Today is Ellen Zwilich's birthday. She was the "first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music," says NWHP, in 1983. She won for her Symphony No. I (Three Movements for Orchestra), which was "commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and premiered by that orchestra on May 5, 1982 in Alice Tully Hall, New York City," says the Pulitzer Prize website.

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Harper Lee

Happy birthday to award-winning American author Harper Lee, famous for her novel To Kill A Mocking Bird.

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Leaders in Equality

Happy birthday to British author and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and civil rights advocate Coretta Scott King.

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Birthdays!

Happy birthday to blues artist Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and television actress Carol Burnett!

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Ella Fitzgerald

Happy Birthday to Ella Fitzgerald!

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Equal Pay Day

Today is Equal Pay Day, a holiday committed to raising awareness about the fact that there is a significant gap between what men are paid and what women are paid. Currently, women earns 77 cents for every dollar that men do.

What you can do to help:
Wear red to support the fair pay movement
Write to or call your senators and ask them to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act. Information on how to contact them, and background on the Act are here:
http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=10323036

Here are some great links:
http://www.pay-equity.org
http://www.wageproject.org/

Today's birthdays

Happy birthday to Charlotte Bronte and Queen Elizabeth II!

The Women's History Project