Exhibit Celebrates Women’s History Month

A new Special Collections mini-exhibit, "Women Who Paved the Way," honors seven local women whose actions opened doors for future generations. The exhibit celebrates Women's History Month and runs through the end of March. 

Rachel Clark, Metadata Librarian, stated that these women's stories exemplify that anything is possible today. 

"They paved the way for other women to do things that women had never done before. They still have an impact that we see today," Rachel said. "We wanted to keep the exhibit as local as possible so that people could relate to it.” 

The women honored in this exhibit include: 

• Narcia McCurtain, of Choctaw and Cherokee heritage, was the first Indigenous American woman to be named Miss Arlington. She later competed in the 1979 Miss Texas pageant. At the time, she was a freshman at UTA. 

• Lucille Bishop Smith was an African American entrepreneur, chef and inventor. She invented the first hot biscuit mix. Her chili biscuits were served on American Airlines flights and at the White House during the Johnson administration. She has been called "the first African American businesswoman in Texas." 

• Wanda Jo Holiday became the first African American student at UTA to be elected homecoming queen in 1980.  

• Etta Hulme was the first female editorial cartoonist with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Her work started appearing in the Star-Telegram in 1972, and her last cartoon was published in December 2008.  

• Kalpana Chawla was the first female Indian-born astronaut and aerospace engineer. Chawla received her master's degree from UTA in 1984. She tragically lost her life in 2003 as a member of the Space Shuttle Columbia.  

• Carrie Rogers became Arlington's first female city marshal in 1914. The city of Arlington’s website states that Rogers was an entrepreneur building a hotel and numerous houses, up to a dozen a year. She wrote newspaper articles, was an activist and championed city improvements, from sidewalks to a new opera house to constructing the city's first swimming pool.  

• Martha Walker was the first woman elected to the Arlington City Council, serving from 1972 to 1982. Walker was involved with the Fielder Museum Project, the East Arlington renewal project and the North Texas Municipal League. On Oct. 20, 2016, the city of Arlington dedicated Martha Walker Park in her honor. 

The exhibit features photographs and artifacts that are connected with each of these women's lives. Some of these personal items include a copy of Chawla's thesis, paint brushes used by Hulme as a cartoonist, and a university yearbook that shows Holiday as homecoming queen. 

Heather Claney, Reference Services Manager, stated that it is important to share the stories of these women to inspire tomorrow's future leaders today. 

"When you look at Carrie Rogers, the first female city marshal, she had a huge impact on Arlington. It's incredible what she did," Heather said. "Four of these women are UTA alum, which I think will really speak to and resonate with our students. 

Sara Pezzoni, Photo Collections Coordinator, shared Heather's thoughts about how these women were pioneers in their field, accomplishing many career firsts. 

"In researching these women, they received so many accolades throughout their lifetime. I didn't realize that Lucille Bishop Smith had so many awards and so did Etta Hulme," Sara said. "When we wrote their bios for the exhibit, it was hard to capture all their accomplishments in one paragraph. Their achievements go beyond what we put out here, but we tried our best to capture it in this exhibit." 

The "Women Who Paved the Way" exhibit is on display in front of Special Collections on the sixth floor of the UTA Central Library through the end of March. 

If you don't have time to see the exhibit, visit Special Collections to learn about these women and others whose contributions have made our community a better place for everyone.