Q: Who is the longest serving woman in the history of the United States Congress?
A: Maryland’s own, Senator Barbara Mikulski. Senator Mikulski has served in the Senate since 1987, and before that served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987. It was her re-election in 2010 that allowed her to surpass one of our earlier Women’s History Month Q&A answers, Margaret Chase Smith, as the longest-serving female senator.
Q: Which Maryland born woman in history escaped slavery in 1849 and is best known for being a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, leading more than 300 slaves to their freedom?
A: Harriet Tubman, who had to leave her family behind when she escaped slavery in 1849. Despite a bounty on her head, she returned to the South at least 19 times to lead her family and hundreds of other slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad. She spoke against slavery and for women’s rights, and during the Civil War she served with the U.S. Army in South Carolina as a nurse, scout, spy and soldier.
Q: Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic?
A: Amelia Earhart. She made her solo trip across the Atlantic in 1932.
Before becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart made history as the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic, joined by pilot Wilmer “Bill” Stultz and co-pilot/mechanic Louis E. “Slim” Gordon in 1928. The trip was all the more historic as three women had died within the year trying to be that first woman. Read more about the remarkable Amelia Earhart on the family of Emelia Earhart’s official website.