Happy Women’s History Month!
Now some of you may ask why we need a specific month for women’s history, but the truth is that for centuries women were written out of history and since women often weren’t allowed to read or write, they had no means to write themselves into the narrative. Did you know Albert Einstein’s first wife most likely worked beside him and contributed to his work? She studied mathematics and physics, but is never officially listed as a collaborator. What about the fact that in the 13th and 14th centuries, women in China were not allowed to read or write, so they created their own language called nushu? Women have been left out of the narrative for far too long and this month is an opportunity to learn about and acknowledge their absence. So, without further ado, here are some absolute boss ladies you may not have heard of:
1 MARIE CURIE
Image: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marie_Curie#/media/File:Mariecurie.jpg
Marie Curie discovered 2 new elements, radium and polonium, and won not one, but two Nobel Prizes in different fields. That’s right, she won a Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 and a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win two, and the first person, man or woman, to win two prizes in two fields. She also took over as a Chair Professor at the University of Sorbonne in Paris after her husband died. She was the first woman to be a chair professor, which speaks bounds about her academic presence and prowess.
2 CONDOLEEZZA RICE
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Condoleezza_Rice_cropped.jpg
Condoleezza Rice was the first female African-American Secretary of State and the first female National Security Advisor. She grew up in the racially segregated South and went on to get a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD from the University of Denver. She was an academic fellow at Stanford and then provost. She served as the Soviet and Eastern Europe Affairs Advisor to President George H. W. Bush during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and today serves as a faculty member for the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
3 CLARA BARTON
Image: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/clara-barton
Clara Barton was an educator who founded the first free school in New Jersey but ended up leaving because she discovered she was being paid half of what her male colleague was being paid. She stated, “I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man’s work for less than a man’s pay.”(You go Clara, way to tackle the wage gap!) She was then hired at the U.S. Patent Office and was paid the same as her male counterparts. When the Civil War began, she stopped working and helped wounded Union soldiers. Eventually she was made head nurse with no medical training. She would go on to found the American Red Cross and become its first president.
4 PRINCESS DIANA
image:https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/makeup/2018081361126/princ…
She was more than a pretty face. She died before I was born so I’ll probably never understand her impact, but from everything I’ve read, she was incredible. She openly talked about her depression and her divorce. She did charity work and held hands with lepers and those affected by AIDS, refusing to treat them like societal outcasts. She might not be as forthright about her feminism as others on this list, but she was a trailblazer and opened up a whole new dialogue about the humanity of those in the limelight. So I’ll say this again for those in the back: She was more than just a pretty face.
These are just a few of the Boss Ladies who should be acknowledged this month and some of the most boss ladies I have ever met are in my personal life: my mom, my godmother, my friends. They encourage me to always be strong and confident and to set my own trail. It is to these women, and all the unapologetically powerful women that have come before me that I would like to say, thank you. You’ve opened doors that people in previous generations could only dream about: education, the right to vote, equal pay. Now, I feel as though I can do anything I set my mind to, so thank you.
Thank you.