Nature…by Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“Nature never repeats herself, and the possibilities of one human soul will never be found in another.”-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Short bio:
Widely credited as one of the founding geniuses of the women’s rights movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton used her brilliance, insightfulness, and eloquence to advocate for many important issues. In addition to being one of the first women’s rights activists, she was also a dedicated abolitionist, and advocated in favor of temperance.

Check out the whole story at: http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall/details/2/148-Stanton

Energetically, Diane Tegarden

31 Days of Notable Women- meet Yemeni’s “Iron Woman”

Tawakel Abdel-Salam Karman (born 7 February 1979) became the international public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising that is part of the Arab Spring uprisings. She has been called by Yemenis the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of the Revolution.”. She is a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Prize and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate to date.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawakkul_Karman

31 Days of Notable Women- Helen Hunt Jackson, activist for Native Americans

Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, born Helen Fiske (October 18, 1830 – August 12, 1885), was a United States writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the U.S.government. She detailed the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor (1881). Her novel Ramona dramatized the federal government’s mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California and attracted considerable attention to her cause, although its popularity was based on its romantic and picturesque qualities rather than its political content. It was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times, and contributed to the growth of tourism in Southern California.

Bio from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Hunt_Jackson

31 Days of Notable Women- quotable Elizabeth Robins

“I am conscious that in talking and writing to my nearest and most trusted friends I sometimes suppress and I sometimes embroider.” – Elizabeth Robins-1895

Elizabeth Robins was an American actress, author, playwright and women’s freedom fighter (1862-1952).

http://www.jsu.edu/depart/english/robins/erchron.htm

31 Days of Notable Women- Maude MacBride, Irish Freedom Fighter

Maude Gonne MacBride  (1865-1953) was an Irish Nationalist, I.R.A. leader and actress. She was born of an Irish father and English mother, in Aldershot, England. Her mother died in 1871 and she was educated in France and in 1882 moved to Dublin when her father was posted there. Her father died in 1886 leaving her independently wealthy. She developed tuberculosis and moved back to France to recover where she met Lucien Millevoye, editor of “La Patrie”. They agreed to work for Irish and French nationalist causes. They had two children. After a couple of years she returned to Ireland where she aided people in County Donegal who were the victims of mass evictions. Her work was so successful she had to go back to France to avoid arrest.

She co-founded Inghinidhe na hEireann (Daughters of Erin), a revolutionary woman society.

Source cited: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irelandlist/1916.html

31 Days of Notable Women- Bhima Bai Holkar, Indian Freedom Fighter

Women’s participation in India’s freedom struggle began as early as 1817 when Bhima Bai Holkar fought bravely against the British colonel Malcolm and defeated him in guerrilla warfare.

Source cited: http://www.liveindia.com/freedomfighters/jhansi.html

31 Days of Notable Women- Ellen Sirleaf, first African female head of state

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is the 24th and current President of Liberia. She served as Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d’état, after which she left Liberia and held senior positions at various financial institutions. She placed a very distant second in the 1997 presidential election. Later, she was elected President in the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006. She successfully ran for re-election in 2011. Sirleaf is the first and currently the only elected female head of state in Africa.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Johnson_Sirleaf

31 Days of Notable Women- Dorothy Thompson, war correspondent

Dorothy Thompson was born in Lancaster, New York, in 1894. While studying at Syracuse University she became a suffragist and was involved in the campaign to obtain the vote for women. After the First World War Thompson went to Europe to become a freelance writer. After working for the Philadelphia Public Ledger the New York Post appointed her head of its Berlin bureau in Germany.

In 1928 Thompson married novelist Sinclair Lewis. After interviewing Adolf Hitler in 1931 she wrote about the dangers of him winning power in Germany. A strong opponent of Hitler and his government, in 1934 Thompson became the first American correspondent to be expelled from Nazi Germany.

Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAthompsonD.htm

31 Days of Notable Women- Frances Perkins, first woman to serve on a presidential cabinet

Fannie Coralie Perkins was born in Boston in 1880 and quickly realized that her life would be based around helping others. Perkins, who later changed her name to Frances, worked with Jane Addams at the Hull House in Chicago and later worked for the Tammany Hall political machine and then-governor of New York, Al Smith.

However, it was a coincidental incident that made Perkins become so passionate about workplace reform. In 1910, Perkins was eating lunch in Greenwich Village when she heard the alarm bells at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. From this moment on, Perkins dedicated her life to reforming workplace conditions.

In 1933, FDR appointed Perkins to Secretary of Labor, making her the first female to serve in a presidential cabinet. Although Downey pointed out that this achievement was monumental, she insisted that Perkins is still “one of the least-known, most important social progressives in history.”

Perkins continued to rise in fame, as she was involved in an enormous expansion of government and regulations as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal. She championed the establishment of a minimum wage and a social security program for all workers.

Source cited: http://cornellsun.com/print/35946

31 Days of Notable Women celebrates March 8th- Women’s Day

In the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century, women were entering the workplace in larger numbers than ever before, thanks largely to the expansion of nineteenth century industrialism. The jobs they filled were segregated by gender and were mainly in the areas of manufacturing, textiles and in domestic services where working conditions were dismal, and wages even worse. The political climate was one of turmoil and change – Socialism and Trade Unionism were coming into being as working people the world over sought to improve their status and working conditions. Additionally, Women’s Suffrage, the right to vote, was as yet not a realized goal.

Source cited: http://www.care2.com/gates/holidays/womensday/womensday.html