Hello Falcons! As we round out March (aka Women’s History Month), I wanted to take the time to highlight eight women who have changed the world for the better! So without further adieu, please read on to learn about some impactful women (introduced in no particular order). Click their names as you read on to access photos and more extensive biographies of these notable women! :)
01. Wangari Maathai (1941-2011)
Dr. Wangari Maathai was born in 1941 in Kenya. Throughout her career she worked towards change in political, social, and environmental aspects of the world. She was passionate about women’s rights, co-founding the Nobel Women’s Initiative that collaborates with women activist groups around the world to advocate for equality and peace. She also started the Green Belt Movement, which has led to the planting of over 51 million trees across Africa while simultaneously empowering women through leadership opportunities.
Dr. Maathai was the first woman in Central and East Africa to earn a PhD and the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
02. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)
Frida Kahlo was born in 1907 in Mexico. She battled with illness and chronic pain for the majority of her life, contracting polio at 6 years old and being in a tragic bus accident. The bus accident led to her spine and pelvis being fractured and she was bed-ridden for multiple months. She channeled her pain (physically and psychologically) into her artwork. In her artwork she defied traditional gender stereotypes and portrayed controversial topics. She intentionally included facial hair (unibrow and upper-lip hair) in her portraits to defy the norms of women. She approached taboo and unspoken topics such as abortion, breastfeeding, and miscarriage in her artwork as well. She also brought light to the indigenous Mexican style of painting, which was often ignored and not celebrated in the art community at the time.
03. Aphra Behn (1640-1689)
Aphra Behn was born in 1640 in the United Kingdom. She was a significant playwright and poet during the Restoration Era in England. She was a feminist and one of the first women to break the glass ceiling in the field. She was often criticized for writing about topics that were controversial and defended herself, claiming that men in the field wrote about the same topics and never faced backlash. Women in the field during this time were unable to earn livable wages for their art however, Behn was able to successfully do so anyways. She led the way for female writers and broke down many barriers that stood in the way of women in the field of playwrights and poetry.
04. Clara Barton (1821-1912)
Clara Barton was born in 1821 in Massachusetts. She was a self-taught nurse that was instrumental in assisting those that were injured during the Civil War on both sides of the fight. Following the war, she helped families find missing soldiers as well as putting names to the graves of anonymous soldiers. She went on to start the American Red Cross in 1881.
05. Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)
Ethel Smyth was born in 1858 in the United Kingdom. She was a composer that actively fought against societal norms that women were unable to work (especially within the classical music field). She was an outspoken feminist and suffragette that championed for women’s rights and equal treatment. One of her compositions titled “The March of Women” went on to become the anthem for the Women’s Rights Movement.
06. Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1749)
Emilie du Châtelet was born in 1706 in France. She was a philosopher and scientist that persisted in her work through waves of doubt due to her involvement in work that was “unfit for young ladies”. She studied the work of Isaac Newton and further clarified and expanded the ideas to the community. She did this all the while raising three children and carrying a fourth. Due to her work, the science community was able to further understand kinetic energy and conservation law. She was never formally recognized for her work at the time and was often met with an unwelcoming community, but this didn’t stop her from pursuing her passion.
07. Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955)
Mary McLeod Bethune was born in 1875 in South Carolina. She was a passionate educator and civil rights activist. She was one of the first black women to serve as an advisor to the president (Franklin D Roosevelt) and advocated for black rights within the federal government. She led efforts to encourage women to register to vote following the rights being codified in 1920, and was passionate about educating African American youth. She was a very significant activist for gender and racial equality.
08. Lucretia Mott (1793-1880)
Lucretia Mott was born in 1793 in Massachusetts. She was a powerful public speaker that advocated for abolition (ending slavery) and women’s rights. She co-organized the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, where women were encouraged to speak about women’s rights (which was unusual at the time). This has been widely regarded to as the meeting that sparked the suffrage movement. She helped an enslaved person escape bondage and later on became the president of the American Equal Rights Association, championing for women and African American rights.