YOUNGSTOWN POST OFFICE Event honors women who left their stamp

The post office honored women of courage and vision of the past and present.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The leadership potential of women is unlimited, speakers said Monday at a U.S. Postal Service commemoration of National Women's History Month.
"History has shown us that women have been instrumental in every turn of every century, and today I believe that women can do anything they set their minds to in business, in their professions and even at home," said Liz Lopez, owner of the All Around Travel Agency in Campbell and an affiliated travel agents' school and of the J & amp;L Shell Gasoline Station in Campbell.
Women are commonly found in law, medicine and the construction trades besides the more traditional roles of nursing and secretarial work and skilled construction trades, she told an audience during a ceremony at the main post office here.
"The only requirements are determination, flexibility, time and dedication," Lopez said.
On display were numerous commemmorative stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service in recent years in a "Women Putting Our Stamp on America" series.
Theme: The event's theme was "Celebrating Women of Courage and Vision."
"By honoring women's courage and vision, we set a new standard for our children and ourselves. This will allow us to provide a beacon of hope and inspiration for future generations," said Clarice R. Perry, diversity coordinator at Youngstown State University.
"We must begin to understand the word 'stamp' in this case means more than postage paid. It is also a metaphor for women having made their mark and left a definite impression on American history."
Rosa Parks: Dorothy Collins, multicultural student services coordinator at YSU, noted that a woman named Rosa Parks launched the civil rights movement in 1955 when she triggered the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott by being arrested for refusing to give up her seat near the front of a bus to a white man.
"Everyone has dignity and self-respect, and you should not set your sights lower, no matter what the odds are, because any goal can be achieved," she said.
Patricia Davis, who became Youngstown postmaster last year, conducted a similar ceremony Feb. 26 for the unveiling of a stamp honoring the late Roy Wilkins, civil rights leader and NAACP executive director from 1955-77.
She intends to regularly conduct events to promote community involvement .