Wonder Woman of comic book fame sprang from the pen of cartoonist William Moulton Marston in 1941, endowed with compassion, honesty, courage, strength and wisdom.
The Wonder Woman Foundation the other day gave awards to 18 women over 40 who have demonstrated Wonder Woman traits. Each also got $7,500.
'The categories used in this award program are unique -- they are based directly on the character traits of Wonder Woman,' Ms. Kahn, president and publisher of DC Comics Inc. said.
It was Ms. Kahn's idea to set up the awards program to honor the 40th anniversary of Wonder Woman.
The Wonder Woman Foundation was set up last year by Warner Communications Inc. and its DC Comics subsidiary. The search for candidates ended July 15. Then panels in four regions of the country reviewed more than 1,300 nominations.
The final selection was made by a Wonder Woman Foundation board.
The 18 winners were presented their cash awards at a ceremony in New York. Co-hosting were Hugh Downs of ABC television and Gloria Steinem of Ms. Magazine. Passing out the checks were Judy Collins, Jean Stapleton, Marlo Thomas, Susan Taylor and Joan Mondale.
'This is a new kind of program,' Ms. Koryne Horbal, executive director of the Wonder Woman Foundation, said. 'It calls attention not only to the fact of these women's accomplishment, but to the method.
'The Wonder Woman Awards Foundation awards program focuses less on achievement for its own sake in favor of achievement as it springs from personal growth.
'We established the awards program to broaden and deepen the concept of what it means to be an American woman in 1982.'
The financial awards are meant to assist women whose patttern of growth and acheivement suggests future contributions.
The winners:
Women pursuing truth:
-Dr.Christine Wells, Tempe, Ariz., for research and writing about sports medicine for women.
-Karen Ferguson, Washington, D.C., founder and director of the Pension Rights Center.
Women creating new realities:
-Ann Burlak Timpson, Jamaica Plain, Mass., labor leader who as executive secretary of the National Textile Workers Union worked for passage of the Wagner Act and for unemployment insurance, and campaigned for federally-financed child care.
-Rosetta Reitz, New York City, reared three daughters alone and wrote a book on menopause. In progress: a tome on great women jazz musicians.
-Harriet Bell, New York City, a polio victim who supervised the rearing of her three children from her wheelchair. The Polio Information Center she founded is operated from her bedroom as a resource center for the nation's 250,000 post-polio victims.
-Rita Webb Smith, New York City, organized blockwatchers in Harlem and organized sensitivity training programs for neighborhood police. At Harlem Hospital she counsels those troubled by alcohol and drug abuse.
-Robin Morgan, New York City, poet and author of feminist books. In progress: 'Sisterhood is Global.'
Women striving for equality and peace:
-Mim Kelber, New York City, is a feminist writer working on 'At Sword's Point: Women and War.'
-Jane Roberts Chapman, Chevy Chase, Md., co-founded and became director of the Center for Women's Policy Studies in Washington.
-Dr. Anita Bracy Brooks, Mineapolis, Minn., founded a Black Family Development Consortium.
Women taking risks:
-Virginia Currey, Dallas, Texas, a champion of sexual equality, she wasre-elected this fall to the Texas State School Board.
-Eula Hall, Craynor, Ky., married at 17, the mother of five, she brought health care to her community. The Mud Creek Health Clinic also provides paralegal assistance to 14,000.
-Ada Deer, Madison, Wis., as chief of the of the Menominee tribe obtained $1 million for a health clinic, and $7 million for a lumber mill.
-Mae Bertha Carter, Drew, Miss., a mother of 13, fought inequality in schools and became an officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Women helping women:
-Pauline Cardenas, McAllen, Texas, helped wommen in her Mexican-American community. Now studying to be a midwife.
-Lupe Anguiano, San Antonio, Texas, founded National Women's Employment and Education Inc., that aims to make women self-supporting.
-Phyllis Old Dog Cross, Rapid City, S.D., combines Indian healing traditions with modern medicine. She is a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa Tribe.
-Muriel Vaughan, Saint Paul, Minn., lobbyist for feminist causes.
