The National Women’s Hall of Fame announced their 2019 inductees.
Cartoonist Rose O’Neill of Kewpies fame was among the chosen.
From the Hall’s O’Neill profile:
Rose O’Neill: (1874-1944)
As a successful artist, writer, businesswoman, and philanthropist, Rose boldly assisted with the activities of the woman suffrage movements coordinated by the National Woman’s Suffrage Association headquartered in New York City.From 1914-1918, O’Neill was well known as a “suffrage artist” during the suffrage campaigns in the United States.Her art was used for suffrage posters, flyers, and postcards that were circulated throughout the United States. The National Woman Suffrage Association selected women leaders to represent each of the various career fields for a Fourth of July celebration at the City College Stadium.O’Neill carried the “Illustrator” banner to represent women artists in their skit “Woman Suffrage Victory 1917 for New York State.”
O’Neill’s fashion illustrations were first published in Art-in-Dress magazine in the early 1890’s.Years later,
the March 1911 Good Housekeeping article featured fashion comments from “The Views of Distinguished Artists” to answer the question, “Are The Fashions Ugly?”O’Neill’s illustrations and article referenced corsets, “When woman runs again on noble, flat feet, and bends like Atalanta stooping for the golden apples, she will be beautiful once more, as of old.”
April 25, 1915, The New York Press article, “Leg Emancipation Women’s New Plea,” announced O’Neill’s participation as a judge on the Polymuriel Prize Fund Committee of New York.The article references her innovative fashion drawing depicting feminine, flowing, silky trousers that were covered with a tunic.O’Neill explained, “It is quite time that a decisive stroke was struck for the freedom of women, not only as regards to the suffrage question, and, of course, I am very keen on that, but on other matters.The first step is to free women from the yoke of modern fashions and modern dress.How can they hope to compete with men when they are boxed up tight in the clothes that are worn today?”
There were 10 honorees named today, the other inductees are: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; actress Jane Fonda; attorney Gloria Allred; Civil rights activist Angela Davis; Native American lawyer Sarah Deer; retired Air Force fighter pilot Nicole Malachowski; New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who died last year; composer Laurie Spiegel, and AIDS researcher Flossie Wong-Staal.
The National Women’s Hall of Fame inductees first class was honored in 1973.
After 46 years and 276 women, Rose is the first cartoonist to receive the honor.
The National Women’s Hall of Fame will celebrate the inclusion of these extraordinary women into the ranks of the inductees at the biennial induction ceremony on September 14, 2019, at the magnificent del Lago Resort & Casino, located outside of Seneca Falls, NY.
The 2019 National Women’s Hall of Fame inductees page.
The full list of the current Hall of Fame.
