WE Celebrate: Women’s History Month | Colonial School District

WE Celebrate: Elizabeth Margie

Few know that Elizabeth Margie was the original inventor of the still highly popular board game Monopoly that was patented in 1903. Initially, she called it the Landlord’s Game. Margie was a Quaker and had invented the game as a reflection on the greed of landlords...

We Celebrate: Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper was a computer pioneer and naval officer. She received a master’s degree (1930) and a Ph.D. (1934) in mathematics from Yale. One of the first three modern “programmers,” Hopper is best known for her trailblazing contributions to the development of...

WE Celebrate: Henrietta Johnson

Henrietta Johnson made political history in Delaware by becoming the first Black woman elected to the Delaware General Assembly House of Representatives. She served four 2-year terms representing the people of the 3rd district in Wilmington. During her years in the...

WE Celebrate: Annie Jump Cannon

Annie Jump Cannon was born on December 11, 1863, in Dover, Delaware. She was interested in astronomy from a young age, as she and her mother referenced an old astronomy textbook to identify stars seen from their attic. She attended Wilmington Conference Academy, today...

WE Celebrate: Tamika Montgomery-Reeves

The Honorable Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves is a lawyer and the first African American to serve as an Associate Justice on the Delaware Supreme Court. After graduating from the University of Mississippi at the top of her class in 2003, and the University of Georgia...

WE Celebrate: Sarah McBride

Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride is the first transgender state senator in the country, making her the highest-ranking transgender official in the United States. Born August 9, 1990, she won in a Democratic primary September 15, 2020. She is currently the...

WE Celebrate: Ruth Ann Minner

Delaware’s First Female Governor Delaware’s first female governor was elected in 2000. She had secured the Democratic nomination after her long years in the General Assembly, as Lieutenant Governor and her demonstrated ability to run a campaign by her large statewide...

We Celebrate: Paulette Sullivan Moore

Paulette Sullivan Moore is Delaware’s first African American female lawyer. She completed her legal education at Rutgers University Law School (1976). In 1977, Moore became the first African American female admitted to practice law in Delaware. In the same year, she...

WE Celebrate: Pauline A. Young

Pauline Young was an African-American teacher, librarian, historian, lecturer, community activist, humanitarian in Delaware. She was a devoted lifelong member of her local and the national chapter of the NAACP. Born in Massachusetts, Young grew up near an underground...

WE Celebrate: Velma Scantlebury

Velma P. Scantlebury, M.D, FACS , the associate director of the Kidney Transplant Program at Christiana Care, is the first African American female transplant surgeon. She accepted a position at Christiana Care after working at the University of South Alabama’s...

WE Celebrate: The Real Betty Boop – Esther Jones

Esther Jones is the name of the real Betty Boop. The iconic cartoon character Betty Boop was inspired by a Black jazz singer in Harlem. Introduced by cartoonist Max Fleischer in 1930, the caricature of the jazz age flapper was the first and most famous sex symbol in...

WE Celebrate: Dr. LaVerne Harmon

Dr. LaVerne Harmon became President of Wilmington University in July of 2017 after being unanimously approved by its Board of Trustees. She is the first African-American woman to be named the president of a college or university in Delaware. Dr. Harmon holds a...

WE Celebrate: Emily Bissell

Born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1861, Emily Bissell is known for being the founder of Wilmington’s first public kindergarten. She is also known for her efforts to introduce child labor laws in Delaware. In 1883, she founded an organization, now known as the West End...

WE Celebrate: Margaret Irving Handy

Margaret Irving Handy was born in Smyrna, Delaware, and was the daughter of L. Irving Handy, a U.S. Representative. After graduating from medical school, she was the first female native-born Delawarean to become a doctor and was also the state’s first pediatrician....

WE Celebrate! Kathleen H. Wilbur

Kathleen H. Wilbur dedicated her life to caring for others as a registered nurse and worked for both the Veterans Affairs Hospital and later the Delaware State Hospital. Active in her community, Kathleen served as a member of the former DeLaWarr School District, would...

WE Celebrate: Catherine Boyle

Mrs. Catherine Boyle, a New Castle resident, was a munitions worker during World War I. She was arrested during a suffrage watchfire demonstration in January 1919 and was sentenced to five days in jail. Boyle began contributing to the Congressional Union, the...

WE Celebrate! Rosemary (Roe) Bianchini

Roe Bianchini became a member of William Penn High School’s (WPHS) faculty in 1969. After 26 years as the winning field hockey and softball coach at WPHS she was inducted into the Delaware Hall of Fame. In 2015, she was inducted into William Penn’s Hall of Fame....

WE Celebrate: Jill Biden-First Lady

Jill Biden, Ed.D., is the First Lady of the United States, a community college educator, and a former public school teacher. In 1976, Jill Biden began teaching English at St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington. She then became a reading specialist at Claymont High...

WE Celebrate: Barbara Proud

Barbara B. Proud, a professional commercial and fine art photographer, graduated from William Penn High School in 1974, second in her class with a 4.0 average, and gave the salutatorian speech at her graduation. She was actively involved in school activities and...