Miss me? I know you did! I’m back for Part 4 of our celebration of women’s history! We are entering into our last week *tears* of National Women’s History Month, but it is still a party over here at Her Campus DePaul. So, let’s jump into learning about 6 more revolutionary women.
Sonia Sotomayor (1954 – Present)
Sonia Sotomayor is a Supreme Court Justice, nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and Latina justice, as well as the third woman to become a Supreme Court Justice. While studying at Princeton University as an undergrad, Sotomayor served as co-chairman of the Puerto Rican activist group Accion Puertorriquena and accused the Princeton administration of discriminating against Puerto Ricans in hiring. She then went on to Yale Law School and eventually became an imposing prosecutor with a reputation of refusing to back down. She is also credited as the judge who “saved” Major League Baseball with her decision in Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee, Inc. Her career on the Supreme Court has gained her a reputation of kindness, liberal views, as well as a straight-forward, cutthroat attitude.
Information obtained from www.oyez.org
Zitkála-Šá (1876 – 1938)
Zitkala-Sa, also known by her missionary-given name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Sioux (Yankton Dakota) writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist. She wrote many books and literature discussing her upbringing and her identity struggle between the majority culture and her Native American heritage. Her books written in English served as some of the first works from a Native American to reach white readers. Zitkala-Sa also wrote songs for The Sun Dance Opera, which was the first Native American opera. She is the co-founder of the National Council of American Indians and served as the president until her death. She spent her life fighting for better treatment of her people by the government, often affecting legislation.
Information obtained from Wikipedia.
Harriet Tubman (1822 – 1913)
Harriet Tubman is a woman that most of us have learned about through our history classes from childhood through high school. For many of us, she is the extent of our history on any African-American women and women during the Civil War era. While it is wrong for her to be the only African-American woman to breach our education, she is rightly considered a brave and revolutionary woman in history. As many of us know, Tubman was a slave that escaped to freedom only to risk her life and freedom to help other slaves escape. She served as a spy, guerilla soldier and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War. She is considered the first African-American woman to serve in the military. Although Tubman did not create the Underground Railroad, she successfully rescued over 80 slaves as a “conductor.” Her courage and reputation earned her the nickname “Moses.”
Information obtained from www.nwhm.org
Victoria Woodhull (1838 – 1927)
Victoria Woodhull was an American leader of the woman’s suffrage movement. She is also credited with being the first woman to run for President of the United States, representing the Equal Rights Party. Her platform consisted of support for women’s suffrage, equal rights, labor reforms, and free love – she believed that everyone should be able to marry, divorce, and bear children without government interference. She, along with her sister, Tennessee Claflin, was the first woman to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street. They were also among the first women to found a newspaper, Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly. Rumor has it that there is a movie in the works, with Brie Larson set to play Woodhull.
Information obtained from Wikipedia.
Ilhan Omar (1982 – Present)
As a proud Minnesotan, I had to include Ilhan Omar, the newly elected Minnesota House Representative for District 60B. She is the first Somali-American, Muslim woman in the United States to hold office at this level. Omar was a Somali refugee who came to the U.S. as a child. She became interested in politics at the age of 14 and is now an experienced policy analyst, progressive DFL activist, coalition builder and humanitarian. She has served as Director of Policy Initiatives at Women Organizing Women, and is currently the Vice President of the DFL Feminist Caucus.
Information obtained from www.ilhanomar.com
Valentina Tereshkova (1937 – Present)
Valentina Tereshkova is a retired Russian cosmonaut, engineer, and politician. She was the first woman to have flown in space, having been chosen out of four hundred applicants to pilot Vostok 6. She completed 48 orbits of the Earth in her three days in space. She was honorarily inducted into the Soviet Air Force, and thus, she became the first civilian to fly in space. She eventually became a prominent member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and remained politically active following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2013, she offered to go on a one-way trip to Mars if the opportunity ever arose.
Information obtained from Wikipedia.
You just learned about 6 more women! Don’t you feel inspired? I know I do. Since we are entering our last week of March, there will be only one more article coming at the end of this week to celebrate National Women’s History Month, so don’t miss it!