Hello… it’s me… AGAIN! That’s right, I’m back for round two of celebrating 31 days of women! It’s National Women’s History Month and we are in full party-mode over here at Her Campus DePaul. So… please, get on our level, because I am about to bring you 6 more kickass women. Let’s do this…
Malala Yousafzai (1997-Present)
Malala Yousafzai is a young woman from Pakistan that I am sure most of us have heard of, considering the global attention she received a few years. Yousafzai grew up in an area of Pakistan in which the Taliban was in control. They actively tried to cut education, especially for girls. However, Yousafzai and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai have been active supporters of education, outwardly speaking out, despite receiving death threats from the Taliban. She even survived being shot by the Taliban for going to school and gained worldwide recognition afterwards. She received Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize in 2011, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, contributing her entire prize money towards financing the creation of a secondary school for girls in Pakistan.
Information obtained from www.malala.org
Margaret Sanger (1879-1966)
Margaret Sanger was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse; she wrote many newspaper columns educating women on sex, often receiving outraged responses. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, which led to her getting arrested, and founded the American Birth Control League that eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, yes, the Planned Parenthood. She even organized a birth control clinic in New York City that was the first to have all female doctors, as well as a clinic in Harlem that had an all African-American advisory council. Sanger believed that it was essential for women to have control over when to bear children in order to truly have gender equality. She also believed that, while abortion was sometimes justified, it should be avoided. She believed contraception to be important and the best way for women to control their reproduction.
Information obtained from Wikipedia
Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973)
Jeannette Rankin was a leading suffragist, and in 1916, became the first woman elected to Congress as a Representative of Montana. Just to give you some perspective, she held national office before women even had the right to vote. Uh… go Jeannette! She was a committed pacifist and shamelessly opposed the United States’ participation in both World War I and World War II, being the only person in Congress to vote against the U.S. joining World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Rankin became the leading lobbyist and speaker for the National Council for the Prevention of War from 1929 to 1939. Shortly before her death in 1973, at the age of 93, she was actually considering another run for the House to protest the Vietnam War. Again, go Jeannette!
Information was obtained from history.house.gov
Sarah Winnemucca (~1844-1891)
Sarah Winnemucca, also known by her Paiute name Thocmetony, was a Paiute woman who was a prominent spokesperson for indigenous justice. She learned English as a child and worked as an interpretor, including for the U.S. army, for much of her adult life. She spent the majority of her life using her position and connections to fight for better treatment of Native Americans, giving lectures around the country. She wrote an autobiography titled Life among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims, which was published in 1882 and was the first book written by a Native American woman.
Information obtained from oregonencyclopedia.org
Maggie Lena Walker (1864-1934)
Maggie Lena Walker was a businesswoman and community leader. She was the first African-American woman in the United States to found a bank. She also served at the top as Right Worthy Grand Secretary of the Independent Order of St. Luke, a fraternal burial society that promoted humanitarian causes. She served as the leader for 35 years until her death, causing a substantial growth in the organization under her leadership. She founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, which, until 2009, thrived as the oldest continually African-American-operated bank in the United States. She also served on the board of many civil rights groups, including the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and the NAACP.
Information was obtained from www.nps.gov
Edith Wilson (1872-1961)
Edith Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson, served as First Lady from 1915 to 1921. She is sometimes considered the “first woman to run the government” or the “Secret President.” After her husband suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed, she took over many of his responsibilities. She pre-screened all matters of state, functionally running the Executive branch of government for the remainder of Wilson’s second term. In doing this, she was the first First Lady to assume presidential functions. She later wrote, “I, myself, never made a single decision regarding the disposition of public affairs. The only decision that was mine was what was important and what was not, and the very important decision of when to present matters to my husband.” However some historians reject her version of events, insisting that she played a much more powerful role than she, herself, gave credit.
Information obtained from www.whitehouse.gov and Wikipedia
You made it! Don’t you just feel like you could go take on the world? Well, you can. If these women could do it, so can you. So get out there and take control of your life! I’ll see you next week.