1. Minerva Mirabal
Together with her three sisters, Minerva formed Las Mariposas (The Butterflies), a revolutionary group that worked to resist the regime of Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in the 1940s and 1950s. Minerva and two of her sisters, Patria and María Teresa, were murdered by Trujillo’s henchmen on November 25, 1960. Author Julia Alvarez wrote a historical novel about the Mirabal sisters’ lives titled In the Time of the Butterflies in 1994 (which was made into a film starring Salma Hayek in 2001), and The UN General Assembly designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in 1999 (Wikipedia, United Nations).
“It is a source of happiness to do whatever can be done for our country that suffers so many anguishes, it is sad to stay with one’s arms crossed.” -Minerva Mirabal
2. Madam C.J. Walker
Born Sarah Breedlove in 1867, Walker became an orphan at age six, got married at age 14, had a child at age 18, and became a widow at 20. Despite the many setbacks of her youth, Walker turned her life around by developing a line of revolutionary black hair care products that are still used today. Her entrepreneurship turned her into “the first black woman millionaire in America” (Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Culture, History.com).
“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” –Madam C.J. Walker
3. Ada Lovelace
This daughter of Lord Byron received education in science and mathematics from a young age in order to counter her father’s “poetic temperament”. Her claim to fame came in 1842, when she translated and expanded an Italian article on her mentor Charles Babbage’s “analytical engine”, a complex punchcard-operated calculating machine. Lovelace’s notes were essentially buried in history for nearly 100 years after her death in 1852, until Alan Turing used them to inspire his work on early modern computers in the 1940s (Findingada.com).
“That brain of mine is something more than merely mortal, as time will show.” -Ada Lovelace
4. Dorothea Lange
Working for FDR’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) in the 1930s, Lange made her living taking striking photographs of San Franciscans affected by the Great Depression. She is best known for her “Migrant Mother” photo showing migrant farm worker Florence Owens Thompson with her two children, trying to remain resilient in the face of economic adversity. Lange’s work didn’t end with the Depression, though—she took a series of photos of Japanese internment during World War II that were so compelling that the Army impounded them and didn’t release them for 20 years (Library of Congress, PBS).
“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” -Dorothea Lange
5. Marsha P. Johnson
Johnson was a black transgender woman who, together with fellow trans activist Sylvia Rivera, initiated the pushback against the police raid of New York City’s Stonewall Inn, sparking a riot that galvanized LGBT activist groups into a cohesive movement. When asked what the P in her name stood for, she always replied with “Pay it No Mind”. Together with Rivera, she also founded STAR (Street Transvestite [now Transgender] Action Revolutionaries) House, a center for assisting poor and homeless LGBT New Yorkers who struggled to find acceptance in society. Many people think of Stonewall as a white gay men’s riot, especially with the 2015 release of the movie “Stonewall”, but it was actually two trans women of color who set the wheels in motion (Out History, PBS).
“Nobody promised you tomorrow.” –Marsha P. Johnson
6. Rosalind Franklin
Many of you have probably heard in biology class that Watson and Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. However, teachers tend to overlook the fact that to come to this “discovery”, Watson and Crick borrowed extensively from the notes and photos of Franklin, transmitted to them by Franklin’s assistant lab chief, Maurice Wilkins. Her notes ended up getting Watson, Crick, and Wilkins the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962, but none of the men gave Franklin credit for her contributions (U.S. National Library of Science).
“You look at science (or at least talk of it) as some sort of demoralising invention of man, something apart from real life, and which must be cautiously guarded and kept separate from everyday existence. But science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.” –Rosalind Franklin
7. Christina, King of Sweden
Yes, you heard that right, king of Sweden. Officially trained to succeed as king after her father Gustav II Adolf’s death in 1632, Christina began ruling at age 18. Though she abdicated the throne after 10 years, Christina was still very influential in Sweden, and most certainly a rebel. She challenged her own council of regents on political and military matters as a teenager (before her crowning), introduced a scientific academy in Sweden, refused to marry, and boldly converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism. Historical records suggest that Christina was likely bisexual, documenting love affairs she had with both women and men (Lesbian News).
“Ignorance is not innocence.” –Christina, King of Sweden
8. Nancy Wake
At the age of 31, the New Zealander was recruited into the French Section of the British Special Operations Executive. Known as “the White Mouse”, Wake commanded 7,000 guerrilla fighters against the Nazi occupation of France in 1944. It is said that she had once biked 500 miles to replace lost military codes, and that she killed an SS soldier once with her bare hands. Once, when her parachute was caught in a tree, a French resistance fighter rescued her and commented that she was a tree with “such beautiful fruit”. How did Wake respond? She said, “Don’t give me that French sh**” (Independent).
“I hate wars and violence, but if they come, then I don’t see why we women should just wave our men a proud goodbye and then knit them balaclavas.” –Nancy Wake
9. Lorraine Hansberry
You may know her as the woman who wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun about a black family living in the South Side of Chicago, but there was more to the first black person to win a New York Critics’ Circle award than just that. On top of writing plays, Hansberry had a much more secretive life. Despite being married to a man, she identified as a closeted lesbian and wrote letters about feminism and gay rights to the lesbian magazine The Ladder, which in 2014 were on display at the Herstory Gallery of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum (Biography.com, Village Voice).
“Never be afraid to sit a while and think.” –Lorraine Hansberry
10. Dolores Huerta
Huerta assisted well-known activist César Chávez in his efforts to increase rights for farm workers (especially migrants) in the 1960s. After meeting Gloria Steinem and other prominent feminists, she began to lobby against sexism within the farm workers’ movement. She is still a labor advocate to this day, and started a social justice foundation bearing her name. Former President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian award in the U.S.) in 2012 (Dolores Huerta Foundation).
“Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.” –Dolores Huerta