Women Who Rock Our Socks II
Photo credit: Wikipedia, PBS.org, Harvard Gazette
Brownie Wise was born Brownie Mae Humphrey in 1913, in Buford, Georgia. She dropped out of school in the 8th grade, and is said to have worked with her mother, an organizer for a hat maker’s union.
Brownie harbored dreams of becoming a writer and illustrator, and after she married Robert Wise in 1936, she began to submit contributions to the Detroit News’ Experience column. Brownie’s pen name was Hibiscus, and she wrote about a fantastical life in a mansion filled with servants and a devoted husband. Life at home was far from ideal, however. Her husband was an alcoholic, and they eventually divorced in 1942.
Left with a three-year-old son, Jerry, who had expensive medical bills she had to make ends meet. She worked as a salesperson and a secretary, then started showing cleaning aids and brushes in home party demonstrations for Stanley Home Products. Home party demonstrations were meet-ups in which women would show how products worked and sell them to their friends and neighbors.
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Women who rock our socks I
Shirley ‘Cha Cha’ Muldowney is the first in our series honoring women we find inspiring over here at Amanda Uprichard. Born Shirley Ann Roque in Schenectady, New York, Cha Cha Muldowney was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), at a time when drag racing was considered a man’s world. She became the first woman to win the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982. She was one of the few female athletes who competed with men and beat them at their game.
Some facts about Cha Cha Muldowney:
-Her husband, Jack Muldowney, whom she married at 16, built her first dragster for her.
-She was the first person to win two and three top fuel championships.
-In 1984, she suffered a crash that broke her hands, pelvis and legs. She had to go through several surgical operations and 18 months of physical therapy. She returned to racing two years later.
-She retired from professional racing in 2003.
All photos courtesy of Shirley Muldowney’s official website
Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don’t unravel.
The dress must not hang on the body but follow its lines. It must accompany its wearer and when a woman smiles the dress must smile with her.
—Madeleine Vionnet, French fashion designer, the queen of the bias cut.
