Celebrating Women’s History Month

Entrepreneur and social activist, Madam C.J. Walker, became the “first black woman millionaire in America” after creating her own line of African American hair products. Born on December 23rd, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana, Walker was the first of her siblings to be “free-born” after her parents were freed from slavery. At the age of seven, both of Walker’s parents had passed, leaving Walker...

During World War I, physicist Marie Curie, helped promote the use of radium and later won two Nobel Peace Prizes for her work. Curie was born on November 7th, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. Curie received scientific training from her father, Władysław Skłodowski, and earned a general education from the local schools in her town. To continue her education, Curie went to the Université de la Sorbonne...

Journalist and activist, Ida B. Wells, published her findings on lynchings in pamphlets and local newspapers to shed light on the treatment of African Americans after the Civil War. Wells was born July 16th, 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, as an enslaved woman. After the end of the Civil War, Wells’ parents became politically active in the Reconstruction Era, instilling the importance of education...

Social worker and feminist, Jane Addams not only co-founded the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois in 1889, but also went on to be a founding member of the National Child Labor Law in 1916. Addams was born on September 6th, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois, to Sarah Weber and John H. Addams, a successful mill owner and local politician who fought in the Civil War and considered Abraham Lincoln as a friend....

Being raised in a household of political figures advocating for social justice, Josephine Butler spoke out against under-age prostitution and licensed houses, as well as advocated for an end to human trafficking. Born on April 13th, 1828 in Northumberland, England, Butler was born into a household of wealthy political figures, including her father’s cousin, Earl Grey, the British Prime Minister....

Florence Nightingale, also known as “the Lady with the Lamp,” was a British nurse and social reformer that reduced hospitals’ death rate by two-thirds and improved sanitary conditions of hospitals during the Crimean War.  Nightingale was born on May 12th, 1820 in Florence Italy. At a young age, Nightingale was attending to the ill and poor in her village. By the age of 16, Nightingale expe...

Susan B. Anthony, a women’s rights advocate, co-founded and became President of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 to push for a constitutional amendment, giving women the right to vote. Born on February 15th, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts, Anthony was raised under and inspired by the Quaker belief that everyone was equal under God. Along with her Quaker beliefs, Anthony grew up in...

Named “the first computer programmer,” Ada Lovelace created a program for Charles Babbage’s prototype of a digital computer. Lovelace was born on December 10th, 1815 in London, England. Beginning at an early age, Lovelace was educated privately by tutors and then self-educated with the help in her advanced studies by Augustus De Morgan, the first professor of mathematics at the University...

As the first female paleontologist, Mary Anning was the first to discover the complete skeleton of a Plesiosaurus, but lacked recognition and credit from her male contemporaries until after her death. Anning was born on May 21st, 1799 in Lyme Regis, England to Mary and Richard Anning. Anning’s father was a cabinetmaker and fossil collector, sparking Anning’s interest in fossils. At the early...

Sojourner Truth, a formerly enslaved woman, became an advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights during the nineteenth century, eventually delivering her famous “Ain’t I a Woman,” speech in Akron, Ohio. Born into slavery in 1797 in Ulster County, New York, Truth was originally named Isabella Bomfree. After being bought and sold four times, Truth ran away to the Van...

World-renowned novelist, Jane Austen, was the first to give the novel its modern character through her description and treatment of ordinary people in everyday life. Born on December 16th, 1775 in Hampshire, England, Austen was one of eight children, with six brothers and one sister, who she considered the center of her world. Austen’s family strongly valued education, allowing Austen to begin...