GM FYI Blog

By Carolyn Markey
Manager, Policy and Washington Communications

March is Women’s History Month. This year, GM is proud to have helped celebrate the lives of two very accomplished American women: race car driver Shirley Muldowney and educator and political leader Mary McLeod Bethune.

Here in Washington, D.C., radio spots celebrating the lives of these two women ran on two local stations. The spots were introduced by media personalities Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts, and narrated by GM Vice President for Energy and Environment Beth Lowery.

In case you don’t know…

Mary McLeod Bethune, who was born to former slaves a decade after the end of the Civil War, devoted her life to fighting for the right to education and freedom from discrimination for African Americans. She founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls (now Bethune-Cookman College) in 1904, championed civil rights through the National Council of Negro Women, and later, within Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the National Youth Administration, worked to attack discrimination and increase opportunities for African Americans.

Shirley Muldowney is the most successful female drag racer of all time. She was the first woman to receive a license to drive a top-fuel dragster by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). In 2004, she was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Listen to Mary McLeod Bethune’s 60-second spot
Listen to Shirley Muldowney’s 60-second spot