County Executive Thomas P. Gordon on Thursday said three Delawareans will be honored in a “Great Women in History” program March 6 at Rockwood Park.
County Council Members John Cartier and Elisa Diller will co-host the 2-4 p.m. program, free and open to the public that Sunday to commemorate Women’s History Month.
Honored speakers will be Christiana Care’s Dr. Velma Scantlebury-White, the nation’s first African-American woman to become a transplant surgeon; author JoAnn Balingit, who was state poet laureate in 2008-15, and retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Carol Eggert, now Comcast cable TV vice president for military and veteran affairs. “All are true role models,” Gordon said.
“Honoring women’s history began with one day in 1911,” Gordon said, “but women’s inspiring and admirable achievements from sports to the arts truly merit our modern month-long tribute.”
Singer Leonette Davis-Collins also will entertain at the event in the county park Carriage House. The picturesque, historic building was owned and donated for public benefit by a woman, Nancy Hargraves, Cartier said, noting the site’s backstory “perfectly embodies” the event’s essence.
Exhibits at the event and county libraries will honor tennis icon Billie Jean King, art legend Frida Kahlo, dancer/activist Katherine Dunham and Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate, said Sophia Hanson, general manager of the Department of Community Services, the event sponsor. “Each year we honor four outstanding women,” Hanson said, adding, “All women stand on the strength of the foundation established by great women who came before us.”
After the “Great Women in History” program, guests are invited for free tours of Rockwood Mansion and its new display, “Victorians & Spiritualism: A Cultural Phenomenon.” Girl Scouts who attend the program will earn Women in History patches. For GPS use, Rockwood Museum & Park’s address is 4651 Washington Street Extension, Wilmington, DE 19809.
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