Ride Sally Ride!

A space note from the Brave Astronaut. As noted here before, I have several blog posts running around in my head, but here is something to be noted for this day in history.

Sally Ride becomes the first woman to ride on the space shuttle and thereby the first American woman in space.

A Sad Day for New York

A very sad day for New York today. First is the loss of the legend that was Phil Rizzuto. I could go on for hours about the Scooter, but if he talked first, everyone would have left by now. His Hall of Fame induction speech in 1994 is a classic. And of course, he will be forever memorialized with his words here. You can go watch the video here. An interesting fact I learned today, Rizzuto was the oldest hall of fame member still living. His loss leaves only Yogi Berra as one of the last members of the Yankee dynasty that won seven World Series in nine years.

I hate to mention that the Orioles were mean to the Yankees tonight, pummeling the boys from the Bronx, 12-0, while in Boston the Red Sox came back in the ninth inning to beat the Devil Rays, 2-1. The gap is back to 5 games.

Secondly, as an archivist who worked for the Rockefeller family, I noted with sadness the passing of Brooke Astor. At 105, she had become a recluse and was still in the news recently with allegations of elder abuse by her son. And for some mandatory archival content, her obituary in the New York Times, noted the following.

"Mrs. Astor kept the diaries, letters and drawings from her childhood travels squirreled away in Briarcliff Manor in a closet that she called her “archive room.” Some of her early drawings, poems and plays were reproduced in an illustrated edition of “Patchwork Child: Early Memories,” published in 1993."

Lady Bird Johnson, 1912-2007

[There is no shortage of testimonials about Lady Bird Johnson. The majority of the biographical information below comes from the Lady Bird Johnson Final Tribute page, being hosted on the website for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.]

A significant loss for our country this week. With the passing of Lady Bird Johnson, America is down a first lady, and a real lady at that. Lady Bird Johnson died this week at her home in Austin, Texas. In failing health for several years, she was 94 years old, but that does not earn her the record as the longest-lived First Lady. That record is held by Bess Truman, who died in 1982 at the age of 97. Lady Bird lived nearly 25 years longer than her husband, who died of a heart attack in 1973.

Lady Bird inspired the passage of the Beautification Act of 1965, which made environmentalism a top priority in the United States. The Johnsons had a true political marriage, serving as Lyndon Johnson's closest advisor as he rose from Congressman to Senator to Vice President to President.

Claudia Alta Taylor's mother died when she was five years old. She graduated high school and enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with two Bachelor's degrees, one in journalism and the second in History.

Lady Bird met a tall, ambitious man when Lyndon Johnson was a Congressional secretary visiting Austin on official business. They were engaged just seven weeks after their first date and married in November 1934. Mrs. Johnson recalled that “sometimes Lyndon simply [took] your breath away.” Her life with Lyndon Johnson was one of such achievement in politics, business and philanthropy it left those around them breathless, too.

Lady Bird was a tireless campaigner and political "operative." While Lyndon served in World War II, she ran his Congressional office singlehandedly. In 1960, she covered 35,000 miles for the Kennedy/Johnson ticket. When Lyndon ran for election in his own right in 1964, she campaigned independently on a whistle-stop train throughout the South for the ticket.

There is the indelible image of a grim-faced Lady Bird Johnson standing next to her husband on the fateful November day in 1963 when Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States after the assassination of John Kennedy. There was a recent exhibit at the National Archives in Washington, DC, "Eyewitness to History," in which Lady Bird captured her thoughts on the days events. You can read them here. You can hear her words here.

There has been a fair amount of archival content in the news this week. More to come tomorrow. For now, rest well, Lady Bird.

That's Why They Call Them Mothers

Today would have been my mother's 77th birthday. I find myself thinking about her and the things she used to say to me, those "momilies" that we all have and hold on to. My mother loved politics and lived in New York and voted for Hillary when she ran for Senate. I think I got my love of politics from her. I used to impress her when we would watch the State of the Union or some political event with rattling off the names of the politicos on the screen.

It also is the 25th anniversary of the day that Congress sent the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. Although we all realize how that turned out.

I noted the other day in the Washington Post that Hillary Clinton had said during an appearance on the View, when asked if being a mother would help her as a presidential candidate, "We've never had a mother who ever ran for or held that position."

Um, Hil, grab a textbook for me, will ya? You are not the first mother to run for President. Not even close.

• Victoria Claflin Woodhull - She ran in 1872 (with Ulysses Grant and Horace Greeley getting all the press) and was also the first woman to own a Wall Street investment firm.
• Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood - 1884 (Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine) and 1888 (Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison). She was also the first woman lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court.
• Patsy Takemoto Mink - 1972 (Richard Nixon vs. George McGovern) Democratic Primary in Oregon. She was the first woman of color to serve in the Congress.
• Ellen McCormack - She ran in 20 primaries in 1976 (Gerald Ford vs. Jimmy Carter) and became the first woman to qualify for federal matching funds and Secret Service protection. She also ran again as the Right to Life candidate in 1980.
• Sonia Johnson - Headed the ticket of the Citizen's Party in 1984 (Ronald Reagan vs. Walter Mondale) and also qualified for federal matching funds.
• Lenora Fulani - The first woman and the first African-American to appear as a presidential candidate in all 50 states, when she ran for president for the New Alliance Party in 1988 and 1992.
• Carol Moseley Braun - Ran in the 2004 Democratic primaries and was also the only African-American senator from 1993 to 1999.

In fairness to Mrs. Clinton, there were three other female candidates who did not have children.

• Elizabeth Dole, who ran in the Republican primaries in 2000.
• Shirley Chisolm, the first African American woman to run (in 1972)
• Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to have her name placed in nomination by a major party (in 1964).