Searching for Barbara Hillary

Tip: If you are searching for Barbara Hillary remember to use quotation marks when typing Ms. Hillary's name in the search box. The reason I began searching for Barbara Hillary was to determine if there is an Associated Content article about this remarkable 75 year old woman. On one hand, I want the world to know about this senior lady's accomplishment. On the other hand, writing a "manufactured news story" is way too stressful for me. One of my biggest secrets: I am terrified of the Intellectual Property Rights Police. There are only so many words to rewrite a news article making those 400 words one's own.

When I read the news about Barbara Hillary, I emailed myself the article and there it sat on the back burner, while I waited to see an Associated Content front page headline: "75 Year Old Woman Reaches the North Pole". Of course, Barbara is no Hilton-Jolie-Spears or Simpson, so who cares? I do. The lady is an inspiration to all seniors and young~darest I say~pip-squeaks, as well. Whenever I start to delete that email, I think: "Yeah, but; this is interesting news...". Therefore I did a new Associated Content search to verify that no Content Producer has published the story.

Searching for Barbara Hillary without the quotation marks, of course brings up the usual articles about Hillary Clinton. Some results:

"Fun Facts About Presidential Pets" by Elliot Feldman is a fun article which mentions both Hillary Clinton and Barbara Bush. .
"Top Positive Portrayals of Moms in Movies" by Pam Gaulin mentions Hillary Duff and Barbara Harris.
"Rosie O'Donnell is Leaving the View After..." (long headline) by Kimberly West mentions Barbara Walters and Ms. Clinton. Some might debate the author's opinion of Ms. O'Donnell as a role model.

Sorted by date or relevance the first result was the same:

"Beaches - the Ultimate 'Chick Flick' " by Rebecca Green which mentions "Hillary Whitney Essex (Barbara Hershey)" and perhaps reveals too much of the plot to be a 5 Star movie review.

Other Barbara's mentioned were Streisand, Boxer, Palantone. Stanwyck and "Bob Cratchit Barbara Everest". Whatever could Bob Cratchit have to do with Hillary Clinton, I ask you. More ambiguous is "Terri Rimmer's Content Producer Page". A quick glance at Ms. Rimmer's titles did not show a connection between Ms. Rimmer, Barbara Hillary or Barbara and Hillary. Being an AC CP since August 2005, Terri does have a variety of articles on topics of interest; bound to be a Barbara and Hillary among them.

Searching for Barbara Hillary with the quote marks brings up zero results, so I share with you who she is.

Barbara Hillary retired from nursing and community activism at age 67. After battling lung cancer, she went dog sledding in Canada and photographed polar bears in Manitoba. Those adventures caused her to set her sights on visiting the North Pole. Prior to embarking on her trek to the North Pole she had to overcome some obstacles, such as scraping together $21,000. for the trip. Barbara decided being dropped off by a helicopter was not for her and opted for cross-country skiing. She hired a personal trainer to get in shape and took cross-country ski lessons.

Meghan Barr of the Associated Press tells us Ms. Hillary had never been on ski slopes before and quotes her as saying: "It wasn't a popular sport in Harlem", where she grew up. By accomplishing her goal to trek to the North Pole on skis at age 75, it is believed that Barbara Hillary is the first black woman to do so. Rep. Gregory Meeks introduced a Bill in Congress on June 6, 2007 to honor and recognize Barbara Hillary's accomplishments and for being the first African-American female to reach the North Pole.

If you go google searching for Barbara Hillary, be sure to use quotation marks to avoid getting many unrelated results. A google search result brought up "3 image results". The photographs clearly were not Barbara Hillary, the explorer; nor was the first topic result relating to a Playboy Centerfold. Use resource links for detailed account about Barbara Hillary andher visit to the North Pole.

Resource:
Meghan Barr, Associated Press, Black America Web, "First Black Woman, 75, Reaches the North Pole"
The Library of Congress H. Res. 466 on Thomas