Service members and civilian teammates attached to Military Sealift Command gathered onboard Naval Station Norfolk to celebrate Women's History Month, March 16.

The annual special observance was organized by the MSC Equal Employment Opportunity program to honor the contributions and sacrifices of women-in-service throughout America's history.
Dr. Christine Darden, a retired NASA senior executive service member and key mathematician featured in the best-selling historical, non-fiction book turned hit movie, "Hidden Figures," was the keynote speaker for the celebration.

"I am grateful for the many women in our country's history who have done so much for our country," said Darden.

"We still have a lot of young women in the country who fear the math and science fields who still believe 'women are just not good in these fields' and pursue other professions," according to Darden. "I would like to encourage young women across the country to take Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) courses. I want to encourage women to become engineers and to go into the science fields because I believe we are currently missing out on an awful lot of talent."

Darden not only encouraged women to take on professions in these critical fields, but to perform in their careers at a high level.

"I encourage the women in our country to first and foremost, do their work well," said Darden. "At NASA, we were hired to do a job, and despite the discrimination and obstacles faced by women in the workplace at the time, we did our work well."

"Hidden Figures" documented the efforts and accomplishments of a team of women mathematicians who worked for NASA during the 1960-70s "Space Race."

"The women at NASA used their voices and spoke up in defense of what they wanted professionally, such as the desire to become a supervisor or an engineer," added Darden. "Also, we wanted to be in the meetings with the generals and other leaders because we were going to do the calculations based on information presented in those meeting. Otherwise, we had to receive the information needed for our work second and third hand."

"We spoke up for these things at NASA and ultimately achieved all of the things we set out to," said Darden.

The celebration also included reading of the 2017 Women's History Month Presidential Proclamation by MSC civilian teammate Stephanie Edwards.

"America honors the celebrated women pioneers and leaders in our history, as well as those unsung women heroes of our daily lives," Edwards read from the proclamation. "We honor those outstanding women, whose contributions to our nation's life, culture, history, economy, and families have shaped us and helped us fulfill America's promise. Millions of bold, fearless women have succeeded as entrepreneurs and in the workplace, all the while remaining the backbone of our families, our communities, and our country."

Women's History Month can be traced back to its first celebration in 1911, which was called International Women's Day. In 1987, the observance evolved into Women's History Month and was initially designed to promote equality between the sexes in America's schools.

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