The theme for Women’s History Month 2018 is “Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.” Among this year’s honorees is Geraldine Ferraro, who in 1984 became the first woman and first Italian American to be a vice presidential candidate.

Geraldine “Gerry” Ferraro (1935–2011) was the youngest of four and only daughter born to Antonetta Corrieri and Dominick Ferraro. Ferraro’s mother was born in America to Italian immigrant parents and worked as a seamstress. Her father was an Italian immigrant from Marcianise, Campania, Italy and owned two restaurants. After her father died of a heart attack in May 1944, the family fell on hard financial times and moved from Newburgh, NY, to a low-income area in the South Bronx.