For millennia women have left their mark on the world, at times changing the course of history and at other times influencing small but significant spheres of life.I have listed just some of these famous women in American history below:
Jane Addams (1860-1935) - Social Activist, founder of Hull House, charter member of the NAACP, Nobel Peace Prize winner and labor union organizer.
Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906) - Napoleon of the women's suffrage movement, mother of the 19th Amendment, abolitionist.
Clara Barton (1821-1912) - Civil War nurse, founder of the American Red Cross.
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) - African-American sharecropper turned civil rights worker and founder of the MS Freedom Democratic Party.
Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) - First woman to run for President, center of a scandal that rocked the nation.
Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919) - Prisoner of war during the Civil War, writer, doctor, fashion trend-setter and the only female to receive the Medal of Honor.
Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) - First African-American U.S. Army nurse during the Civil War.
Alice Paul (1885-1977) - The woman who rescued the woman suffrage movement (1910) and made sure women got the vote.
Mother Mary Harris Jones (1837-1930) - Irish immigrant who lost her family to yellow fever and became the self-proclaimed mother and hell-raiser for the downtrodden American laborer, especially children.
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. In the 20th century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Perhaps most important, they fought for and to a large degree accomplished a reevaluation of traditional views of their role in society.
Melissa, this is one of my favorite topics and you did an excellent job in posting important woman figures. I was just curious, do you know what year Victoria Woodhull ran for the first woman president?
Jillian Hudon wrote: Melissa, this is one of my favorite topics and you did an excellent job in posting important woman figures. I was just curious, do you know what year Victoria Woodhull ran for the first woman president?
I got yo' back, Melissa. Victoria Woodhull ran for president in 1872 as a member of the Equal Rights Party. And her VP? Frederick Douglas.
check out the wiki article for an intersting discussion concerning the validity of her run...
Jillian Hudon wrote: Melissa, this is one of my favorite topics and you did an excellent job in posting important woman figures. I was just curious, do you know what year Victoria Woodhull ran for the first woman president?
i thought it was great to, i can't wait for the continuation but i was also wondering the same thing about the female president???
Emma Goldman is another important woman who could be included in this.
She was most known for her anarchist ideals and heavily influenced American anarchist philosophy.
She fought for women's rights, as well as workers rights and was involved in many strikes, such as the 1892 Homestead Strike.
She was arrested several times, once for inciting a riot(encouraging the unemployed to demand work and food), also for being believed to be involved in the conspiracy to assassinate President McKinley, and she was also arrested for distributing birth control literature.
We cant forget Elizabeth Cady Stanton A famous woman activist who, during the womens rights movement, wrote the Declaration of Sentiments.
In 1848 in Seneca Falls, she led women during the first womens rights convention.She also helped womens suffrage movements.
Other things she was concerned about were abortion, economic health of the family, divorce laws, employment rights, property rights, parental rights, and the temperance movement.
Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, was one of the first activist First Ladies. She worked for the improvement of conditions for the country's youth, minorities, poor and women. Eleanor often spoke for her husband, making speeches for him to the citizens of New York when his battle with Polio was beginning. She was so involved in her husband's political world that she became something of a correspondant between the White House and the people. She wrote a daily column for the papers, keeping the public updated on the things going on in the White House, particularly concerning her husband's "New Deal" programs. She was fundamental in the creating of the National Youth Administration, which provided job training and financial aid to students. She also worked closely with the NAACP, and defended singer Marian Anderson, who was discriminated against by the Daughters of the American Revolution when they would not allow her to perform at Constitution Hall in D.C. Eleanor arranged for Anderson to sing before the Lincoln monument, and resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her efforts during the war included visiting the troops, and creating volunteer groups to help the war effort at home. After the death of her husband, Eleanor was no longer First Lady, but she continued her work as an activist. She became a delegate in the United Nations General Assembly. She also drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 which gave the inalienable rights of life, liberty and equality to countries around the world. She died on November 7, 1962 at 78 years old, after a life full of amazing accomplishments and hard-won victories. Many of her programs and policies still affect us today, and she continues to have a lasting impact on American women by setting the example of what women in politics are capable of.
well since you all are so curious about Victoria Woodhull i'll give you the lowdown..
Victoria Claflin Woodhull (September 23, 1838 June 9, 1927) was an American suffragist who was publicized in Gilded Age newspapers as a leader of the American woman's suffrage movement in the 19th century. She became a notorious symbol for women's rights, free love, and labor reforms
Woodhull was nominated for President of the United States by the newly formed Equal Rights Party on May 10, 1872. Former slave Frederick Douglass was nominated for Vice President. Douglass never acknowledged this nomination, instead he served as a presidential elector in the Electoral College for the state of New York.
While many historians and authors agree that Woodhull was the first woman to run for President of the United States, some people have questioned the legality of her run. As you may already know, she did not win the Presidency and to this day there has not been a female president.
Sarah, Eleanor is also my favorite. I mean, she stood out from every other First Lady by promoting issues herself. Plus, look at all the crap she had to deal with with her husband cheating and whatnot. Strong lady.
Norma L. McCorvey,(Jae Roe) was the plaintiff in the Roe vs. Wade case. She was suing because she claimed her pregnacy was due to rape and wanted an abortion. This case was huge because it decided that most laws against abortion were unconstitutional. The Supreme court ruled that abortion was under the due process clause in the fourteenth amendment. It outlawed restrictions on abortion.
Sarah, Eleanor is also my favorite. I mean, she stood out from every other First Lady by promoting issues herself. Plus, look at all the crap she had to deal with with her husband cheating and whatnot. Strong lady.
TRUE. And she also had such a good sense of humor about everything. Like, in the movie we watched when she went to visit the troops, and she was going through the hospitals and seeing all these poor soldiers? And then about an hour later she goes to make an address to the other soldiers, and she's laughing and joking with them during her entire speech. Also, that quote of hers "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent", is possibly one of the best quotes ever.
its also in the Princess Diaries. Eleanor's so cool.
But yeah, she was the very first First Lady to actually do anything with her position. The other ones just sat there and all we have from them is like, letters to their husbands. I think it was Jane Addams who wrote to her husband, and she used her influence on her husband, the President, to tell him to shape up and make sure that he payed attention to women's suffrage. But still. It took about 100 years for that to work out. So, Jane Addams made an attempt. But still, Eleanor is the only one who worked her tail off to help out not only women, but children, African Americans and the poor. And there were an awful lot of poor people during Eleanor's time in office. Look at all the stuff she helped to create by being like "Hey...Franklin. This is an awesome idea."
You have to have major confidence in your intelligence to boss the President of the United States around. Even if you are his wife.
I think I'll focus more on women in general during the 19th century..
The cult of domesticity during the 19th century basically kept women in their homes. A women's role consisted of some main ideas: They should maintain their home as a refuge for their husband, set a morale for their children to follow, and "train" their children. The home seemed to be so strict in a way that everything had to be perfect and in place for the husband when they got home. Women were kept in a separate sphere. People like Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought to try to help women get more rights and break the image that the women upheld. They wanted to create new opportunities for women.
You forgot about Amelia Bloomer!! She was cool.... cause she invented clothes comforable for women. At the time women were always suffering from faintness, illness, etc. For this reason, men considered women to be weak. However, it was the women's clothing fashion and tight gurdles that constricted the breathing of women. More women wore the fashion which was promptly dubbed The Bloomer Costume or "bloomers". However, the Bloomers were subjected to ceaseless ridicule in the press and harassment on the street. Bloomer herself dropped the fashion in 1859, saying that a new invention was a sufficient reform that she could return to conventional dress.
Rosa Parks! As an African American in the twentieth century, she had to deal with segregation. Many white people in America were against the integration of whites and blacks, and there were even separate public facilities for the two races. Rosa Parks was an activist, and is perhaps most known for her boycott on the bus in Montgomery, where she refused to move to the 'colored' section of the bus to allow a white person to sit where she was since there were no more seats in the front. Rosa Parks was arrested for this. However, she didn't let them get to her. Rosa Parks was definitely an inspiration to people during that time, and still continues to be an inspiration to people today for her actions in the 1900's.
i thought this little lady was worth mentioning...
Maria Sklodowska was born November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. She would become famous for her research into radioactivity, and was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
Marie and her husband Pierre Curie teamed up to conduct research on radioactive substances. They found that the uranium ore, or pitchblende, contained much more radioactivity than could be explained solely by the uranium content. The Curie's began a search for the source of the radioactivity and discovered two highly radioactive elements, "radium" and "polonium." The Curie's won the 1903 Nobel Prize for physics for their discovery.
In 1906 Pierre, overworked and weakened by his prolonged exposure to radiation, died when he was run over by a horse drawn wagon.
Madame Curie continued her work on radioactive elements and won the 1911 Nobel Prize for chemistry for isolating radium and studying its chemical properties. In 1914 she helped found the Radium Institute in Paris, and was the Institute's first director. When the first World War broke out, Madame Curie thought X-rays would help to locate bullets and facilitate surgery. It was also important not to move the wounded, so she invented X-ray vans and trained 150 female attendants.
On July 4, 1934, at the age of 67 Madame Curie died of leukemia, thought to have been brought on by exposure to the high levels of radiation involved in her research. After her death the Radium Institute was renamed "the Curie Institute" in her honor.
Was named Amazing Grace and was born in 1906. At the time when women barely went to college she went and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics. She also joined the WAVES in WWII. She didnt retire until the age of 80, she was the oldest member of the Navy on active duty and held the rank of Admiral. During this time she also became involved in the field of computing, and then becoming a programmer on the Mark I at Havard Labs during WWII. She is known for her contributions to technology and has become known as the Mother of Cobol and was also named the Data Processing Management Associations Man of the Year
Mary Edmonia Lewis
She passed great odds and became the first Africa-American, and Native American, female sculptor and was the first such artist to celebrate her racial identity.
Ruby Bridges Hall
In 1960 a federal court ordered the New Orleans school system to desegregate, making Ruby Bridges only being 6 years old the first African American to attend the elementary school.
Amelia Earhart Was known as an American aviation pioneer and the womens rights advocate. She was the first women to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, which she was awarded because she was the first women to fly solo across the Atlantic. She was also known for her best-selling books about her experiences flying and was the inspiration of The Ninety-Nines, which was a womens pilots organization.
Wow.... i didn't know there were SO many important women in history!! We rock!!!!!!!! But... there was also another very important that nobody mentioned. Shirley Chisholm!! She also ran for president. The other factor that went with it was that not only was she a woman but she was a black woman. She went through many trials but never once gave up. she did lose the 1972 election but she did fight till the end. She was an awesome woman!!!!!!!
Betty Friedan was an American feminist, activist, and writer. She started the second wave of feminism with her book the feminine mystique which depicted the roles of women in industrial societies. She also wrote The Second Stage, It Changed My Life: Writings on the Womens Movement and The Fountaion of Age. She co-founded both the U.S. National Organization for Women (NOW) and the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL)
Maggie Walker learned Finance and started a bank for African Americans. She became the first woman president of a bank.Marian Anderson (1902-1995) - First African American to sing leading role with Metropolitan Opera, delegate to U.N. Ida B. Wells Barnett (1862-1931) - African-American educator, newspaperwoman, anti-lynching campaigner, founder NAACP.
hilary rhodam clinton, a former first lady. very famous politian, known for her works and contributions. She is the junior U.S. senator from new york and a member of the democratic party. she is also a lawyer. i personally think that she is a very successful woman that is breaking barriers :)
I think Rosa Parks just might be my favorite woman in US history to this day.
although, i must say, that could be an impossible decision to make considering the incredible number of women that have stood up for their rights over several movements in several time periods concerning several issues. Several's quite the understatement actually. The women at Seneca Falls, Women's Convention, or the Women of the Civil Rights Movement, like even the young women and girls of the Little Rock Nine, are amazing figures in my book!
Sojourner Truth too, i just watched a C-Span interview of her relatives and historians in her honor and about her as a literary hero, an american writer. Did you know that Sojourner Truth (so she was known by during the later years of her life anyway) could not read and write, however, dictated her thoughts for her successful book, and it was handwritten by a friend. who would have known.
