 SHE RETURNED TO SERVICE IN THE POSITION OF STATE LIBRARIAN AND DIRECTOR OF ARCHIVES.

IT WAS HERE THAT SHE WOULD HAVE PERHAPS THE GREATEST IMPACT ON THE COMMONWEALTH'S HISTORY, PLAYING A KEY ROLE IN LOCATING THE LONG LOST ORIGINAL COPY OF THE KENTUCKY CONSTITUTION.

>> EMMA WAS JUST SUCH A STRONG PERSONALITY, AND WHEN SHE DISCOVERED THAT THE CONSTITUTION FOR KENTUCKY WAS MISSING AND ACTUALLY HOUSED IN CHICAGO, I THINK SHE JUST PUT HER FOOT DOWN AND SAID WE WANT IT BACK.

AND SHE DIDN'T STOP UNTIL IT WAS RETURNED TO ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE HERE IN KENTUCKY.

>> PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR PUBLIC LIFE BY KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THE ISSUES OF THE DAY AS WELL AS THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT SO THAT WE CAN VOTE INTELLIGENTLY AND CRITICIZE JUSTLY.

WILL YOU TAKE PART IN BUILDING UP YOUR GOVERNMENT AND ESTABLISHING HIGH IDEALS AND TRUE DEMOCRACY?

>> ON THE HORIZON WAS KATHERINE DUNGY LANG RE WHO AFTER HAVING TAUGHT AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTE IN BUILT OF, TENNESSEE MOVED TO PIKEVILLE IN 1905.

YET HER SUCCESS IN POLITICS WAS A MOST UNUSUAL JOURNEY.

HER HUSBAND, JOHN LANGLEY, A STRONG PROPONENT OF SUFFRAGE, SERVED NINE TERMS IN THE U.S.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BEFORE BEING SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR CONSPIRACY TO VIOLATE THE PROHIBITION ACT BY TRYING TO SELL MORE THAN 1 MILLION GALLONS OF WHISKEY.

HE WON RE-ELECTION AFTER HIS CONVICTION BUT RESIGNED WHEN THE SUPREME COURT REFUSED TO HEAR HIS APPEAL.

KATHERINE LANGLEY WAS RESOLVED TO CLEAR HER HUSBAND'S NAME BY WINNING HIS SEAT.

SHE WON WITH JOHN'S HELP FROM PRISON.

JOHN LANGLEY WEARS THE BREACHES, ONE VOTER COMMENTED, BUT THE LADY HAS THE BRAINS.

AS THE POLITICAL AMBITIONS OF WHITE WOMEN SWELLED WITH THE OPPORTUNITIES OF ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE, THE CHALLENGES FOR WOMEN OF COLOR WERE VERY DIFFERENT AND MORE DIFFICULT.

EVEN EARLY IN THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT, BLACK WOMEN WERE DISCOURAGED FROMMED BRO'ENING THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS NEWFOUND WOMAN HOOD TO CROSS RACIAL BOUNDARIES.

WHITE SUFFERNISTS FEARED THEIR PARTICIPATION WOULD DERAIL THE MOVEMENT.

ASKED NOT TO JOIN IN THE PROTESTS, BLACK SUFFRAGISTS IN THE NORTHERN STATES NON-VIOLENTLY FORCED THEIR WAY INTO THE MAVS.

IRONICALLY IT WASN'T JUST WHITE MEN AND WOMEN WHO WERE COOL TO THE IDEA OF BLACK WOMEN VOTING.

BLACK MEN WEREN'T EXACTLY WARM TO THE IDEA, EITHER.

FEW WOMEN WERE READILY EQUIPPED TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITIES VACATED BY THE MEN WHO WENT OFF TO SERVE IN THE CIVIL WAR, BUT WOMEN ADAPTED TO THE DRAMATIC CHANGES IN THEIR LIVES.

THEY LEARNED TO RAISE THEIR OWN FOOD, CARE FOR LIVESTOCK, PLOW THE FIELDS, AND AT THE SAME TIME RUN THEIR HOMES AND CONTINUE TO SCHOOL THEIR CHILDREN.

IF THE MEN WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO RETURN, THEY CAME BACK CHANGED INDIVIDUALS.

THE WOMEN WERE ALSO DIFFERENT, MORE ECONOMICALLY SELF-SUSTAINING, MORE INDEPENDENT, AND THEY HAD ACQUIRED NEW FREEDOMS.

>> THE CIVIL WAR WOULD CONTINUE TO INFLICT PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL SCARS ON KENTUCKIANS THAT WOULD TAKE DECADES TO ERASE, ESPECIALLY THE SCARS OF DIVISION.

THE GREATEST ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT RESULTING FROM THE WAR WAS THE 13TH AMENDMENT WHICH FREED WITHOUT COMPENSATION KENTUCKY'S 225,000 SLAVES.

BUT THE KENTUCKY LEGISLATURE DIDN'T GO ON RECORD AGAINST SLAVERY.

IT WOULD TAKE ANOTHER 111 YEARS AND A BLACK WOMAN WOULD LEAD THE CHARGE.

>> MAYE STREET KIDD WAS BORN IN MILLERSBURG, KENTUCKY TO A WHITE FATHER AND BLACK MOTHER IN 1904.

MAE FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND THE RACIAL BOUNDARIES P SHE LOOKED WHITE BUT WANTED TO BE ACCEPTED AS BLACK.

AT TIMES, SHE FELT OSTRACIZED BY BOTH RACES.

AT 17, SHE JOINED THE MALE-DOMINATED INSURANCE INDUSTRY, TAKING A SALES JOB FROM MAMMOTH LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE COMPANY.

SHE SHOWED A GREAT TALENT FOR PROMOTING.

HER IMPOSING SIX FOOT TALL STATURE AND STRIKING GOOD LOOKS PROVED AN ASSET IN THE PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING OF THE COMPANY.

IN 1957 SHE PITCHED A NEW IDEA OF STARTING A CREDIT UNION FOR THE EMPLOYEES.

SEVERAL MEN TRIED TO STOP HER, BUT THEY WERE NO MATCH FOR MAE'S SKILL AT PROMOTING.

THE MAMMOTH CREDIT UNION OVER TIME BECAME A HUGE SUCCESS.

BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL 1968 THAT MAE SET HER SIGHTS ON WINNING IN ANOTHER MALE-DOMINATED ARENA, THE KENTUCKY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

>> I THINK REPRESENTATIVE KIDD WAS EFFECTIVE BECAUSE OF HER FINESSE AS A LEGISLATOR.

HER PRESENCE WAS WIDELY FELT WHEREVER SHE WAS.

BUT VERY VOCAL.

WHEN SHE WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING, SHE WAS ONE WHO COULD SAY IT.

>> MEANWHILE, ANOTHER AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN, GEORGIA DAVIS POWERS, BORN IN SPRINGFIELD AND RESIDING IN LOUISVILLE, DISCOVERED THE VALUE OF POLITICS BY WORKING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL FOR SEVERAL LOCAL AND STATE POLITICIANS.

IN THE EARLY 1960s SHE CO-FOUNDED AND WAS THE OFFICE MANAGER FOR THE ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.

IN 1964 GEORGIA POWERS PLAYED API ROLE IN ORGANIZING A NON-VIOLENT PROTEST WHICH DREW OVER 10,000 PEOPLE TO FRANKFORT TO RALLY THE CALL FOR ENDING CERTIFICATIONGATION CERTIFICATION SEGREGATION IN RESTAURANTS, HOTELS AND OTHER PUBLIC PLACES.

THE PROTEST MARCH DREW NATIONAL ATTENTION.

SHORTLY AFTER THE MARCH POWERS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE THE BILL.

>> AND I NEVER SHALL FORGOT LORD CLAPP.

THEY WANTED TO RECESS.

AND I SAID TO HIM, "WOULD YOU PLEASE VOTE FOR THIS BILL, THIS PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS BILL."

SO HE RAISED IT UP AND HE WAS SMOKING HIS CIGARETTE AND HE LOOKED HAT ME AND HE SAYS, "NO, I CAN'T VOTE FOR IT.

HE SAID, "IF I VOTED FOR THAT, I WOULD NEVER BE RE-ELECTED.

."

I SAID, "MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T."

AND AT THAT TIME HE BLEW SMOKE IN MY FACE.

AND I SAID, "YOU KNOW WHAT?

REPRESENTATIVE, WHAT I NEED IS MY OWN SEAT IN THIS BODY."

>> THE BILL DID NOT PASS, BUT TO GEORGIA POWERS THERE WAS ANOTHER WAY FOR HER TO WORK FOR THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE.

>> I WAS THINKING ABOUT RUNNING FOR OFFICE -- WAS NOT THINKING ABOUT RUNNING FOR OFFICE.

THAT WAS '66.

AND SIX MONTHS LATER I WAS READING THE MORNING PAPER AND I SAW WHERE THE SENATOR FROM THE WEST END WAS MOVING TO THE EAST END, BERNIE BOND, SO I READ THE PAPER AND I SAID TO MY HUSBAND, I SAID, YOU KNOW, I THINK I'LL GO DOWN TO THE COURTHOUSE AND SIGN FOR THAT AND REGISTER TO RUN FOR THE SENATE.

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO.

I HAD NEVER STEPPED MY FOOT IN THE SENATE CHAMBER.

SO THE VERY NEXT MORNING THE HEADLINE SAYS "NEGRO WOMAN FILES FOR KENTUCKY STATE SENATE."

I THOUGHT, WELL, YOU KNOW I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS SUCH A BIG DEAL.

>> GEORGIA RAN AND WON, BECOMING THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO SERVE IN THE KENTUCKY STATE SENATE, REPRESENTING THE 33rd DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY.

SHE REINTRODUCED THE FAIR HOUSING AND PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS LEGISLATION, ALTHOUGH SHE KNEW IT WAS AN EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL PIECE OF LEGISLATION FOR A FRESHMAN TO TACKLE.

EVEN AS ELECTED OFFICIALS, NEITHER SENATOR POWERS NOR REPRESENTATIVE KIDD COULD GET A ROOM IN A FRANKFORT HOTEL AFTER A HARD DAY'S WORK LIKE THEIR WHITE MALE COLLEAGUES.

THIS WAS THE ULTIMATE SLAP IN THE FACE.

THE KENTUCKY CIVIL RIGHTS ACT WAS PASSED IN 1966, AND SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOVERNOR NED T. BRECKIN.

DR.

KING CALLED IT THE STRONGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL PASSED BY A SOUTHERN STATE.

WITH POWERS IN THE SENATE AND KIDD IN THE HOUSE, THE TWO WERE POWERFUL ALLIES.

>> GEORGIA DAVIS POWERS AND MAE STREET KIDD BROKE DOWN MORE BARRIERS THAN JUST BEING WOMEN.

THEY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER AND REPRESENTED SO MANY IMPORTANT STEPS FORWARD FOR THE STATE.

>> IN THE EARLY 1970S, KIDD TURNED HER ATTENTION TO LOW-INCOME HOUSING.

>> MAE STREET KIDD, FOR EXAMPLE, STARTED THE KENTUCKY HOUSING CORPORATION.

SHE PASSED THE LEGISLATION TO CREATE THE AGENCY THAT FINANCES AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN KENTUCKY.

NOW HATES LITERALLY PROVIDED AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF KENTUCKIANS WHO WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THAT CHANCE OTHERWISE.

SHE WAS A PIONEER.

>> KIDD ALSO DISCOVERED THAT KENTUCKY HAD NEVER RATIFIED THE 13th, 14th OR 15th AMENDMENTS TO THE U.S.

CONSTITUTION.

ALTHOUGH A SYMBOLIC MOVE, REPRESENTATIVE KIDD LAUNCHED A SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN TO CORRECT THE OVERSIGHT.

>> SOME OF THE EARLY PHYSICIANS WERE WOMEN WHO BRANCHED OUT AND EMBRACED OTHER CAUSES, YET THEY WERE NOT ALL DOCTORS.

MANY WOMEN MADE THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MEDICAL PROFESS THROUGH PHILANTHROPY AND NURSING.

>> THE SISTERS OF LORETTO CREATED A PAROCHIAL SNOOT RURAL FOOTHILLS OF KENTUCKY AS EARLY AS 1812.

THAT SAME YEAR ANOTHER KENTUCKY CONGREGATION, THE SISTERS OF CHARITYY OF NAZARETH, WAS FIND KATHERINE SPALDING AT AGE 19 WAS ELECTED THEIR LEADER.

WITHIN TEN YEARS THE IF IT FOUNDATION OF DOMINICAN SISTERS IN THE UNITED STATES BEGAN AT SAINT ROSE NEAR SPRINGFIELD, KENTUCKY, WHEN A GROUP OF BRAVING WITH YOUNG WOMEN ANSWERED THE CALL TO TEACH THE CHILDREN OF THE KENTUCKY PIONEERS.

MEANWHILE, THE SISTERS OF CHARITY HAD OPENED NAZARETH ACADEMY, THE SCHOOL DEVELOPED INTO ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS FOR YOUNG WOMEN IN THE SOUTH, OFFERING A SOLID CURRICULUM OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

LATER THEY FOUNDED NAZARETH COLLEGE IN LOUISVILLE WHICH EVENTUALLY BECAME SPALDING UNIVERSITY.

MOTHER KATHERINE SPALDING WOULD GO ON TO SERVE MANY TERMS IN LEADERSHIP AND GROW THE CONGREGATION.

SHE WAS GREATLY ADMIRED THROUGHOUT KENTUCKY.

IN 1858, SHE CONTRACTED PNEUMONIA AND DIED.

MOTHER CATH RAINS LEGACY IS EMBODY IN HER SISTERS WHICH ARE NOW INTERNATIONAL IN SCOPE.

THEIR WASHING IMMEASURABLE.

-- THEIR WORK IMMEASURABLE.

>> HEALTHY BABIES AND FAMILY PLANNING ARE IMPORTANT TO ALL OF US.

YOU MUST DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO ENSURE THAT A CHILD MAKES THE SAFELY THROUGH CHILDHOOD, SAID MARY BRECKINRIDGE, BUT ALONG THE WAY YOU MUST TAKE CARE OF THE REST OF THEIR FAMILY.

>> SO IF YOU TAKE AS YOUR FOCUS THE YOUNG CHILD, YOU FIND AD BRO' PREVENT HEALTH PROGRAM, YOU FIND IT LEADS YOU INTO FAMILIES INTO EVERY KIND OF SITUATION.

>> MARY CARSON BRECKINRIDGE WAS BORN IN 1881 INTO A PROMINENT FAMILY WITH DEEP KENTUCKY AND POLITICAL ROOTS.

THE DEATHS OF HER OWN CHILDREN HAD A PROFOUND EFFECT ON HER LIVE LIFE AND LED HER TO DEVOTE THE WEST OF HER LIFE TO IMPROVING THE LIVES AND HEALTH OF CHILDREN.

WORLD WAR I ENDED BUT LEFT FRANCE DEVASTATED, AND CONDITIONS FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN REMAINED ESPECIALLY HARD.

BY 1919, MARY BRECKINRIDGE HAD JOINED THE AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR DEVASTATED FRANCE.

HER ASSIGNMENT, TO HELP THOSE WHO WERE STARVING IN FRENCH VILLAGES, A TASK THAT WOULD STRONGLY SHAPE HER RESOLVE, HER PURPOSE AND HER FUTURE.

BACK HOME IN KENTUCKY, PROGRESSIVE REFORMS HAD IMPROVED THE LIVES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY IN AMERICA'S CITIES, BUT CHILDREN IN RERIALTO RURAL REGIONS HAD BEEN NEGLECTED.

WHILE IN FRANCE SHE WAS EXPOSED TO BOTH THE FRENCH MIDWIVES TRAINED ONLY IN MIDWIFERY AND TO BRITISH NURSE MIDWIVES WHO WERE TRAINED AS BOTH PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES AND MIDWIVES.

>> I DISCOVERED AMONG MY ENGLISH FRIENDS THAT THE NURSES HAD TAKEN POST GRADUATED TRAINING AS MIDWIVES AND NURSE MIDWIVES.

THAT WAS THE ANSWER TO THE RURAL PROBLEM.

>> IN THE SUMMER OF 1923, MARY BRECKINRIDGE RODE 650 MILES ON HORSES AND MULES THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY, ASSESSING THE STATE OF CARE FOR WOMEN AND BABIES.

IN TIME, SIX RURAL CLINICS AND A SMALL HOSPITAL WERE OPENED.

BUT THE GREAT DEPRESSION LED TO GREAT DIFFICULTIES.

SUPPLIES WERE SCARCE.

NATIONAL LEGISLATORS COULD UNDERSTAND WHY TEXTILES WERE NEEDED FOR DIAPERS, BUT BRECKINRIDGE OFTEN FOUND IT HARD TO CONVINCE THEM THAT HORSESHOES WERE ESSENTIAL TO SAFE CHILDBIRTH.

MOST OF THE NURSE MIDWIVES WERE RECRUITED FROM ENGLAND AS THERE WERE NO SCHOOLS OF NURSE MIDWIFERY IN THE UNITED STATES.

AS WORLD WAR II BEGAN, THE SERVICE FACED INCREASING CHALLENGES AS THE BRITISH NURSE MIDWIVES RETURNED TO ENGLAND TO BE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND TO HELP THE WAR EFFORT IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.

TO FILL THE GROWING NEED FOR NURSE MIDWIVES, A SCHOOL WAS OPENED IN 1939 AT HEIDEN HOSPITAL.

DESPITE CHALLENGES, MARY'S VISION AND PLAN CONTINUED TO GROW.

FRONTIER NURSES AND MIDWIVES RODE HORSEBACK OVER MOUNTAINS, THROUGH CREEKS AND UP HOLLERS TO GET TO THEIR PATIENTS IN SNOW AND IN RAIN.

IN TIME, JEEPS WERE USED FOR TRANSPORTATION.

>> IN 1954 THE FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE ASSISTED WITH THE BIRTH OF THEIR 10,000TH BABY, A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL MARLENE WITH ANOTHER MAR WOOTEN.

>> SYMBOL I CAN OF MARY BRECKINRIDGE'S ACHIEVEMENT IS THIS NEWBORN IN A SADDLEBACK.

TODAY THE INFLUENCE AND VOICE OF MARY BRECKINRIDGE CONTINUES.

BABIES AND FAMILIES ARE WELL SERVED WITH PROGRAMS TO NURSES IN RURAL AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA AND IN MANY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, SERVICES THAT FAR EXCEED ANYTHING MARY BRECKINRIDGE COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

>> IT IS DOING PRETTY GOOD.

I THINK AS LONG AS SHE WILL TAKE THOSE PILLS EVERY DAY, I DON'T THINK WE WILL HAVE ANY TROUBLE.

>> WHILE MARY BRECKINRIDGE SERVICED THE RURAL AREA, DR.

GRACE JAMES WAS WORKING IN THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE, A PARALLEL SERVICE THAT COULD BE EQUALLY AS CHALLENGING.

GRACE JAMES CHOSE TO WORK WITH PATIENTS FOR THE MOST PART SHUNNED BY OTHER DOCTORS, POOR CHILDREN.

SHE BEGAN HER PEDIATRIC PRACTICE IN 1953 WHEN CITY HOSPITALS WERE SEGREGATED BY LAW.

HER BRILLIANCE, HOWEVER, COULD NOT BE OVERSHADOWED BY RACISM.

SHE BECAME THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN ON THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE'S SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.

SOME MALE DOCTORS IN LOUISVILLE, BLACK AND WHITE, QUESTIONED HER CREDENTIALS.

THEY RIDICULED HER OUTSPOKENNESS OF THE BLACK INFANT MORTALITY RATE AND THE LIMITED ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR POOR PEOPLE.

THE IN THE 1950S AND THROUGHOUT HER LIFE, SHE WAS A TIRELESS ADVOCATE FOR PREVENTIVE AND UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.

HER LECTURES PUBLICLY DENOUNCED RACISM, SECONDSISM AND CAPITALISM IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINE.

IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR HER TO STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EXAMINATION REMEMBER WELL CALLS ONE PARENT, AND GATHER EVERY MOTHER IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR A PARENTING LESSON.

DR.

GRACE JAMES BECAME THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO OBTAIN MEMBERSHIP IN THE JEFFERSON COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.

HER VOICE IS REMEMBERED.

>> COMPELLING IN THE LITERALLY FIELD AS WELL AS THE HEALING ARTS, KENTUCKY WOMEN HAVE CREATED AB ENORMOUS BODY OF LITERARY MASTERPIECES.

IN FACT, MANY HAVE OUR POET LAR YETS LAR YETS ARE PEM.

CORRALS HAWK HAGEN RICE CREATED MRS.

WIGGS IN THE CABBAGE PATCH WHICH WAS LATER MADE INTO A MOVIE STARRING SHIRLEY TEMPLE.

>> JEAN BELL THOMAS OF ASHLAND WORKED TO PRESERVE THE PLAWFNG HERITAGE.

ELIZABETH ROBERTS OF SPRINGFIELD BEST KNOWN FOR TIME OF MAN AND THE GREAT MEADOW, TWO AMONG MANY BEST SELLERS.

LOUISVILLE'S PULITZER PRIZE, PEABODY AND TONY AWARD WINNING PLAYWRIGHT MARSHA NORMAN CONTINUES TO BUILD UPON A DISTINGUISHED CAREER.

HARRIET SIMPSON AROUNDEUX WAS BORN IN WAYNE COUNTY, KENTUCKY HER MOST FAMOUS WORK WITH DOLLMAKER WAS LATER MADE NOT TO A TELEVISED MOVIE STARRING JANE FONDA, A STORY ABOUT A POOR APPALACHIAN FAMILY FORCED BY ECONOMIC NECESSITY TO MOVE TO DETROIT FOR THE PROMISE OF BETTER LIVES IN THE INDUSTRIALIZED NORTH.

OF HER WRITING SHE SAID.

>> I AM AFFLICTED WITH TOO MANY WORDS.

LIKE THE CHARACTERS IN MY BOOKS, I TALK TOO MUCH.

AND I TELL THINGS I SHOULDN'T.

I REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE THE BOUNDARIES PLACED ON WOMEN AND DID WHAT I WANTED.

>> BORN IN 1914 IN PIPPA PASSES, KENTUCKY, VERNA MAE SLOANE NEVER GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL, BUT AT 65 YEARS OF AGE SHE REALIZED SHE HAD SOMETHING TO SAY.

SO MANY LIVES LIES AND HALF-TRUTHS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BUS, THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE VERNA MAE WROTE IN HER BOOK, WHAT MY HEART WANTS TO HELL.

HER VIVID AND MOVING ACCOUNTS OF LIFE IN THE MOUNTAIN LIFE, THE STRUGGLES, THE HARD WORK AND SURVIVAL, AND JOYS AND BEAUTY OF ITS LAND AND STRONG BOUNDARIES OF FAMILY SHATTER THE MYTHS ABOUT APPALACHIA AND TOUCHED HEARTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

SHE ONCE COMPARED QUILTS.

WHEN WE BORN WEB WE ARE GIVEN A BUNDLE OF SCRAPS.

THE WAY WE PUT THEM TOGETHER IS UP TO US.

VERNA MAE SLOANE'S WRITINGS CAUSED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO VISIT HER FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE WITH AN AVERAGE OF 30 ON A DAILY BASIS.

IN THE 1930S, A GERMAN DICTATOR WAS CONQUERING EUROPEAN NATIONS.

JAPAN ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR ON DECEMBER 7, 1941.

THE NEXT DAY THE UNITED STATES DECLARED WAR ON JAPAN.

GERMANY AND ITALY DECLARED WAR ON AMERICA ON DECEMBER 11th.

MANUFACTURERS IMMEDIATELY SWITCHED TO PRODUCING AIRPLANES, SHIPS, TANKS AND ARMAMENTS.

AS MEN WERE DRAFTED, WOMEN, WHO PREVIOUSLY WORKED AS SECRETARIES, SALES CLERKS OR BEAUTICIANS, REPLACED THEM IN THESE INDUSTRIAL JOBS.

ROSY THE RIVETER POSTERS WERE EVERYWHERE USED TO ENCOURAGE WOMEN OF AMERICA AND IT WAS THE ICONIC IMAGE OF ROSE MONROE FROM PULASKI COUNTY WHO WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE "WE CAN DO IT" POSTER AN A MACK CLASSIC LAWRENCEBURG WAS ONE OF THE FIRST WOMEN IN KENTUCKY TO END KLIS IN THE WOMEN'S ARMY AUXILIARY CORPS.

SHE WAS INFIRED AFTER HEARING MAYOR McCLOUD BETHUNE, A PROMINENT MEMBER OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT'S FAMOUS BLACK CABINET, SPEAK AT HER GRADUATION FROM KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY.

AN A WAS PROMOTED IN RANKS, BECOMING A LIEUTENANT AND PLATOON LEADER, MAKING HER THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO COMMAND AN ALL-WHITE REGIMENT, BREAKING NOT ONLY GENDER BARRIERS BUT CONQUERING RACE BARRIERS WHEN THE UNITED STATES MILITARY WAS STILL SEGREGATED.

WITH THE HINT OF WAR IN THE LATE 1930S, WILLA BEATRICE BROWN OF GLASGOW SAW AN OPPORTUNITY NOT ONLY FOR HERSELF BUT FOR OTHER AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE NEW FIELD OF AVIATION.

ARMED WITH A BUSINESS DEGREES FROM INDIANA UNIVERSITY AND A MASTER'S DEGREE FROM NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, WILLA SOUGHT A CAREER CHALLENGE OUTSIDE THE LIMITED FIELDS NORMALLY OPEN TO WOMEN OR TO PEOPLE OF COLOR.

SHE WANTED TO FLY.

SHE CONTINUED HER EDUCATION AT CHICAGO'S AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY AND TWO YEARS AT A OBTAINED HER COMMERCIAL MIGHT'S LICENSE AND HER MASTER AVIATION MECHANIC'S LICENSE.

WILLA WAS STUNNING IN BOTH BEAUTY AND INTELLECT, WEARING BOOTS, LEATHER JACKET AND JODD ST.

SPURS SHE ATTRACTED ATTENTION EVERYWHERE SHE WENT CLEVERLIY PROMOTING THE IMAGE OF THE BLACK AVIATOR.

SHE CONVINCED BLACK NEWSPAPERS TO COVER AIR SHOWS AND HELP ORGANIZE THE NATIONAL AIR MEN'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA.

SHE LOBBIED WASHINGTON, AND TOGETHER WITH HERRED GOO FRIEND MARY McCLOUD BETHUNE, WROTE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT ABOUT INTEGRATING AMERICA'S AVIATION FORCES.

IN 1939, THE COFFEY SCHOOL OF AIR FACTS WHICH WILLA AND HER HUSBAND CORNELIUS OWNED, BECAME THE ONLY NON-UNIVERSITY FLIGHT SCHOOL TO BE FUND BEADTY CIVILIAN PILOT TRAINING PROGRAM TO TRAIN BLACKMAILS.

MANY WHITE FLIGHT SCHOOLS WERE FUNDED, BUT WILLA WAS THE ONLY WOMAN, BLACK OR WHITE, TO OPERATE A FLIGHT SCHOOL.

SHE WAS ALSO THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO BECOME AN OFFICER IN THE CIVILIAN AIR PATROL.

IT COULD WELL BE SAID THAT THESE THREE WOMEN, THE FORWARD-THINKING WILLA BEATRICE BROWN, THE WISE AND SUPPORTIVE MARY McCLOUD BETHUNE, AND THE PROGRESSIVE THINKING ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, SET IN MOTION A CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT EVENTUALLY LED TO THE DESERTIONGATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

WILLA TRAINED MORE THAN 2,000 BLACK CADETS AT THE COFFEE SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS.

TIME MORE THAN 200 OF EAST AVIATOR FORMED THE SQUADRON BETTER KNOWN AS THE LEGENDARY TUSKEGEE AIRMEN.

WILLAES GOAL OF INTEGRATING THE AIR FORCE WAS ACHIEVED WHEN PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER INTEGRATING THE AMERICAN MILITARY ARMED FORCES.

IT WAS A TIME OF CHANGE FOR BLACK SOLDIERS BUT ALSO FOR BLACK WOMEN WITH ROLE MODELS LIKE AN A MACK CLARK AND WILLA BROWN, MORE AND MORE THEY COURAGEOUSLY PUSHED FOR RACE AND GENDER QUALITY EQUALITY AT THE SAME TIME.

AS PRESIDENT TRUMAN WAS MAKING PLANS TO BEGIN HIS UNPRECEDENTED WHISTLE STOP TOUR TO 18 STATES, ALICE ALLYSON DUNIGAN DAUGHTER OF'S TENANT FARMER WAS MAKING PLANS TO BE THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO COVER A PRESIDENTIAL TOUR.

SHE WAS ALREADY ACCREDITED TO COVER THE WHITE HOUSE, STATE DEPARTMENT, AND U.S.

SUPREME COURT.

BUT SHE HAD NO FUNDING FOR THE WHISTLE STOP TRIP.

WHEN SHE ASKED HER BOSS, CLAUDE, BAET, CHIEF OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS FOR THE MONEY, HE TOLD HER WOMEN DON'T GO ON TRIPS LIKE THAT.

>> I HAD BEEN FIGHTING THE BATTLES OF SECOND CLASS CITIZENRY ON TWO FRONTS, RACE AND SEX SINCE CHILDHOOD.

>> DONE A GANN GAINED A REPUTATION AS A HARD-HITTING REPORTER.

I NEVER MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY TO RAISE QUESTIONS THAT RELATED TO ISSUES OF FAIRNESS, EQUITY, AND CIVIL RIGHTS.

I WAS A FLEA ON THE ARE CLAF THOSE IN POWER.

>> WITHIN THE TRUMAN ADMINISTRATION HERS WITH A WELCOME FORCE.

COVERING DWIGHT EISENHOWER WAS ANOTHER MATTER.

HER QUESTIONS MADE HER SO UNHAPPY THAT HE FIRST ASKED HER TO PRESENT THEM IN ADVANCE.

>> HE EVENTUALLY REFUSED TO LIKE ME AT AT ALL.

>> AN ACTION IN ITSELF PROMPTED NATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE.

ON FEBRUARY 9, 1961, AFTER A NEW PRESIDENT TOOK OFFICE, AN ARTICLE IN JET MAGAZINE CARRIED THE HEADLINE "KENNEDY IN, NEGRO REPORTER GETS FIRST ANSWER IN TWO YEARS."

JOHN F. KENNEDY NAMED HER ONE OF THE FIRST MEMBERS OF HIS NEW FRONTIER ADMINISTRATION AND EDUCATION CONSULTANT TO THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.

THE NEW FRONTIER ALSO INCLUDED THE CHANGING ROLE FOR WOMEN IN AMERICA AND IN KENTUCKY.

PRESIDENT KENNEDY APPOINTED A NATIONAL COMMISSION TO STUDY THE STATUS OF WOMEN.

KENTUCKY GOVERNOR EDWARD T. BREATHITT SOLID FOLLOWED SUIT AND APPOINTED A SIMILAR COMMISSION TO THE STATUS OF WOMEN.

THE FINDINGS DEMONSTRATED A NEED FOR PERMANENT ATTENTION, AND THE NEW GOVERNOR, LOUIE 91 EVEN WHILE RUNNING FOR OFFICE, HAD ALREADY RECEIVED THAT VERY REQUEST FROM MARIE HUMPHREYS.

AS MORE WOMEN ENTERED THE WORK FOREST IN THE 19 ISN'T MARIE WAS WELL AWARE OF HOW THE WORLD VIEWED WOMEN, THEIR WORTH AND CAPABILITIES.

MARIE WAS CONVINCED THIS NEW EXPERIMENT WOULD WORK.

IN 1968, GOVERNOR NUN SIGNED THE EXECUTIVE ORDER AND MARIE WAS APPOINTED THE CHAIRWOMAN THE T. ON THE KENTUCKY COMMISSION ON WOMEN.

MARIE CRISSCROSSED THE STATE DECLARING "DUMBNESS IS NOT A FEMALE ATTRIBUTE.

WE MUST CONVINCE THE YOUNG GIRL THAT HER ROLE WILL BE DUSTIN AND HER INTELLIGENCE IS IMPORTANT."

I SAID TO THEM, THERE'S SOMETHING YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN ANYBODY ELSE IN THE THE WORLD.

NOW, I THINK YOU OUGHT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT CAN I DO.

>> MOST OF MARIE'S PRESS WAS QUITE FAVORABLE BUT ONE EDITORIAL IN 1969 REBELLION IN THE KITCHEN, WAS NOT SO FLATTERING.

>> KENTUCKY HAS ITS OWN NEOFEMINIST MOVEMENT CALLED THE GOVERNOR'S COMMISSION ON WOMEN.

IT IS HEADED BY A MILITANT ACTIVIST WHO INTENDS TO BOLLISH THE WORD "HOUSEWIFE."

HER GOAL IS THE EVENTUAL TAKEOVER OF THE STATE AND POSSIBLY VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF THE MALE ESTABLISHMENT.

THIS HUM INFRAJET MOVEMENT IS IS A DANGEROUS MANIFESTATION OF EMERGING WOMAN POWER.

>> IT TAKES THAT KIND OF A PERSON WHO IS LARGER THAN LIFE AND DOESN'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER.

>> AS THE DEPRESSION SWEPT THROUGH AMERICA, A YOUNG THELMA STOVALL OF MUNFORDVILLE, KENTUCKY WANTED A JOB, MAINLY TO HELP HER STRUGGLING MOTHER.

AT 15 SHE LIED ABOUT HER AGE AND WENT TO WORK SWEEPING FLOORS AT THE BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO COMPANY IN LOUISVILLE.

OVER TIME SHE BECAME AN OFFICER FOR THE TOBACCO WORKERS UNION LOCAL 185, WHICH WAS UNUSUAL FOR A WOMAN, BUT THELMA WAS WELL-LIKED.

SHE EARNED RESPECT FROM HER COWORKERS, MOST OF WHOM WERE MEN.

NO LONGER CONTENT TO SIT ON THE SIDELINES OF POLITICS, THELMA RAN IN 1950 AND WAS ELECTED THE FIRST WOMAN FROM JEFFERSON COUNTY AS STATE REPRESENTATIVE.

IT SEEMED THELMA WAS UNIQUELY I GIFTED TO I HAVE NOT EXECUTIVE BRANCH AS WELL SUSPECT SHE WAS ELECTED SECRETARY OF STATE IN 1956, RE-ELECTED IN 1964, AND AGAIN IN 1972.

IN BETWEEN SHE SERVED AS STATE TREASURER IN 1960 AND 1968.

THELMA DID NOT SHY AWAY FROM CONTROVERSY, AND SHE NEVER FORGOT HER HUMBLE BEGINNINGS.

>> WELL, SHE WAS QUITE CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE AS AT ONE POINT WHEN SHE WAS SECRETARY OF STATE SHE SEIZED YOU GUBERNATORIAL POWERS AND ISSUED PARDONS.

>> THELMA STOVALL WENT TO BECOME THE FIRST WOMAN LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH DEPHOENIX END TEN MEN AND IT WAS THIS THIS PUBLIC SERVICE THAT PERHAPS SHE IS BEST KNOWN FOR HER RELENTLESS EFFORT TO ENSURE EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN.

SHE WENT ON THE SPEAKING CIRCUIT ACROSS KENTUCKY, CHAMPIONING PASSAGE OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT.

OPPONENTS CONVINCED THEY HAD USED POOR JUDGMENT RATIFYING THE AMENDMENT.

>> BECAUSE WE HAD PEOPLE TO PERSUADE IN LEGISLATURE THAT THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT SHOULD BE RATIFIED BY KENTUCKY.

A LOT OF OPPOSITION.

WELL, MY GOSH, THELMA HAD THE GUTS AS A WOMAN TO FIGHT FOR US.

>> THIS LED TO THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL MOMENT OF THELMA'S CAREER WHEN SHE SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY WHILE GOVERNOR JULIAN CARROLL WAS OUT OF TOWN TO VETO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S RESUGGESTION OF KENTUCKY'S RATIFICATION OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT.

IRONICALLY, SHE LOST HER PRIMARY BID IN THE NEXT RUN FOR THE GOVERNOR'S SEAT, BUT IT IS CLEAR STOVALL'S LEGACY HELPED TO OIL THE HINGES ON THE DOORS OF THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH FOR ANOTHER WOMAN TO WALK THROUGH.

>> LOOKING FOR BACK, I'M REALLY MOST PROUD OF THE TANGIBLE THINGS WE WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH DURING MY ADMINISTRATION, ESPECIALLY EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

I ASKED THE LEGISLATURE FOR $300 MILLION FOR EDUCATION AND GOT IT.

WE PASSED MANDATORY KINDERGARTEN AND WE BROUGHT TOYOTA TO KENTUCKY.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> SOME KENTUCKY WOMEN, WHETHER BY CHANCE OR BY CHOICE, BECAME ACTIVISTS, A VOICE FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT HAVE ONE.

IN 1954, ANN BRADEN'S HUSBAND CARL SAID TO HER CHEERFULLY, DARLING, WE'RE GOING TO BUY A HOUSE.

BUT THE HOUSE WAS NOT FOR THEM.

IT WAS TO BE PURCHASED ON BEHALF OF THEIR FRIENDS CHARLOTTE AND ANDREW WADE.

THE WADES COULDN'T BUY THE HOUSE THEMSELVES, BUT NOT BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T AFFORD TO.

THEY WERE BLACK, AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS WHITE, VIOLATING LOUISVILLE'S COLOR LINE.

>> MY HUSBAND AND I WERE VERY MUCH OPPOSED TO RACIAL SEGREGATION.

WE JUST DIDN'T BELIEVE IN IT.

AND WE WANTED TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE WERE PEOPLE.

BUT AFRICAN-AMERICANS COULDN'T BUY IN THOSE PLACES BECAUSE THERE HAD BEEN WHAT WAS CALLED RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS WRITTEN INTO DEEDS THAT WHITES -- YOU COULDN'T SELL PROPERTY TO ANYBODY WHO WASN'T WHITE.

THOSE HAD BEEN RULED ILLEGAL BY THE SUPREME COURT BUT THE BANKS WOULDN'T LEND YOU MONEY, THE REAL ESTATE PEOPLE WOULDN'T SHOW YOU THE HOUSES.

YOU JUST COULDN'T DO IT.

E. BUT HE TRIED ANYWAY.

SHE WAS YOUNG.

HE HAD FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM IN WORLD WAR II.

HE HAD BEEN ACTIVE IN THINGS.

HE FELT HE COULD STAND UP HIS RIGHTS AND HE FELT HE HAD A RIGHT TO LIVE THERE IF THEY HE WANTED TO.

>> NEIGHBORS FURNISHED A CROSS ON THE WADES FRONT LAUNCH THEIR NEW HOME, SHOT OUT THEIR WINDOWS AND ULTIMATELY BOMBED THE HOUSE WITH DYNAMITE PLACED UNDER THE WADE'S TWO-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER'S BEDROOM.

LUCKILY THE WADES WEREN'T HOME AT THE TIME.

AS A RESULT OF THEIR ACTIONS, THE BRADENS WILL CHARGED WITH DEZ.

DIGS SINCE WORKING FOR RACIAL INTEGRATION WAS INTERPRETED BY MANY SOUTHERN WHITES AS AN OUTRIGHT SIGN OF COMMUNISM.

CARL BRADEN WAS SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS, WHILE ANN AWAITED HER FATE, A SUPREME COURT DECISION INVALIDATED STATE SEDITION CHARGES.

CARL SERVED EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE HE WAS RELEASED ON THE HIGHEST BOND EVER SET IN KENTUCKY UP TO THAT TIME.

EVENTUALLY ALL CHARGES WERE DROPPED.

>> AND I HAVE ALWAYS FELT THAT THE WADES US AND BECAME LIGHTNING RODS.

THEY COULDN'T GET AT THE SUPREME COURT BUT THEY COULD GET AT US, AND THAT WAS JUST A COINCIDENCE.

>> HISTORIC AN JACQUELINE CALLED CALLED ANN BRADDEN ONE OF THE GREAT FIGURES OF OUR TIME.

MANY KENTUCKY WOMEN TOOK THEIR INTELLECT AND PROFESSION TO INTERNATIONAL PROMINENCE.

LOUISVILLE'S DIANE SAWYER HAS BROUGHT EXTRAORDINARY STORIES TO THE SCREEN ABOUT ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE GREATNESS.

HELEN THOMAS BECAME A WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT IN 1961, THE BEGINNING OF A 50-YEAR CAREER UNDER TEN ADMINISTRATIONS.

CALLED THE FEISTY REPORTER FROM WINCHESTER, KENTUCKY, THOMAS BECAME KNOWN AS THE DEAN OF THE WASHINGTON PRESS CORPS.

UNINTIMIDATED BY PRESIDENTS OR THEIR PRESS SECRETARIES, SHE BECAME FAMOUS FOR HER POINTED QUESTIONS AND SIGNATURE LINE AT THE END OF EVERY PRESS CONFERENCE, "THANK YOU, MR.

PRESIDENT."

AS THE 20th CENTURY PROGRESSED, WOMEN FROM KENTUCKY FOUND OTHER FIELDS OF ENDEAVOR TO CONQUER.

THE ROAD WAS NOW EASIER THAN BEFORE, AND SOME KENTUCKY WOMEN FOUND NATIONAL STARDOM.

MAYSVILLE'S ROSEMARY CLOONEY SANG HER WAY INTO AMERICA'S HEART, AND JENNIFER LAWRENCE OF LOUISVILLE HAS BEEN CALLED THE MOST TALENTED YOUNG ACTRESS IN AMERICA.

ANOTHER KENTUCKY WOMAN ROSE FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, FOLK SINGER JEAN RITCHIE FROM VIPER SPREAD EASTERN KENTUCKY'S TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND SONGS INTO THE NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS.

FELLOW EASTERN KENTUCKIAN LORETTA LYNN BECAME THE QUEEN OF COUNTRY MUSIC, A TRUE COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER, SHE BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE NAMED ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR BY THE ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION.

SHE RELEASED 70 ALBUMS AND HAD 55 TOP TEN SINGLES.

>> EVERY SUN LIFE NEW PAGE, A CHANCE FOR NEW IDEAS AND BETTER WAYS.

WOMEN IN KENTUCKY RECOGNIZED AND LIVED THIS PRINCIPLE AS DID THE OTHER REMARKABLE WOMEN THROUGHOUT AMERICA.

WE SEE THE FRUITS OF THEIR LABORS ALL AROUND US, THE EMPOWERMENT OF PULLING THE LEVER OF A VOTING MACHINE, AND THE FIRST CRY OF A HEALTHY NEWBORN.

THEIR VOICES HAVE BECOME MANY VOICES.

THEIR DEEDS THE FOUNDATION FOR MANY LIFETIMES OF DEDICATION.

>> FOR THIS WE REMEMBER THEM, KNOWING THAT REMEMBERING IS NOT REALLY ABOUT LOOKING FOR BACK, IT'S LOOKING FOR TO THE FUTURE.

THERE ARE MANY VOICES OF WOMEN YET TO BE HEARD.

♪ >> MAJOR FUNDING FOR DREAMERS AND DOERS, VOICES OF KENTUCKY WOMEN IS PROPERTY TO YOU BY TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING KENTUCKY AND THE THOUSANDS OF KENTUCKY TEAM MEMBERS THAT MAKE UP THE TOYOTA FAMILY.

SALUTING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF KENTUCKY WOMEN AND SUPPORTING THE EFFORTS OF ALL KENTUCKIANS.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD.

AND BY THE GAINES FOUNDATION, HONORING EDWIN AND MARY JO GAINES BY SEEKING NEW AND CREATIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL CITIZENS AND INSTITUTIONS IN KENTUCKY.

FRONTIER NURSING UNIVERSITY, BRINGING NURSE MIDWIFE AND NURSE PRACTITIONER EDUCATION TO NURSES IN COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE NATION AND BEYOND.

AND BY JERRY AND MADELINE ABRAMSON.

THE KENTUCKY ARTS COUNCIL.

CARLA WALLACE.

AND THE HONORABLE JOHN YARMOUTH.