Panama City News-Herald from Panama City, Florida • Page 15

NEWS-HERALD, Panama Ctty, Wednesday, December 29,1976 Women Impact Felt In Bicentennial Year Write New History ByJOYSTILLBY APNewsteatures Writer NEW YORK (AP) While a bicentennial-conscious nation Aivas taking a year-long nostalgic liMk at Its past, American Women were writing new history ItV 1976. They broke the sex barrier at the U.S. military academies, enrolling at West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy, after a law signed by President Ford abolished the allmale tradition at those Institutions. Women also entered the Coast Guard Academy, to become the first female cadets there since Its founding In 1876. The academy, operated by the Department of Transportation, was not affected by the legislation, but Integrated Us student body voluntarily.

In a presidential election year, women's political Impact was evident and by the time Rosalynn Carter became First Lady-elect her face and her stand on various issues were already familiar all over the United States. Wives of the major candidates Mrs. Carter, Joan Mondale, Betty Ford and Elizabeth Dole struck out on their own across the country on tough campaign tours. In hardhitting speeches they gave their own views, as well as explained their husbands' positions, which they sometimes didn't agree with. A woman even campaigned for president, on an platform: Ellen McCormack, 49- year-old Merrick, L.I., housewife, mother and mother, came in filth In the balloting at the Democratic National Convention.

That gathering saw Rep. Lindy Boggs, presiding as permanent "chairperson," the first woman to hold that position In the party's history, while Rep. Barbara Jordan, was keynote speaker. Mary Louise Smith, 62, first woman to be Republican National Chairman, was continued in that post after the Republican convention but in November announced her resignation. The election of Dixy Lee Ray as governor of Washington gave the nation a second female state government head, along with Gov.

Ella Grasso of Connecticut. But otherwise gains were meager. There will be no woman in the Senate and the number of women holding House scats will decline by one, to 18, in the next Congress. Rep. Leonor K.

Sullivan, 72-year-old dean of the women members of Congress and the only one to chair a House committee, retired. However, women everywhere were Increasingly active In politics. Anne Armstrong of Texas, 48, a longtime Republican party worker and former White House counselor, was named by President Ford as the first woman to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. Rosemary L.

Ginn, 63, Republican national commll- teewoman from Missouri, succeeded Ruth L. Farkas TJX Ambassador to Luxembourg, and President Ford nominated Patricia M. Byrne, 51, as ambassador to Mall. First Ladles In News Former first ladies were in the news during the year: Mamie Elsenhower, who spent weeks in Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center with a viral infection, celebrated her 80th birthday. Lady Bird Johnson visited Israel; and Pat Nixon was hospitalized after suffering a stroke.

Shirley Temple Black, former child movie stflr who was previously ambassador to Ghana, became the first woman to hold the post of U.S. Chief of Protocol. Jeanne M. Holm, 54, retired from the Air Force, where she had been the nation's first woman major general, was appointed by President Ford as his special assistant for women's affairs. In that post she succeeded Patricia Sullivan Llndh, former Republican national commlt- tccwoman from Louisiana, who was named deputy assistant secretary of state for education and public affairs.

Evelyn Gandy, a 55-year-old attorney, became Mississippi's first woman lieutenant governor, elected to the post after serving two times as state treasurer. Former Rep. Louise Day Hicks, an outspoken opponent of forced school desegregation busing, was elected president of the Boston City Council, the first woman In the city's history to hold the lop council post. Sally Stanford, as top vole getter In the city council election, was named mayor of Sausallto, a small community across the Golden Gate from her old home town of San Francisco, where she was once that city's best known bordello operator. Her first official act was to adjourn the city council meeting and break open a case of champagne to celebrate.

President Ford nominated Juanita Ashcraft, 55, as an assistant secretary of the Air Force, the highest civilian Pentagon post for a woman In more than two decades. He also nominated Shana Gordon, 36, as assistant secretary for public affairs of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. In political news abroad Isabel Peron, 45, was ousted from office by a bloodless military coup after 21 months as president of Argentina following the death of her husband, Juan Peron. And Chiang Chlng, 63, lost her power In China after the death of her husband, Mao Tse-tung. Women In Careers Women seeking a toehold on the career ladder In fields previously dominated by men could take heart from the successes of their sisters during the year.

Barbara Walters, 44, who had been cohost of the NBC "Today" show for the last two years and a writer and personality with the network for 12 years, accepted an offer of $1 million a year over the next five years to coanchor "The Evening News" nt ABC with Harry Rcasoner. Jane Pauley, 25-year-old Indiana native. Joined the "Today" show staff as a cohost with Tom Brokaw. Meanwhile, Lynn Sherr, 34, became the first woman to anchor a primetlmc network television news series when she was named host of public television's "U.S.A: People and Politics." Marlene Sanders, 45, was named vice president and director of documentaries for ABC News, the first woman vice president in the news division at that network. And network television news got its first woman bureau chief when Rebecca Bell became head of NBC's Paris Bureau.

Capt. Fran McKee, 49, in the service for 26 years, became the first woman line officer of the Navy to be promoted to rear admiral. The two previously named women admirals have been chiefs of the Nurse Corps. Sue Peterson, 5 foot 7, and 31 years old, became the first female physical education Instructor in West Point's I74year history. Not only was Deborah B.

Doane of Essex, the Maine Maritime Academy's first female student, but she was its top ranking graduate this year and the first woman in the country to graduate from a four- year maritime school. The 26- year-old woman graduated with 104 classmates as an ensign with full qualifications as a third mate. Winning 57 per cent of the vote, 20-ycar-old Anna Maria Start the with whiter teeth and fresh breath. Gioseup regular flavor and fresh mint Ring in your New Year by brushing with Close-upi'' toothpaste and you'll have whiter teeth and fresh breath. Close-up is the only toothpaste that combines 2 special whiteners and a real mouthwash in a clear gel.

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Clinton lowa5J734 Coupon Expires Dec 31. 1977 Limit one coupon per puictiase Riccio became the first woman in the Polytechnic Institute of New Yorlt's 121-ycar history to serve as president of its student council. The engineering and science school has 4,600 students, of which fewer than 8 percent are women. Women total only 2 per cent of the New York Law School's graduates, but Sylvia D. Garland was elected by the Alumni Association as its first woman president.

The Harvard Law Ucvlew elected its first woman president; 23-year-old Susan Estrlch of Cambridge, a sccon- dyear student ot the Harvard Law School. Dr, Rosalyn Yalow became the first woman lo receive an Albert Laskcr Basic Medical Research Award in the history of the prizes. Named To Honors Dr. Sarah Kerr Myers, who has served as editor of the American Geographical Society's quarterly Geographical Review since 1973, became the first woman director of the society in its 124-ycar history. Sarah Caldwell, who has her own opera company in Boston, where she stages and conducts, became the first woman ever to conduct at the New York Metropolitan Opera since it opened in 1883.

Sylvia B. Mathis, 26, a 1975 graduate of the University of North Carolina's Law School, became the first black woman to be recruited as an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Roberta Kankus, 23-year-old graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, became the first woman in the United States, and perhaps In the world, to be licensed as a commercial nuclear power plant operator. Gwendolyn Brooks, the poet who In 1950 was the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, became the first black woman to be elected to the 250-member National Institute of Arts and Letters. Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson was named as the first woman Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

In other lands, women were racking up firsts also. Just a month after Britain's new laws against sex discrimination went into effect', Libby Howie, 24, became the first woman auctioneer in the 232-year history of Sotheby's, London fine arts dealers. Jo Marshall, 48, had broken the British barrier just a week previously by conducting an auction for the 149-year-old firm of Phillips Sons and Ncale. The 56-year-old League of Women Voters, which has accepted men as members for the last two years, considered dropping "Women" from its name at Its biennial convention, then voted overwhelmingly to keep the old name. Meanwhile, the Boy Scouts' executive board decided to give women greater leadership roles in the organization within limits.

Formerly allowed to serve only as "den mothers" ot Cub Scouts, they may now serve as cubmaster and assistant cub- master but are still barred from scoutmaster or assistant scoutmaster. A resolution passed by the House of Bishops and House ot Deputies of the 2.9- mllllonmember Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women as priests and bishops. Traditional Beauty Fetes Women were competing against men In nearly every field, but they were still competing against their own sex in the traditional beauty contests. Barbara Elaine Peterson, 22, was chosen Miss U.S.A. and her sister, Polly, 17, won the Miss Teen-Age Minnesota title.

Rlna Messlngcr, 20, former Israeli soldier and more recently a gliding Instructor, was named Miss Universe. Miss Jamaica, 22-yearold Cindy Brcakspeare, was chosen Miss World 1076. Dorothy Kathleen Benham, 20, of Edina, was crowned Miss America 1977 at the annual pageant in Atlantic City. The 5 foot Vk, 120-pound blonde is a Junior at Macaicster College in St. Paul, majoring In vocal performance.

Twanna D. Kllgore, 21, of Washington, D.C., was chosen Miss Black America. An English major at Fedcrol City College, she hopes to pursue a career In the arts. Actress Angle Dickinson was named Woman of the Year by the Hollywood Radio and Television Society, tor the success of her TV scries, "Police Woman," the fourth woman ever to be given the society's top honor. Tatum O'Neal, 12, was named "Female Star of the Year" by the National Association of Theater Owners.

Dolly Parton, 30, was named top female vocalist for the second straight year by the Country Music Association. Anthropologist and author Margaret Mead, 74, was inducted Inlo the Women's Hall of. Fame, located at Seneca Falls, NY. For the second consecutive year, Trina Jarlsh, 34, of Costa Mesa, won the Powder Puff Derby cross-country air race. The race was sponsored by the Ninety-Nines, an organization of women pilots, who announced It was their last race.

Crime It wasn't all good news for women during 1976. In the area of crime, they made their share of headlines. Sara Jane Moore, 45, was sentenced to life In prison, the maximum sentence prescribed by law, for attempting to kill President Ford on Sept. 22.1975. Patricia Hearst, 22, was back with her family (or the first time in almost three years, out on ball while appealing her bank robbery conviction for which she was sentenced to seven years In prison.

Actress Louise Lasser, 33, star of the TV soap opera, "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," completed a six-month diversionary program on a charge of possession of cocaine. The program Is designed for first-time drug offenders. Caril Ann Fugate, 32, was paroled after spending more than half her life in confinement. She was 14 when she accompanied Charles Starkweather on an 11-murder rampage. Divorce, Family second time, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were divorced.

She later married former Navy Secretary John Warner. Princess Margaret, 45, and the Earl of Snowdcn, 46, separated after 16, years of marriage. Along wllh the marriage rate, the country's birth rate continued to decline; the National Center (or Health Statistics said that the 1975 birth rate had dropped to 14.8 births per 1,000 population, compared with 14,9 In 1974. Abortion continued to be a big Issue, even in the election campaign and in rulings on two major issues the Supreme Court declared: A woman does not need the consent o( her husband to have an abortion; and a girl under 18 does not need the consent o( a parent to have an abortion. Meanwhile, a U.N.

study reported that more than twothirds o( the world's women now have access to abortions in their countries double the number o( (Ive years ago. ERAmerIca, an organization whose sole objective is ratidca- Hon o( the Equal Rights Amendment, opened its national lieadquartcrs In Washington In February with a $50 gl(t (ronii Betty Ford. Officials said the organization would combat "the lies and misrepresentations of the opposition." However, backers of the amendment who had hoped to see It ratified during the bicentennial year were disappointed. At year's end it was stalled, having passed In 34 o( the 38 states needed (or ratldcatlon. The tlrst International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women was held In Brussels with women (rom 28 countries attending.

Organizers said the five-day meeting produced a permanent network of contacts for planning International feminist strategy. Impact In Sports In sports, too, women were seeking to prove their equality with men. Janet Guthrie, 38year-old physicist who tried but failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, became the first female driver to participate in a major stock race. She finished ISth In the $249,155 World 600 at Charlotte, N.C. Sheila Young, 25, of Detroit, became the first American athlete male or female to win three medals In one year in the winter Olympics.

At Innsbruck, Austria, she captured the gold (500 meters), silver (1,500 meters) and bronze (1,000 meters) medals In speed skating. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that American divorces topped the one million mark In 1975 for the first time and that the nation's divorce rate was rising by nearly 5 per cent annually. The marriage rale was dropping by about 4 per cent, although an estimated 2.1 million couples were married In 1975. The marriage rate may have been dropping In real life, but in the comic strip world, perennially-young, red-haired reporter Brenda Starr finally married her "mystercaman." Basil St. John, whom she had been chasing (or three decades.

Among real-li(e mergers: Doris Day, 52, (limdom's "girlnext-door," and Barry D. Comden, 41, a Beverly Hills restaurateur; her (ourth marriage, his second. Nora Bphron, 34, columnist and (rce-lancc writer, and Carl Bernstein, 32, o( the Washington Post's Watergate reporting team; second marriage (or each. Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, 56, and Michael O'Hara, 47 seventh marriage (or her; fourth (or him. Contributing to the year's divorce statistics was television's Barbara Walters, who was granted an uncontested divorce (rom Lee Guber.

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national competition. In the Summer Olympics In Montreal, Nadia Comaneci o( Romania became the darling of the press, the spectators and the television audiences. The 14-year-old, 88-pound gymnast amassed seven perfect 10.0 scores and came away with three of the five Individual gold medals, including the allaround championship as the world's best woman gymnast. JoAnnc earner, 37, won the U.S. Women's Open golf championship, and Judy Rankin, 31, was honored by the Ladies Professional Golf Association as the first woman golfer to earn $100,000 in a single year.

Tina Blschoff, 17, of Columbus, Ohio, broke the world record for a one-way swim of the English Channel, crossing from Dover to the French coast in 9 hours 3 minutes. Australian Linda McGill, 29, became the first person to swim around Hong Kong Island, a distance of more than 28 miles. "My main problem was boredom and Jelly fish," she said of the 17-hour battle In rough seas, adding that she swam topless most of the way because a strap was irritating her. Chris Evert won her second Wimbledon women's singles title and retained her U.S. Open tennis title both with wins over Evonne Goolagong.

The world's top-ranked woman player, 21, racked up numerous other wins during the year. Including the $50,000 first prize In the L'Eggs World Series of Women's Tennis. She received a trophy and a check for $10,000 as winner of the first Woman Athlete of the World award and was voted womenSports Athlete of the Year by readers of that magazine. The Women's Tennis led by Miss Evert, announced that unless women got the same prize money as the men, the world's top women tennis stars would boycott Wimbledon In 1977. In a compromise agreement, the women's purse was made 80 per cent of the men's.

Anna Leider, 16-year-old Alexandria, high school Junior, won first prize In the National Football League's Bicentennial scholarship essay contest, discussing the NFL's role In American history..