FANCY LIVING MAGAZINE. OCTOBER 2005. Page 114
FAMOUS AND GREAT WOMEN.
Cont'd.
Undoubtedly one of the best known and best loved television comediennes of all time. The "I Love Lucy Show", which began in 1951, is still shown in reruns in more than 70 countries around the world. She was a television pioneer who excelled both in the acting and the production aspects of television. Born in Jamestown, NY, Lucille Desiree Ball left her hometown at the age of fifteen to study drama in New York City and began her entertainment career with stints as a model and Goldwyn Girl. In 1951, Lucy and her husband, Desi Arnaz, launched a comedy television series, I Love Lucy, based on their own lives. The show pioneered technical aspects of a comedy show, using three cameras, a set, and a live audience. It also became the launching pad for the endearing comic talents of Ball. Lucy went on to win four Emmy Awards for her work. Proving that her talents extended beyond the realm of comedy, the entrepreneur became the first female studio head in Hollywood. As president of Desilu Productions, she broke the glass ceiling for women executives in the film and television industry. In 1986, Ball received a Kennedy Center Honor for her work and her shows live on in syndication even today. Additional Resources: Brady, Kathleen. Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball. Watson-Guptill Publications, 2001. Karol, Michael. Lucy A-Z Writer's Showcase Press, 2001. Fidelman, Mark Geoffrey and Steve Allen. The Lucy Book: A Complete Guide to Her Five Decades on Television. Renaissance Books, 1999.
First woman to travel across the ice to the North and South Poles. She was the first woman to travel across Greenland on skis, and in 1993, was leader of the American Women's Expedition, a group of four who skied more than 600 miles to the South Pole. A lifelong athlete and educator whose love for the wilderness includes sharing it with others, Ann Bancroft is the first woman to travel across the ice to the North Pole (as the only female member of the Steger International Polar Expedition) in 1986. One of the world's most respected polar explorers, Bancroft also was the first woman to travel east to west across Greenland on skis, leading the first American women's team (1992). She was team leader of the AWE (American Women's Expedition), a group of four women to have skied over 600 miles pulling heavy sleds to the South Pole (1993). A teacher who triumphed over her own struggle with dyslexia, Bancroft also coached numerous sports. She is an instructor for Wilderness Inquiry, an organization that helps disabled and able-bodied individuals experience wilderness adventure. She has developed educational curricula for teachers from elementary school through college, in mathematics, science, geography, the environment and women in non-traditional roles. Additional Resources: "Four U.S. Women Trek the South Pole." National Geographic. March 1994.
Founder of the American Red Cross, Barton ministered to injured soldiers during the Civil War and became known as the "Angel of the Battlefield." Devoted to the organization, she later took to the field, providing relief in the Spanish American War at the age of 77. Clara Barton taught school and worked as a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office. When she 40 years old, the outbreak of the Civil War launched her on her life's work. She began to assemble and distribute supplies to the Union soldiers. Knowing that nurses were urgently needed at the battlefield, she "broke the shackles and went into the field." At Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Fairfax Court House, Fredrickburg, Antietam, and the Wilderness, she assisted the surgeons in stitching up wounds and in bloody amputations. Her life long timidity disappeared. She was calm and resourceful, always turning up with food and medical supplies just when they were needed most. Clara Barton gained national acclaim as "the angel of the battlefield," but she was also "everybody's old maid aunt," fussing over the men she called "my boys." After the war she coordinated a national effort to locate soldiers who were missing in action. Barton threw herself into relief work in Europe and was impressed with the International Red Cross. She then lobbied for United States ratification of the Red Cross Treaty. She was the founder of the American Red Cross and served for many years as its president. Additional Resources:
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