As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we’d like to take a look at a few of the women who’ve strongly impacted society over the last couple centuries. Although women’s history is only celebrated for one month, we should celebrate these women and what they’ve done year long!

Harriet Tubman 

​​Harriet Tubman – originally Araminta Ross – was born into slavery sometime during the early 19th century. Her story began on September 17, 1849, when Harriet managed to escape with her brothers from their insufferable lifestyle. However, her brothers were afraid and went back to their enslavers, so she continued the dangerous journey to freedom alone. Harriet followed the North Star and traveled only at night so as to avoid those trying to capture her for prize money. Not only did Harriet finally gain the freedom she deserved, she went back on the treacherous journey South to save others. She became a noteworthy conductor of the Underground Railroad and was eventually nicknamed Moses. She made 19 trips during 10-year span and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom throughout her life. 

Marie Curie

Born November 7, 1861, Marie Curie eventually became one of the most brilliant women of science. She studied at the School of Chemistry and Physics, and eventually went on to research radiation. She is most significantly remembered for her discoveries of polonium and radium. In 1903, Marie Curie won a joint Nobel Prize for Physics. Then, in 1911, Curie won a second Nobel Prize in chemistry, for finding a way to measure radioactivity. This means two Nobel prizes in two separate fields of science within a decade, which is very impressive. Her revolutionary work with radioactivity was a huge contribution to finding cancer treatments.

Eleanor Roosevelt 

Eleanor Roosvelt was born on October 11, 1884 and went on to achieve many amazing things. As she became the First Lady she effectively used her platform for social activism. Among many other accomplishments, Eleanor Roosevelt worked with and hugely supported the Women’s Trade Union League, to help the new women’s suffrage movement and ultimately to help women take a larger and more important role in social and political events. In addition, Eleanor Roosevelt regularly traveled throughout the U.S. to understand the situations and hardships Americans were going through especially during the Great Depression. To take matters into her own hands, she worked closely with many people to try and resolve these persisting issues caused by the Great Depression. Eleanor Roosevelt widely impacted many Americans because of her courageous work and women in her effective activism for women’s rights.

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart, a widely known American aviator was born on July 24, 1897. From a young age, she resisted traditional gender stereotypes; playing basketball and temporarily attending college. She went on to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia graciously served as a Red Cross nurse’s aid during World War I and soon learned from watching pilots in the Royal Flying Corps that she wanted to pursue the art of flying. After the war, she attended Columbia University In New York and applied as a pre-med student.n 1920 she took her first ever airplane ride with World I Frank Hawks and from then on she became passionate. Sadly, during a flight inconvenience Earhart disappeared in 1937 and to this day her plane wreckage was never found. However,her accomplishments and defiance against traditional gender stereotypes leads her memory on. 

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, known for her vibrant and outstanding art, was a feminist icon. Frida Kahlo was known around the world for the unique way in which she engraved the interpretation of her  emotions into her art. Frida Kahlo also used her art to explore gender roles and her identity. Frida’s unibrow, prominent in many of her paintings, was actually a deliberate decision to show her rejection of traditional beauty standards. She produced more than 143 paintings over her unfortunately short life but her paintings still bring us to awe today. Her art to this day revives cultural meaning and shows us a rich history of Mexico as well as showing her activism for women all over the world. 

Rosa Parks 

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks valiantly sat at the front of a bus and refused to give up her seat for a white man. She was imprisoned for her quiet and harmless protest. Before and at the time of her arrest, Parks worked forthe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). After being released from prison, a boycott was held to protest the city bus line. Throughout her life, Parks received over 40 doctorate degrees as well as many awards for her protests, services, and ultimately standing for her beliefs. And this is where history is ongoing. “Gone but not forgotten”, as they say. We are now in the present, and as we look towards the future, here are two prominent young women. 

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan (now residing in London). At a young age, Malala learned about her deep desire for knowledge but she soon understood that fair education was not available to her and other young girls in Pakistan. As Malala grew up she started advocating for women’s education and soon became famous for her impressive activism. She went on to become the world’s youngest Nobel Peace laureate and the second Pakistani ever to receive the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. Malala forever revolutionized women’s education and the treatment of women around the world. 

Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg is a climate rights activist and since youth her passion for this issue has shown. Since 2018, Thunberg has been skipping school each Friday to protest the climate injustice. This eventually led to the creation of Fridays for Future, an international youth organization that protests the pressing climate issue. On September 20, 2019 she confidently motivated over 4 million to join the global climate strike. Thunberg is now 19 years old and continues to lead and inspire others to take action against injustice for issues regarding climate change. 

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html

http://www.harriet-tubman.org/moses-underground-railroad/

https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/who/our-history/marie-curie-the-scientist

https://learnodo-newtonic.com/eleanor-roosevelt-accomplishments 

https://www.biography.com/us-first-lady/eleanor-roosevelt 

https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/amelia-earhart 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/amelia-earhart

https://www.doylestownbookshop.com/WHM-frida-kahlo 

https://www.gswcf.org/en/our-council/news/2021/celebrating_women_s_.html 

https://www.rosaparks.org/biography/

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/yousafzai/facts/ 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/malala-yousafzai 

https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/