This section began as a celebration of March and Women’s History Month; it continues as a regular feature because there are so many unrecognized women who have made major contributions to history.
• Honored by the United Auto Workers (1961) as a recipient of the first UAW Social Justice Award for her work as a labor journalist in the 1920s and ‘30s
Mary Heaton Vorse (1874-1966), Journalist and Labor Activist Read More »
Early Life Clara Barton (1821-1912) was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children in a middle-class family. When she was eleven, one of her brothers was seriously injured
Clara Barton: Dedicated Life to Helping the Injured and Unfortunate Read More »
One of the early female comics (Moms Mabley preceded her, performing in the 1910s, but she was on the black vaudeville circuit; more about her another day)Born Celine Zeigman in Paris, France, she moved with her family to New York City when she was still a child. Her father was abusive to her mother. Growing up in that atmosphere led Celine to the conclusion that she needed to be self-supporting, to never have to be dependent upon a man.
Jean Carroll (1911-2010), Pioneered the Path for Female Stand-Up Comediennes Read More »
Ruth Harriet Louise was the first female photographer hired by a Hollywood studio for the all-important portraits of the movie stars featured in the 1920s. Her work brought a heightened
Ruth Harriet Louise, First Female Staff Photographer in Hollywood Read More »
Considered America’s first major prima ballerina and first Native American to achieve that distinction Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief was born on an Indian reservation in Fairfax, Oklahoma in 1925.  Her
Maria Tallchief (1925-2013), Prima Ballerina Read More »
Carrie Amelia Moore Nation was born in 1846 in Kentucky to a slave-owning family that was very religious. In 1854 the family moved to Cass County in western Missouri, which turned out to be close to the fighting going on in Kansas over slavery. At various times then and during the Civil War, Carrie Nation was among the women who aided injured soldiers in the area.
Carrie A. Nation (1846-1911), Crusader for Prohibition and for the Rights of Women Read More »
