Last spring, Carroll County Newspapers introduced A Celebration of Women. This publication featured some of the special women in the area, along with some articles about women's history.

In 2008, we are building on the success of last year's product. This year's edition includes more of the special women of the county, in shorter and lighter presentations.

These women were chosen for a variety of reasons. They are not always the most important or most famous women in Carroll County, but each one has a unique place in our community.

Carroll County's population includes about 14,000 women. This publication includes sketches of 13 women, roughly one in a thousand.

When I approached the women who appear on these pages, I carefully explained I didn't plan a list of the 13 most wonderful women in the county. I doubt any of them would have felt comfortable with such a distinction.

No, we have plenty of wonderful women here, and I wouldn't dream of ranking them. Instead, I tried to choose a representative sampling of wonderful women.

Since my bosses let me pick the women for this issue, it made my job a lot easier. I admire them all, for different reasons, and it was easy for me to write about them. The only hard part was having to stop at 500 words. Because no woman can be reduced to 500 words, especially the ones featured in these pages.

With the limited space, we just had room to tell you a little about each of them, what they do, and what makes them special. If you don't already know them, I hope you someday have that opportunity.

I'd like to say "thank you" again to all the women who shared something of themselves in this publication. They let me into their homes and into their lives, and they made this a very enjoyable assignment. It has been a privilege to write about each and every one of them.

And a special "Thank You" goes to Valerie Damon for the front cover, and to Clare Doss for her insight into local author Cora Pinkley Call, whose "reading cabin" is preserved next to the Eureka Springs Historical Museum. That feature appears on pages 10-11.

This publication comes out just in time for March, which is Women's History Month. Mixed in with these personal profiles you'll find articles on the important struggles women have endured, and the battles still being waged.

Some of the articles in this issue touch upon the limitations imposed on women throughout history, especially the history of this country.

The goal of every suffrage march, or every lawsuit over workplace issues, has been to give women the same rights as men. The women on the front edge of that struggle had to take militant and dramatic steps. To win that equality, they faced ridicule, as a minimum. (See "What can the matter be?" on page 4.)

So what if girls are growing up today without much knowledge of suffragettes? Maybe Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton would feel like they had done their job well, to know that girls would grow up taking their contributions for granted. On the other hand, maybe girls should learn about women's history just to remain a little indignant.

After all, isn't it almost unthinkable today to consider that this country was almost 150 years old before a woman could cast a vote? Can we really believe that less than 50 years ago, a company could advertise in a newspaper with want ads classified by gender? Sometimes the identical ad appeared in both sections, although the two ads always specified higher wages for a man.

Wage discrepancies still exist, but the gap is closing, and women also have more opportunities than ever before to fill positions once reserved for men.

It's also hard to believe that schools supported by tax revenues treated girls' athletics as an afterthought for so long. The article on page 9 explains a little of the history of legislation to "level the playing field," not just in athletics, but in any publicly-funded program.

This issue concludes with a look ahead. At this singular point in history, a woman is one of the three candidates still in serious contention for the presidency. A few heartbeats away from the presidency is another woman, who as Speaker of the House is third in the line of succession.

Win or lose, Hillary Clinton will pave the way for other women, who will be judged on the basis of real issues, and not because of their gender.