Woman of Recognition

Born in January 1885, Alice Paul was born in New Jersey raised in a Quaker household. Alice went to school in a town nearby where she was born and graduated at the top of her class. Growing up, Alice got her first introduction to the Suffrage Movement through her mother, who was a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. At a young age, Alice would go with her mom to NAWSA meetings, and her passion for political activism grew when she was in college at Swarthmore College.

After graduating she went to New York to pursue a fellowship. It was in New York that she felt strongly to assume the cause of injustices in the United States. Alice went back to school and earned her master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and continued her studies overseas in England. 

In England, Alice joined the Women’s Social and Political Union, which was led by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. For her actions in England as part of the radical suffrage movement Alice was arrested several times and returned to the United States to earn her Ph. D in 1912 in sociology.

It was in England that Alice met Lucy Burns, another American activist, and the two became close friends and continued their activism work together. It was in England that Alice learned the radical tactics that the English women were using to gain notoriety and the ability to vote. It was these tactics that Alice brought back with her to the United States to implement on the suffrage movement on the home front.

Due to her actions overseas, Alice’s name was already widely known stateside, and the news publications followed her actions closely. Alice followed in her mother’s footsteps and joined NAWSA rallies and eventually went on to speak at one of their annual conventions. It was at this convention that Alice proposed a suffrage campaign that would strive toward a federal amendment added to the Constitution that allowed women the right to vote. This tactic was frowned upon by the other suffrage convention members, especially some of the more established women who were leading the movement.

Alice continued to work with NAWSA, even though they did not support her plan for an amendment. Her first major undertaking was to plan a suffrage parade in Washington D.C., so she planned it the day before the 1913 Presidential Inauguration. Alice planned the parade for this day because she wanted the suffrage cause to be shown right in front of not only the people, but also presidential elect Woodrow Wilson. In a matter of weeks, Alice was able to gain support from suffragists nationwide and was able to gather close to 8,000 marchers for the cause.

On March 3, 1913, the parade started down Pennsylvania Avenue, but due to insufficient police protection, the event soon turned into a near riot, as protestors began to lash out at the marching women. After the news coverage the parade had gained towards the movement, NAWSA agreed on fighting for an amendment to be added to the Constitution. 

Alice continued her militant, radical approach to the suffrage movement, and eventually left the national organization and started her own called the National Woman’s Party in 1916. It was here that Alice and her followers began to become more militant and radicalized, putting into use the many different tactics that Alice has learned from the Pankhurst women in England.

One tactic used was that of the Silent Sentinels, which picketed the White House, holding banners that advocated for the rights of women. These women stood silent, dressed in all white as they held their peaceful protest. In all, over the course of two years 2,000 women stood outside six days a week. 

After World War I brought in the United States in 1917, Alice and her Sentinels continued their work outside of the White House. Because of this, many people thought that these women were disloyal to their country, and that they were in the wrong to be picketing during times of war. It was in June of that year, that these women began to be arrested for ‘obstructing traffic’ and sent to the Occoquan Workhouse.

Because Wilson allowed for these women to be arrested, it began to reflect poorly on his office, which only made him angrier at what the women were doing in the first place. The first batch of women to be arrested were pardoned shortly after their arrest, but Alice and her soldiers did not give up so easily.

Alice continued to send women to the White House to picket at the gates all throughout the war. This prompted passing men to harass and assault these women with the police forces doing nothing to stop them. Women were continued to be arrested for their peaceful protests and sent to prisons, and pardons were no longer given with the hope of release.

Alice herself continued to protest and picket to be arrested and sent to prison with the other women who were being rounded up and eventually was in October 1917. While in prison, the arrested women were given no help or special treatment because they were women but were faced with living in poor conditions with even worse food. Alice continued her protests in jail and went on a hunger strike. This led to her being sent to the psychiatric wing of the jail to be force fed through a rubber tube that was put down her throat.

Despite the conditions that Alice and the other suffragists were facing in prison, they continued to fight for the right to vote, and in November the women were all released from the facilities they were being kept in. The treatment of these women in prison and the publicity that surrounded them reflected so poorly on President Wilson and the United States that within two months of the suffrage movement members being released from prison, he announced a bill for women’s right to vote.

The 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote was passed in 1920, and even after gaining what she had set out to do, Alice continued her political activism. This time her sights were set on the Equal Rights Amendment that would grant full equality amongst people. The ERA initially struggled to find its footing, and Alice worked to be involved in and support a variety of different causes over the course of her life. Alice also decided to return to school and study law, earning several more degrees in the field. Alice supported the rights and treatment of not only women but of people of color, becoming involved in the struggles of Indigenous peoples and the Civil Rights Movement.

In her personal life, Alice held several friendships but never got married or had children. She felt her purpose and her calling in life was to gain women the right to vote and to advance the lives of people who were treated unjustly. 

Alice continued her activism work until 1974, when she suffered a stroke and went to live in a nursing home in New Jersey. Alice Paul finally passed away in 1977 at the age of 92 and is buried in a cemetery near where she was born. To this day, her gravesite still receives visitors to lay their thanks at her resting place.

Since her passing, Alice has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Her alma mater school has named a building after her, and the National Women’s Party headquarters that she worked out of has been made a National Monument. Alice’s personal papers and memorabilia have been entered into research libraries at Harvard University as well as the Smithsonian, and her story has been adapted into films, television episodes, and Broadway productions.

-March 2026

Born in September 1954, Ruby Bridges was the oldest of five children. Ruby as a child enjoyed climbing trees, playing softball, and jumping rope, she was also expected to help care for her younger siblings. When she was four years old, her family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. At the age of six, her parents responded to a request put out by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and young Ruby was volunteered to help integrate the New Orleans school system.

Originally, Ruby attended a segregated school for kindergarten but passed a test which determined she was allowed to attend the all-white William Frantz Elementary School. Ruby was one of six children who were deemed allowed to attend this school. Of the six children, Ruby was the only one to attend this specific elementary school; two of the children decided not to be a part of the integration project, and three others were placed in a different school.

When Ruby began integrating into the school, white parents pulled their children from their classes, and all but one teacher refused to be Ruby’s teacher. When Ruby began going to the all-white school, there were mobs of protesters outside, and she had to be escorted into the building by Federal Marshals. The crowd would hurl insults and throw items at young Ruby because of the fact that she was trying to go to school.

Even after other parents began letting their children attend the school again, Ruby was the only student in her class. As the school year continued, so did the hatred that was geared towards Ruby. One woman in the crowd stated that she was going to poison her, another held up a black baby doll in a coffin. Because of this reaction from the crowd, U.S. Marshals were sent to make sure that Ruby arrived at school safely every day and that she was able to eat the lunch she brought from home. Ruby was also not allowed to join in during recess.

To make sure that the discrimination that Ruby faced did not affect her, a child psychiatrist named Robert Coles volunteered to meet with her every week in the Bridges home. People of all races in Ruby’s community showed their support for her actions. Some watched over their house to make sure the family stayed safe, people donated their time to babysit, people donated clothing. One of the family’s neighbors gave Ruby’s father a job after he lost his position as a gas station attendant. As an adult Ruby realized the help that her family received during this historic time and stated that without the help of those around them, her family would not have been able to afford the integration of Ruby into what was an all-white school.

Ruby Bridges is still living in New Orleans with her family. She graduated from high school and worked as a travel agent for several years before becoming a full-time parent. She is the chair of the Ruby Bridges Foundation, which she created in 1999 to promote values of tolerance, respect, and the appreciation of differences. Also, in the late 1990’s Ruby’s experience of integrating the New Orleans school was made into a movie. After losing her home in the Hurricane Katrina flooding, Ruby fought to make sure her elementary school remained open. 

Since then, Ruby has been featured in a permanent exhibit in the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and in 2011 met with President Obama in the White House. Ruby has also been made an Honorary Deputy U.S. Marshal, been awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, has been given an honorary degree from Tulane University, given the John Steinbeck Award, and most recently in 2024, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

-February 2026

Born in Chandigarh, India in 1963, Neerja Bhanot was the daughter of a journalist. Neerja began her education early at the Sacred Heart Senior Secondary Academy. After her family moved to Bombay, she continued her education and eventually graduated. While living in Bombay, Neerja was recruited for a modeling assignment and soon after began a modeling career.

In 1985, when Pan Am Airlines decided to have an all-Indian crew for flights from Frankfurt to India, Neerja decided to apply as a flight attendant. She was accepted into the position, received training for the position in Miami, Florida, and began working as a flight purser, primarily overseeing the money on flights.

During a flight from Bombay to New York in September 1986, while stopped in Karachi, four Palestinian terrorists hijacked the plane. At the time, the aircraft was carrying 380 passengers and 13 crew members. The terrorists were demanding to be flown to Cyprus with the goal of freeing Pakistani prisoners who were being held there.

As soon as Neerja had initially seen the men board the plane, she notified the cockpit crew, allowing the pilots the opportunity to flee the plane before takeoff. This left Neerja as the most senior member of the flight crew. She took the responsibilities of keeping people safe.

The terrorists were part of an organization that was supported by Libya and were instructed to target Americans and American assets on the plane. The hijackers instructed Neerja to collect all of the passenger’s passports so they could identify which ones were American. Neerja instructed the other flight attendants to collect the passports and hide any of those belonging to American citizens. They managed to hide the identities of the 43 American citizens on the plane.

After 17 hours on the grounded plane, the hijackers began to set off explosives and their firearms. In the frenzy, Neerja was able to open one of the airplane doors and began helping the trapped passengers off the plane rather than escape herself. For her actions, the hijackers caught her by the hair and executed her.

For her bravery, Neerja was able to save the lives of many of the hostages on the plane, as well as make sure that it never left the ground. For her actions, Neerja has been recognized internationally as the ‘heroine of the hijacking’ and has been rewarded posthumously by the governments of the United States, India, and Pakistan for her bravery and acts of kindness.

Since her untimely death, Neerja’s family has established a Trust in her name that awards members of a flight crew who goes above the call of duty, as well as establishing an award in Neerja’s name that honors Indian women who have shown bravery and kindness in the face of social injustice.

-January 2026

Virne Beatrice “Jackie” Mitchell was born in Tennessee in 1913. Shortly after Jackie learned how to walk, her father took her to a baseball field to teach her the basics of the game. Her neighbor, baseball player Dazzy Vance, also helped her in her athletic education, teaching Jackie how to pitch.

By the time Jackie was 17 years old, she was playing on women’s baseball team the Engelettes. It was at a baseball training camp the Jackie caught the eye of a recruiter who had her begin to play on the Chattanooga Lookouts. Being placed on the team was said to be a publicity stunt in order to draw a crowd at games during the Great Depression. Regardless of whether Jackie joining the Lookouts was a stunt or not, she was starting to make a name for herself as a professional baseball player.

It was during a 1931 game of the Lookouts versus the Yankees that Jackie caught the most attention towards herself. At the age of 17, Jackie was sent into the game as the pitcher. The batter up was none other than Babe Ruth. He swung at two pitches before giving up on the third. After Ruth, it was Lou Gehrig up to bat. He was also struck out by Jackie’s pitching. The last player to go up against Jackie was Tony Lazzeri, who also could not get a hit against Jackie. 

After the April 1931 game against the Yankees, Jackie’s contract with the team was voided by the commissioner under the claim that women were not fit to play baseball. Jackie continued to play, however, joining a team called the House of David. Jackie retired from the game in 1937 at the age of 23, having gotten fed up with not being seen as an actual player and more as a side show during games. Jackie stayed in retirement while the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was active, although she did throw the opening pitch for the Lookouts on opening day in 1982.

Jackie passed away a few years later in 1987 at the age of 73 and is buried in her hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Jackie’s game against the Yankees in 1931 is still seen as one of the most memorable baseball moments in history.

-December 2025

Laura Ingalls was born in 1867 in Wisconsin to parents Charles and Caroline. She was the second of five children. At a young age, Laura and her family moved to territory in Missouri and Kansas. Eventually her family returned to Wisconsin for a short amount of time before once again moving. This time to Minnesota. Laura continued to move with her family during her childhood, never settling on one location for long periods of time. It was when the family was finally settled that Laura attended school, made friends, and accepted a few different part-time jobs. 

It was in 1882 that Laura accepted her first teaching position. She taught in small one room schoolhouses when she was not attending school herself. In her writings, Laura said that while she did not necessarily enjoy teaching, she felt obligated to contribute to her family’s finances. She chose teaching due to the fact that employment opportunities for women at this time were limited. 

In 1885, Laura married her close friend Almanzo Wilder. They had two children together; a daughter named Rose and a son who died at twelve days old. Due to several illnesses and financial struggle, the Wilders moved around South Dakota and Florida before settling in Missouri. It was in Missouri that Laura and her husband settled on a farm. 

Laura began her career as a writer in 1911 when she was invited to submit an article to a Missouri newspaper. This led to her having her own column in the paper and working as one of the editors. She held this position at the Missouri Ruralist until the mid-1920s. The Wilder family, along with many rural farming communities were hit hard by the Stock Market Crash that led to the Great Depression. It was on her daughter’s advice that Laura honed her writing skills and later began her popular series, Little House on the Prairie, publishing the first of the books in the early 1930’s. Laura published her fictionalized life story from 1932 to 1943. 

Her books are still widely popular among elementary school readers, and her eight-book series shows what life was like as a pioneer in the late 1800’s. Her works are continuously published and have been translated into 40 languages. Laura and her writing were able to provide stability in her and her family’s lives. After her husband’s death in 1949, Laura continued to live on their shared farm. Laura fell ill in late 1956 and passed away in February 1957 at the age of 90. She is buried next to her husband, and their daughter was laid to rest next to them after her passing in the late 1960’s.

-November 2025

Born in London in 1934, Jane’s love of animals began young. When she was young, her father gave her a plush toy chimpanzee, which instilled a love of animals in her. Throughout her life, Jane kept this toy and she still had it sitting on her dresser as she got older. 

In 1957, Jane went to work for a friend as a secretary in Kenya. It was there that she became acquainted with the archeologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey. It was Leakey who believed that primates deserved to be studied carefully as they would show behaviors of early hominids. Leakey just so happened to be looking for a researcher to study chimpanzees when Jane reached out to him. It was a few years later in 1960 that Jane was sent to the Gombe Stream National Park to begin her study. Jane was also the first of the women who were employed by Leakey who later became known as the Trimates.

Jane later went on to say that when she first began her career as a primatologist, women were not accepted in the field. It is due to Jane’s trailblazing that as of 2019 the field of primatology is now even composed of men and women.

Over the course of her career, with the help and encouragement of Louis Leakey that Jane earned her Ph.D. from Cambridge University. Over the years several other universities also awarded her honorary doctorate degrees for her work in science.

During her time in Gombe, Jane studied the social and family dynamics of chimpanzees. It was during this time that she learned just how similar these animals are to humans, as they each had a personality of their own, as well as showed rational thought and emotional intelligence around one another. It was also during this time that Jane challenged two long-standing ideas that only humans made and used tools, and that chimpanzees were vegetarians. It was in her observations that Jane discovered that chimps did indeed make and use tools to assist them, and that they ate meat as well.

It was in 1977 that the Jane Goodall Foundation was started which supports the Gombe research, as well as operates as a global leader in the task of protecting chimpanzees and their habitats. Over the years, other protection and research agencies were founded around the world to care for these animals.

Jane and her work slowly shifted her sights to move away from solely looking at the protection and concern for chimpanzees to looking at the welfare of all animals and human beings. She was a strong environmental activist, and she spoke about climate change and how it affected endangered species. She also worked with NASA to use satellite imagery to combat deforestation in Africa. 

During her career, Jane published several books about the research she had done on the impact it has had on the science world.

In her personal life, Jane had been married twice and one son. Jane Goodall passed peacefully in her sleep on October 1, 2025, due to natural causes at the age of 91. Several tributes were made to her after her passing, showing that she was mourned worldwide.

-October 2025

Wangari was born in 1940 in Kenya. Her father worked as a farmer, and her mother cared for her and her two brothers. She was a diligent student, and did well in the schools she was enrolled in. Wangari valued her education and in 1960, she was one of 300 Kenyan people chosen to come and study in the United States. 

Wangari continued her education at several different colleges throughout the U.S. She received her bachelor’s in biology from a school in Kansas, and her masters in the same subject were awarded to her from a school in Pittsburg. Wangari was interested in environmental restoration as a career, and she got her first taste while collaborating with environmentalists in Pennsylvania trying to get rid of air pollution. Wangari was then given a position as a research assistant in Nairobi, and she traveled back overseas to complete this opportunity.

When Wangari arrived for her first day as a research assistant, she had been told that the position had been given to someone else. It took her two months before she was able to find another position that would accept her, but she was eventually offered a different research position in the newly developed School of Veterinary Medicine at the University College of Nairobi.

Over the years, Wangari continued her education and received her doctorate. During this time, she had also gotten married and she and her husband had two children. After being awarded her doctorate, Wangari continued to lecture and teach at a university in Nairobi. It was while she was teaching that she became involved in her activist work. She advocated for equal benefits for women who were working at the university. Her requests were initially denied but were later accepted. Wangari also volunteered for the Kenya Red Cross Society, becoming its director in 1973.

After the establishment of the Environment Liaison Centre in 1974 Wangari was asked to join as a board member and she eventually became board chair. From her different activist and volunteer positions, Wangari realized that the basis of Kenya’s issues was environmental degradation.

In 1977 the Green Belt Movement was founded as a response to the environmental concerns that were being raised by rural Kenyan women. This program planted seedlings around the country to try and combat the environmental damage that was happening around the country. The Green Belt Movement helped to lessen the toll of desertification, deforestation, the water crisis, and rural hunger. In addition to the environmental activist work, the Green Belt Movement also helped to register voters as well as advocate for constitutional reform and freedom of expression.

Wangari faced government and press backlash for her activist work but continued on with her duties. During this time of instability, the Green Belt headquarters moved from place to place, at one point moving into Wangari’s home. She continued her environmental work as well as the push for a fair democracy.

When Wangari learned that there was going to be further deforestation, she started a letter writing campaign, sending messages to the government and the press. The Green belt Movement also responded to the environmental changes by planting more seedlings and more trees.

After being arrested on numerous occasions for her activism, she decided to run for a Parliament seat, which she won in 2002. Wangari was elected the assistant minister in the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources, where she served until 2005. While in office, she established a green party to allow people the opportunity to run and be elected in support of environmental work.

In 2004, Wangari was the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for activist work. She continued her activist work for the remainder of her life, advocating for the environment, women, and democracy. She met with then Senator Barack Obama when he visited Kenya, where he validated and supported the work she was doing. Wangari also worked with numerous other global agencies such as the UN in her activist work.

Wangari passed in 2011 due to ovarian cancer, she chose to be cremated and her remains are buried at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies in Nairobi. Trees and gardens have been planted around the world in her name, and tributes have been built in her honor at the schools she graduated from.

-September 2025

Born in 1867 in Hannibal, Missouri, Margaret Brown was one of five children born to her parents. Margaret also had two half-sisters from her parents’ previous marriages. At home, it was common for her family to refer to her as Maggie. Maggie went to school in the town she grew up in, which saw many people pass through it as they continued further west during the gold rush. It was when Maggie turned 18 that she and some of her siblings with their spouses decided to move west to Colorado to make a living. Margaret was able to work in a dry goods store sewing carpets and drapes. The men who went with the group worked as miners.

It was while Margaret was living in Colorado that she met her future husband, James Joseph “J.J.” Brown. J.J. was always described as an imaginative man, though not wealthy. Regardless of this fact, Margaret married him and went on to say a number of times that she genuinely loved him, even if he was never able to provide the most stable life. While Maggie and J.J. were married, they had two children. A boy and a girl. The couple also took in three of their nieces to care for. It was in the 1890’s that the Brown’s fortune turned for the better. J.J. struck wealth in the mining industry in the exploration of a large ore seam, and the company he worked for rewarded him handsomely, 12,500 shares of stock and a seat on the board. During this time, Maggie worked in a soup kitchen to provide food and assistance for the miners’ families.

After the Brown’s luck changed, they were able to begin living in a much nicer house in Denver, Colorado, as well as build a summer house for themselves. It was in Denver that Margaret became a member of the Denver Woman’s Club, who worked to improve the lives of women through education and philanthropy. Maggie learned how to navigate her new role in society and decided to become involved in the art and language scene. She learned how to speak French, German, Italian, and Russian. It was also during her time in Denver that Maggie became a suffragist and fought for women’s right to vote. It was during her activism that Maggie and J.J. began to drift apart and the couple quietly separated. Maggie continued her philanthropic work and worked to establish one of the first juvenile courts in the United States.

Margaret was visiting her daughter in Paris in 1912, when she received information that one of her grandchildren had become ill. Wanting to be there to provide comfort and support to her family, she booked passage on the first ship she was able to get a ticket for. The RMS Titanic. Margaret boarded the ship as a first-class passenger on April 10, 1912. The ship hit that fated iceberg on April 15th. Instead of instantly getting on a lifeboat to save herself, Maggie helped as many people board lifeboats as she could before she was finally persuaded to board one of the dinghies herself. Even then, Margaret did not sit back and watch what was happening around her. She picked up an oar herself and urged the crew to turn back and search for more survivors. Her urging was met with opposition from crew members, and Margaret went far enough to threaten the Quartermaster by saying she would throw him overboard the lifeboat. The RMS Carpathia rescued Margaret, where she and other surviving first class members organized committees to secure and provide necessities to second- and third-class passengers, as well as organized some informal counseling for survivors.

Margaret continued her activism work after the Titanic. In 1914, she briefly ran for Colorado’s Senate seat, but left her campaign in order to serve as the director of the American Committee for Devastated France overseas during World War I. In 1914, Margaret also helped contribute to mining families after the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado, as well as organize the International Women’s Rights conference for that year.

During World War I, Margaret worked in France with the Red Cross to help both the French and American wounded soldiers, as well as rebuild areas that were damaged from the fighting. Margaret helped to organize female ambulance drivers, nurses, and food distributors. For her service, she was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1932.

Margaret continued her charity work through the 1920’s, working with the theater. It was only after her death in New York in 1932 that she began to be called Molly Brown, and the Unsinkable Molly Brown. She is buried alongside J.J. in New York.

Molly was able to use her experience of surviving the Titanic sinking to promote her philanthropic work that she cared so much about. Her work focused on the rights of workers and of women, along with education and literacy programs for children. Molly cared greatly for historic preservation, and the remembrance of the people who passed in the sinking of the Titanic. Because of her work, the houses that Molly lived in have since been turned into museums, and in 1985, the Unsinkable Molly Brown was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

-August 2025

Born in Alabama in 1880, Helen Keller was one of five children born to Arthur Henley Keller. Helen’s father worked as an editor for the Tuscumbia North Alabamian. Helen’s family was part of the elite community of the south, but after the Civil War ended, they lost part of their status. 

When Helen was young, only 19 months old, she got sick with what doctors referred to as an unknown illness. Helen’s sickness could have been meningitis or some other illness. Regardless of what the illness was, Helen survived at the expense of her sight and her hearing. Helen was left both deaf and blind. In her writing, Helen described her senses as ‘at sea in a dense fog.’ Helen got used to using home-made signs to communicate with the daughter of the family cook, Martha. By the time Helen turned seven years old, she had produced over 60 signs that she used with her family to communicate and was able to differentiate people by the vibrations of their footsteps.

In 1886, Helen and her father went to a doctor to seek advice about Helen and her abilities. It was the doctors’ advice that the family consult Alexander Graham Bell, who was already working with deaf children. Bell suggested that Helen be sent to Perkins Institute for the Blind in Massachusetts for Helen’s education. It was at this school that Helen was introduced to Anne Sullivan, who became Helen’s close friend, educator, and mentor. Sullivan traveled to the Keller’s home in Alabama to reside with Helen there.

Shortly after arriving, Anne began teaching Helen how to communicate using finger spelling into people's hands. Helen later expressed frustration in learning with Anne because she did not realize that everything had a different name attached to it. Helen began imitating what Anne was doing but not necessarily learning. Helen finally understood what Anne was teaching her when she spelled the word ‘water’ in one hand, while Helen’s other hand was placed in running water. After this, Helen was eager to learn what everything was called.

Helen was not solely taught at home. In 1888, when she was old enough, Helen was enrolled at the Perkins Institute for the Blind. In 1894, Helen was enrolled at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf as well as the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in New York, where she learned from a woman named Sarah Fuller. During this entire time, Anne Sullivan accompanied Helen in her travels and her studies. Helen’s schooling did not end there. In 1896, Helen attended the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, and in 1900 she was accepted at Radcliffe College of Harvard University, returning to Massachusetts after beginning her education there in 1886 with the meeting of Anne Sullivan. While attending school, Helen was sponsored by the Rogers oil family, who paid for her schooling and supplies. Helen graduated from college in 1904 as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society, as well as being the first blind deaf person to earn a bachelor’s degree. 

Helen was determined to communicate in any way possible, and knew not only how to fingerspell, but also how to read lips by putting her hand up to a person’s mouth and throat and feeling the movement. Helen knew how to read braille, and spoke not only English, but French, German, Greek, and Latin. Helen also discovered that she could enjoy music by placing her hands on a resonant tabletop, she could feel the vibrations of nearby music playing. Helen also learned how to speak and spent many years of her life giving speeches and lectures on her life experiences. 

Helen spent her professional life as a touring speaker about her life and an advocate for people with disabilities. Helen toured not just the United States but visited a total of 25 different countries to speak about the treatment of disabled individuals. Helen was also a steadfast suffragist, pacifist, and supporter of women’s access to birth control. In 1915, Helen along with friend George Kessler founded the Helen Keller International organization, which focuses on combating the effects that malnutrition has on blindness. Helen also supported other advocacy organizations, such as the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which she donated to and claimed that she was ashamed of the south’s treatment of people of color. 

In 1920, Helen was one of the founding members of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and it was with the ACLU that Helen and Anne Sullivan traveled to over 40 countries together to do work for the organization. Due to her work, Helen met every U.S. President from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson, as well as forming strong friendships with the likes of Alexander Graham Bell, Mark Twain, and Charlie Chaplin. 

As an author, Helen wrote about women’s rights and the effect war had on people and was published in numerous newspapers across the country. Helen published a total of 12 books in her lifetime, including her autobiography “The Story of My Life,” which was published when she was 22.

In the 1960s, Helen suffered a series of strokes and spent her last years at home. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 1965, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In her final years, Helen dedicated her life to raising funds for the American Foundation for the Blind. Helen finally passed in her sleep in 1968, she was cremated and buried at the Washington National Cathedral next to her friend and teacher Anne Sullivan.

Since her passing, Helen Keller has been depicted in numerous films and documentaries, has been placed on the Alabama quarter, and has been named one of Time Magazine's ‘100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.’ Across the world, Helen Keller has hospitals, schools, and streets named after her.

-July 2025

Born in England in 1819, Mary Ann Evans was the third child born to Robert and Christiana Evans’. Mary's father was an estate manager and her mother was the daughter of a mill owner. 

As a child, Mary Ann was intelligent and enjoyed reading. Due to her being viewed as not societally pretty, she was deemed to have few marriage prospects. Her father decided to invest in her education instead. Mary had a formal education until the age of 16, then decided to pursue a path of self-education, taking advantage of the library located in the estate that her father managed. It was during her visits to the library that she observed the difference in wealth the estate owners have in comparison to those of the workers, a comparison she made in her own literary works in the future. It was at the age of 21 that Mary developed more radical views towards ideas such as religion and began to view writing as a career. 

She initially published translated works, which were highly received by the public. She continued writing as had some of her work published in a friend’s newspaper. At the age of 30, Mary moved abroad and lived in Switzerland for some time before returning to England to write more intentionally. Her first job as a writer was being hired at the Westminster Review as the assistant editor. Mary authored articles about the Victorian way of life and her views on society. Mary also wrote articles commenting on religion and the class divide in England. Mary drew inspiration from many of her own past experiences and was regarded as authentic. Mary Ann kept this job until 1854, during her time at the Westminster Review she was the one who was seen as having done most of the work to run the newspaper.

In 1854, Mary Ann 'married' a man named George Henry Lewes and traveled to Germany. Mary then began to draft full-length fictional novels, rather than translations or short newspaper articles. I was at this time that she took on the pen name George Eliot. It was common at this time for women to publish works under their own names, but she wanted to avoid the idea that women's fiction was lighthearted novels or romances. Mary also wanted to have published works that were separate from everything else that she had already published under her name.

Mary Ann Evans published a plethora of works both under her name and her pen name, as well as being a firm abolitionist and suffragist. Mary passed due to kidney disease in 1880 at the age of 61. Her works are still considered to be a part of classic literature, and there are landmarks located at the houses she lived in and the schools she attended.

-June 2025

Born in Bavaria in March 1882, Emmy Noether was the oldest of four children. Emmy was known as a clever child who was able to get along well with her peers. Like every other girl in this time period, Emmy was taught how to cook and clean at home, she also took piano lessons and liked to dance. At school, Emmy showed early proficiency in English and French and eventually excelled enough to be allowed to teach these subjects at a girl’s school, instead Emmy decided to continue her studies at the University of Erlangen. Emmy was one of two women who were accepted as students. She was allowed to audit the classes rather than fully enroll in them.

Despite the challenges she faced, Emmy passed the graduate exams in 1903. Emmy continued her studies, learning from several different astronomers and mathematicians. She submitted her dissertation in 1907 and worked occasionally as a teacher in this field.

Many people did not think that women belonged in the field of teaching at the university level, but Emmy was able to persevere through this chatter and continued to teach. Emmy eventually proved something that would eventually become known as Noether's Theorem. This theorem was called one of the most significant discoveries in modern physics, going as far as to relate it to the importance of the Pythagorean theorem. During all this time, Emmy was teaching but was not being paid for her work.

Noether's work was in abstract algebra. It was in this field that Emmy taught and supervised doctoral candidates before their thesis defense. Emmy was eventually driven out of Germany in the 1930's due to her being Jewish. She found safety in the United States, and continued teaching at Bryn Mawr College.

In April 1935, Emmy's doctors found a large tumor in her pelvis, she had an operation to remove the cysts that were growing there. Her recovery began normally, until she fell unconscious and her temperature reached 109 degrees. She passed April 14th at the age of 53. Her colleagues held a small memorial service for her, and other respected mathematicians wrote to pay their respects, including Albert Einstein, who was one of the people who titled her the most important women in the history of mathematics.

-May 2025

If there was anyone who was most equipped with life as a circus performer, it was Katie Sandwina.

Born in 1884 as Katharina Brumbach, this Austrian American strongwoman was one of fourteen children born to circus performer parents, Phillipe and Johanna Brumbach. Growing up, Katie would perform with her family, and her father would extend the challenge to men in the audience: 100 marks to anyone who could defeat Katie in a wrestling match. No one was ever able to claim the prize money. It was during one of these wrestling matches that Katie met her husband, Max Heymann.

In 1902, Katie managed to beat the famed strongman, Eugen Sandow in a weightlifting competition in New York. Katie won by being able to lift 300 pounds over her head, Sandow was only able to lift the same amount of weight to his chest. It was after this victory that Katie adopted the stage name of Sandwina, as a feminine version of the name Sandow. 

It was with this name that Katie and her husband traveled and worked with the Barnum and Bailey troupe. Katie would entertain audiences with feats of strength such as lifting her 165-pound husband over her head, being able to resist the pull of four horses, and bending steel bars. 

Katie traveled with the circus for 60 years before she and Max decided to settle down and open a bar and grill restaurant in New York. The two advertised the establishment as being owned by the world's strongest woman. Katie would continually entertain patrons with her strength.

Together, Katie and Max had two sons, and Katie passed due to cancer in January 1952.

-April 2025

Born as Elizabeth Jane Cochran in 1864, Nellie Bly was the thirteenth child of her father. She was born in his second marriage. Her father was the owner of one of the mills surrounding the land that Nellie grew up on. As a child, she would often wear the color pink, giving her a childhood nickname. After growing up some, Nellie wanted to be seen as more sophisticated and decided to start going by her own name.

In 1879, Nellie enrolled in what became Indiana University of Pennsylvania but only stayed there for one term due to a lack of funds. 

Nellie began her career as a journalist in 1885. The Pittsburgh Dispatch ran an article titled "What Girls are Good For" which stated that women were most adept at becoming wives, mothers, and homemakers. Nellie strongly disagreed with this idea of womanhood, and wrote her own response to it titled under the pseudonym The Lonely Orphan. The editors of the newspaper were so impressed by Nellie that they urged the author to come forward. Nellie stepped forward and was offered to draft an additional article for the newspaper, this one titled "The Girl Puzzle" in which she writes that not all women feel the need to marry and instead there should be better jobs offered to women.

Nellie continued to write for the newspaper, continued to write for the newspaper, adopting the pen name of Nellie Bly after the title character of a Stephen Foster song. Nellie wrote about how the lives of working women could be improved, writing a series of investigative pieces on women in factory work. After a few articles had been published in this line, women in the factories became upset at Nellie's writing, and she was given a new assignment in the women's pages covering fashion, society, and gardening. 

By this time, Nellie was only 21 years old was had grown bored of writing puff pieces, so she began to serve as a foreign correspondent in Mexico. She spent six months there writing about the lives and cultures of the Mexican people. When Nellie drafted an article about the unjust arrest of a Mexican citizen for speaking out against the Mexican dictatorship, the country threatened to arrest her, causing her to flee the country.

After returning to the United States, Nellie once again grew bored with writing in the women's column. She moved to New York and approached New York World for an undercover investigation series. Nellie faked insanity to be admitted to an insane asylum to learn firsthand what women in these institutions faced. Nellie was kept at the Blackwell Island asylum for ten days before the newspaper had her released under their orders. 

Nellie wrote a report of her time in the asylum that was published on October 9, 1887. Her report was also later turned into a book titled "Ten Days in a Mad House". Nellie's report caused such a sensation in the public eye that reforms were made and put in place that changed the treatment that women faced in asylums.

Nellie did not stop there. She continued to write as a journalist, going as far as to be allowed to interview the notorious serial killer, Lizzie Halliday. Nellie also continued her travels, in 1888 she wanted to prove whether it actually took eighty days to cross the globe as author Jules Verne had predicted in his book, "Around the World in Eighty Days". Nellie set out in New York and returned a mere 72 days later. This feat caused her to set a record for the fastest time to go around the world.

Nellie continued writing until she got married to a wealthy man named Robert Seaman, who was several years older than Nellie was. When Robert's health started to decline, Nellie left writing to succeed him in taking over and running his business, the Iron Clad Manufacturing Co. Nellie became one of the leading female industrialists in the United States. The company eventually went bankrupt and Nellie returned to writing and worked as a journalist until her death in 1922.

-March 2025

Lucy was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 by paleoanthropologist Dr. Donald Johanson. At the time, Lucy was not only the earliest human ancestor, but the most complete human ancestor. She was dated to have lived roughly 3.2 million years ago, standing at 3 1/2 feet tall.

Lucy's discovery was significant in the world of anthropology, showing evidence that human life evolved out of Africa. Lucy was also significant because she showed that early hominins walked on two feet. 

The remains of Lucy were initially brought to the United States, housed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where Dr. Johanson worked. She has since been returned home to Ethiopia where she currently resides at the National Museum in Addis Ababa.

Dr. Johanson's anthropological team named her after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which they were listening to in their celebration after discovery. But this is not her only name. In Ethiopia, she is called Dinknesh, which translates to "you are marvelous."

Lucy goes to show that women have been changing the game of history not only currently, but for millions of years.

-February 2025

Photo credits: Cleveland Museum of Natural History