Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment. To celebrate, Marblecast Products, Inc. offered to make marble busts of 20 remarkable women that changed history. To commemorate these women further, we decided to do a quick spotlight on all of them to showcase their achievements and contributions to the freedom we have today.
1. Lucretia Mott (1793-1800)
Lucretia Mott via Wikimedia
Mott strongly advocated for equality among all people regardless of race or gender. As an advocate for women’s rights and abolition, in 1833, she founded thebPhiladelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She was also a member of the Anti-Slavery Society. Her participation in the World Anti-Slavery Convention allowed her to join forces with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in protesting the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act and the 14th and 15th amendment. She also co-wrote the Declaration of Sentiments and helped in the formation of the Free Religious Association and the Seneca Falls Convention.
2. Abby Keller Foster (1811-1887)
Foster dedicated over 50 years of her life to social justice. She supported equal rights for all races and genders. Furthermore, Foster lectured for the American Anti-Slavery Society, which allowed her to travel across the nation and sparked her involvement with the women’s rights movement. During her time as a lecturer, she organized the New England Woman Suffrage Association and plan and funded the efforts behind the passage of the 15th amendment.
3. Sojourner Truth (1791-1883)
Sojourner Truth via Wikimedia
Truth is known a major abolitionist figure who was born into slavery. However, she managed to escape with her infant daughter. From her experience, she devoted her life to promoting racial equality. One of her best-known speeches, “Ain’t I a Woman,” was delivered at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention of 1851. Furthermore, she helped the Union Army by assisting in the recruitment of black soldiers. Besides racial equality, she also protested for women’s suffrage, prison reformation, and property rights.
4. Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894)
Bloomer strongly supported the temperance movement against alcohol, which eventually led to her involvement with women’s rights. After attending the Seneca Falls Convention, she started The Lily, a newspaper that targeted temperance issues. Through her newspaper, she also wrote about women’s rights topics. She is most well-known for advocating for dress reform. Back in the day, women wore restrictive corsets as well as petticoats. She advocated for women to wear looser shirts and skirts that end at the knee. Furthermore, women would wear pants under their skirts that were eventually called bloomers after Amelia Bloomer.
5. Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton via Wikimedia
Stanton is one of the most well-known figures when it comes to gender equality and universal suffrage. During the Civil War, she protested abolition. However, after the war, she turned her sights to women’s rights. Alongside Lucretia Mott, Stanton organized and held the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. During the convention, she wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which served as a legal proposition for the government to grant women the right to vote. Furthermore, she founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 alongside Susan B. Anthony and served as the president until 1890.
6. Maria Mitchell (1818-1889)
Mitchell is known as the first female professional astronomer. Her breakthrough discovery occurred in 1847 when she discovered a comet that had not been documented by scientists at the time. The comet became known as Miss Mitchell’s Comet. To commemorate her discovery of the comet, Frederick VI, King of Denmark, presented her with a gold medal.
Additionally, she became the first female named in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also assisted in the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. Furthermore, she was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Philosophical Society. She also co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Women and served as their first president.
7. Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)
Susan B. Anthony via Wikimedia
Anthony is the name we most associate with women’s suffrage. During the Civil War, she heavily advocated for equal rights and the abolition of slavery as an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. After the war, she started petitions for women to own land and vote. She established the American Equal Rights Association to petition for universal suffrage. Later, she partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to form and lead the Women’s New York State Temperance Society and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Together, these women wrote and produced The Revolution, a women’s rights publication.
Furthermore, as an act of bravery and defiance, Anthony illegally voted in the 1872 presidential election and was arrested. She was fined $100, but she never paid it. Although she was arrested, she never gave up on equal rights. She met with President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905 to lobby for the 19th amendment, which eventually passed 14 years after her death.
8. Clara Barton (1821-1912)
Burton’s talents shined in the Civil War. She served as an independent nurse and cared for wounded soldiers, which dubbed her the nickname “The Angel of the Battlefield.” After the war, she did humanitarian medical work in Europe through the International Red Cross. Upon returning to the United States, she lobbied for an American branch of the Red Cross. The American Red Cross was established in 1881 with Barton serving as the first president.
9. Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947)
Carrie Chapman Catt via Wikimedia
Catt is best known for her efforts behind the women’s suffrage movement. Susan B. Anthony personally selected her to serve as the president of the National American Woman Suffrage from 1900 to 1904 and 1915 to 1920. She spearheaded as a brilliant political strategist. Through this, she organized countless campaigns and accumulated over one million supporters with her moving speeches and expert campaigning. After the passage of the 19th amendment, Catt turned her eye towards world peace. She founded the League of Women Voters and the International Woman Suffrage Alliance with the goal of spreading democracy and freedom around the world.
10. Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927)
Low is known for founding the Girls Scouts of the United States of America. In 1911, she worked with Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the boy scouts. After, she worked with the Girl Guides, the Boy Scout’s sister organization located in Great Britain. She later returned to Georgia to form the Girls Scouts of the United States of America. It later became the largest volunteer organization for women in the United States.
11. Florence Bascom (1862-1945)
Bascom is well-known for her contributions to the sciences. She received her Ph.D. in geology from Johns Hopkins University. She is the first female student to receive a Ph.D. in the United States. Additionally, she became a respected geologist who mapped how the Appalachian Mountains formed as well as most of the crystalline structures in the United States.
12. Ida B. Wells (1862-1931)
Ida B. Wells by Mary Garrity and
restored by Adam Cuerden via Wikimedia
Born into slavery, Wells and her family found freedom after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. She is most well-known for leading anti-lynching crusades in the 1890’s. Putting her own life in danger, she wrote many articles to bring attention to lynching and petitioned for justice. Additionally, she formed the National Association of Colored Women and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to campaign for racial equality.
13. Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954)
Terrell is known for her efforts in the civil rights movement as well as her involvement in woman’s suffrage. Her civil rights participation began when she partnered with Ida B. Wells in her anti-lynching crusade. However, Terrell had her eye on racial uplift. She believed that the entire African American Race could be uplifted, and therefore ending discrimination, through work, education, and community activism.
Additionally, she campaigned for woman’s suffrage and later black women’s suffrage. She helped found the National Association of Colored Women and served as the president from 1896 to 1901. She also helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the College Alumnae Club, which is now known as the National Association of University Women. Furthermore, she oversaw the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
14. Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865-1915)
Susan La Flesche Picotte photographed by Harry A. Webb via Wikimedia
Picotte is known as the first American Indian woman to receive a medical degree. Her interest in medicine sparked when she watched an Indian woman die because a local physician refused to treat her. As a doctor, Picotte served more than 1,300 underserved people over a large area. She also served as an Omaha Reservation and Native American advocate to help resolve disputes and give financial advice. Furthermore, she founded the Omaha Reservation’s first hospital and advocated for equal healthcare regardless of race or gender.
15. Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955)
Bethune campaigned for racial and gender equality. Despite risking her life due to racist attacks, she led many organizations that advocated for social justice. In 1924, she served as the president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. Additionally, she founded the National Council of Negro Women. In 1940, she served as the vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons, which she maintained for the duration of her life. From her efforts, she earned the nickname “The First Lady of Struggle.”
16. Nannie Helen Burroughs (1878-1961)
Nannie Helen Burroughs via Wikimedia
Burroughs’s contributions to educating women landed her a prominent spot in our history books. Through her service in the National Baptist Convention, she founded the National Trade and Professional School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C. Opening in 1909, Burroughs served as the first president. She held this position until her death in 1961. As a civil rights advocate, Burroughs made passing an African American History course a requirement to graduate. After her death, supporters renamed the school the Nannie Burroughs School in her honor.
Additionally, she helped found the National Association of Colored Women and helped the organization campaign for civil rights and suffrage.
17. Lois Weber (1879-1939)
Weber is most known for her directing and screenwriting in early Hollywood. At the time, she was the only female director to have a lucrative career. She worked alongside her husband, and they ran the Rex brand at the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. However, Weber held most of the talent and responsibility in the business relationship. She made multiple films targeting controversial issues such as drug abuse in Hop, the Devil’s Brew, contraception methods in Where Are My Children? and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, the death penalty in The People vs. John Doe, and social and monumental inequality in Shoes. Over time, she became one of the top names in Hollywood and served as the first woman in the Motion Picture Directors Association. In 1917, she left her film company to start her Lois Weber Productions where she produced films focused on women and their continual struggles. During this time, she pioneered the split-screen technique, which depicts concurrent actions.
18. Alice Paul (1885-1977)
Alice Paul via Wikimedia
Paul served as a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association for two years. Additionally, she helped found the Congressional Union and the National Woman’s Party later in 1916. She dedicated her life woman’s suffrage and often led demonstrations that resulted in her getting arrested. Paul also led pickets at the White House in 1916. In 1923, she proposed the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. Her actions significantly contributed to the passage of the 19th amendment.
19. Ida Tarbell (1892-1926)
Tarbell’s most significant contribution is her muckraking journalism. Her most famous work exposed the unfair and illegal practices of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. She found that Rockefeller built one of the world’s largest monopoly utilizing aggressive and illegal techniques to gain advantages over other companies and destroy any businesses that got in his way. Her work published in 19 installments and later incorporated into the two-volume book, The History of the Standard Oil Company. Furthermore, President Theodore Roosevelt coined the term “muckraker” in regards to Tarbell’s research.
One significant outcome of her work is the Supreme Court decision that split Standard Oil into 34 companies because it violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.
20. Alice Ball (1892-1916)
Alice Ball via Wikimedia
Ball was the first woman to graduate with a Master’s of Science degree in pharmaceutical chemistry. She also served as the first woman to teach Chemistry courses at the University of Hawaii. During her time as a pharmaceutical chemist, she researched the cure for leprosy or Hansen’s disease. She successfully found a cure utilizing chaulmoogra oil injections. However, she fell ill and died at the age of 24. The “Ball method” continued to be the primary treatment for leprosy until the 1940s. However, this treatment is still used today in remote areas around the world.
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Resources: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wherearethewomen/a-new-sculpture-bust-collection-of-20-badass-ameri?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=statues.com, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lucretia-mott, https://www.biography.com/people/sojourner-truth-9511284, http://www.wwhp.org/activities-exhibits/yours-humanity-abby/who-was-abby-kelley-foster, https://www.abbyshouse.org/about/who-is-abby/, https://www.biography.com/people/amelia-bloomer-9216245, https://www.biography.com/people/maria-mitchell-9410353, https://www.biography.com/people/susan-b-anthony-194905, https://www.biography.com/people/clara-barton-9200960, https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/carrie-chapman-catt, https://www.google.com/search?q=1.+Juliette+Gordon+Low&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS752US752&oq=1.+Juliette+Gordon+Low&aqs=chrome..69i57.278j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8, http://biography.yourdictionary.com/florence-bascom, https://www.biography.com/people/ida-b-wells-9527635, http://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-church-terrell, https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_253.html, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mcleod-bethune, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/burroughs-nannie-helen-1883-1961, https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-lois-weber/, https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/alice-paul, https://connecticuthistory.org/ida-tarbell-the-woman-who-took-on-standard-oil/, http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/ball-alice-augusta-1892-1916
Picture Resources: Featured Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/juliejordanscott/9020102977/, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Lucretiamott2.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Sojourner_Truth_01.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Cady_Stanton.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Susan_B._Anthony_amer-pol-hist.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Carrie_Chapman_Catt.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Mary_Garrity_-_Ida_B._Wells-Barnett_-_Google_Art_Project_-_restoration_crop.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Susan_La_Flesche_Picotte_253_12.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Nannie_Helen_Burroughs.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Alice_Paul_1915.jpg, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Alicia_Augusta_Ball.jpg
