Women’s History Month – IV

                                          presents

                      Women Who Made History IV

Norma Merrick Sklarek (1926 – 2012) was the first African American woman to pass her license exam to officially become an architect in both New York  (1954) and California (1962). Sklarek is most recognized for designing the United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan.  in 1976 and the Terminal One station at the Los Angeles International Airport in 1984.  After designing several buildings, she became the first black woman to own her own architectural practice. She earned the nickname “The Rosa Parks of Architecture” from Author Anna M Lewis for her major accomplishments as a black woman in a male-dominated field and continued to be a voice for women who were likely to face discrimination in certain careers.

 

Lauren Simmons is an American former stock trader for Rosenblatt Securities. On March 6, 2017, at age 22, she became the youngest and only current full-time female trader at the New York Stock Exchange. She also became the second African American woman in the Exchange’s 228-year history to have such a position.  Martina Edwards was Merrill Lynch’s first Black female broker ever to trade on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. She has received numerous awards for her achievement.

Karen L. Stevenson – In 1978, while attending the University of North Carolina, she was the first African-American woman selected as a Rhodes Scholar. She was accepted at Magdalen College in Oxford, England where she received an M.A. in European History. She eventually became the U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Central District Of California.  Judge Stevenson has been a member of the Editorial Board of the ABA’s Litigation News and Litigation Update since 2008 and served as Editor-in-Chief in 2014-15. She currently serves on the L.A. County Bar Association Litigation Section Executive Committee. She is a Trustee to the Rhodes Trust at Oxford University and the District Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship selection committee in Southern California.