GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Goodfellow service members celebrated Women’s Equality Day with food and questions for a leadership panel at the Taylor Chapel on Goodfellow Aug. 24.
Hosted by one of Goodfellow’s tenant units, the Army’s 344th Military Intelligence Battalion, the event started with a reading from “How Women won the Vote” by Robert P. J. Cooney, Jr. Highlighting the struggle and hard work that women made during the American Women Suffrage Movement.
Established in 1973, Women’s Equality Day is celebrated annually on Aug. 26, to remember the day that the Women’s Suffrage Movement won women in America the right to vote in 1919. It also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality.
The reading was followed by guest speaker, retired Chief Master Sgt. Kathleen Prince, Central High School Junior ROTC instructor, recounting her time in the Air Force.
“I only ever had one person tell me they had a problem with me being in the military and doing my job as a woman,” said Prince. “I just let them know that as long as it didn’t prevent me from doing my job, they were entitled to their own opinion, we never had a problem after that.”
After Prince shared her experiences in the military and the differences she has seen throughout the years, a joint service leadership panel relayed their experiences and how to tackle the negativity that may come with being a woman in the military.
Before and after the event, individuals had the opportunity to look at displays of women who played key roles in the Women’s Suffrage Movement.
One of the highlighted individuals included Susan B. Anthony, an American social reformer and women’s rights activist who played a pivotal role in the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Beginning at the age of 16, she collected petitions, organized conventions and was a part of the Underground Railroad.
The Nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed the right of American women to vote, was colloquially known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. She also became the first actual woman to be depicted on U.S. coinage, when her portrait appeared on the 1979 dollar coin.
Chief Master Sgt. Shae Gee, 17th Training Group superintendent, highlighted how women are no longer barred from any job in the military.
“Even when I joined there was an image that everyone was trying to preserve about women not being in combat occupations,” said Gee. “That has changed, now as long as you can meet the criteria for that job you can take it, doesn’t matter your gender.”