We’re celebrating Women’s History Month in a way that’s uniquely HelloFlo.
Here are scenes from history represented in our Women’s History Month scrapbook, which we’re updating all month long on Instagram. And today, on International Women’s Day, it makes sense to let you know who they are on our blog!
1. Seneca Falls Convention Suffragettes
Held in July 1848 and organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the Seneca Falls Convention was the first ever women’s rights convention. This meeting served as a model for other women’s rights conventions, which quickly followed suit only weeks after. Mott and Stanton created the Declaration of Sentiments, along with a list of resolutions, which was discussed at the convention and signed by approximately 300 attendees. Not only did this declaration cover the issues surrounding women’s rights, but also helped spread news of the movement around the country.
Susan B. Anthony was one of the greatest suffragettes at this time. She was a member of the antislavery movement and began her fight for women’s rights after joining the teacher’s union and finding that male teachers were paid $10.00/month, while female teachers were only paid $2.50/month. Anthony attended the 1848 Rochester Woman’s Rights Convention and went on to fight for women’s property rights, voting rights, and fair wages as she traveled the country to give speeches, petitions, and organize local women’s rights organizations. She later established the American Equal Rights Association and the National Woman Suffrage Association and wrote the book “History of Woman Suffrage.” In 1920, the 19th Amendment was named the Susan B. Anthony Amendment in honor of her fight for women’s rights.
2. All-American Girls Baseball League
The All American Girls Baseball League (AAGBL) was the first women’s professional baseball league. This league was founded in the beginning of World War II after many minor league teams disbanded when the men were shipped off to war. Ann Harnett was the first woman to sign with the league and helped design the AAGBL uniform, which was a one-piece short-skirted flared tunic with satin shorts, knee-high baseball socks, and a baseball hat.
Femininity was stressed by the AAGBL, as all players were required to attend evening charm school classes and learn proper etiquette, personal hygiene, mannerisms, and dress code. Each player also received a beauty kit and instructions on how to use it. The AAGBL existed from 1943 to 1954 and gave more than 600 women the chance to play professional baseball at a level that was previously not available to them.
3. The Supreme Court Justices
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the United States, and lucky for us, we have had four incredible women serve as Supreme Court Justices:
Sandra Day O’Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor was the first female Supreme Court Justice, and was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. O’Connor attended Stanford University and Stanford Law School, where she graduated 3rd in her class. Despite her academic success, after graduation over 40 law firms refused to hire her because she was a woman. Her first job was as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo, California, where she worked without a salary or an office, sharing space with a secretary. O’Connor went on to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Arizona and as a member of the Arizona State Senate, the Maricopa County Superior Court, and the Arizona State Court of Appeals. She was re-elected to the State Senate in 1973 and became the first woman to serve as its Majority Leader.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Before being appointed, Ginsberg was a volunteer lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, a professor at Rutgers School of Law–Newark and Columbia Law School, and a women’s rights advocate. Ginsburg was the first tenured woman and co-authored the first law school casebook on sex discrimination at Columbia.
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2009. Along with being one of the youngest Supreme Court Justice, she is the first Hispanic and third female justice. Sotomayor attended Princeton University and Yale Law School and received honorary law degrees from 11 colleges and universities. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York, opened her own private practice, and served as a member of the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2010, making her the fourth woman appointed to the Supreme Court. Kagan attended Princeton University, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School. She went on to be a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, an Associate White House Counsel, a policy adviser under President Clinton, and as the first female dean of Harvard Law School.
4. Linda Brown v. Board of Education
Linda Brown played an integral role in the outlawing of segregation in United States school system. Linda was a child involved in the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education after 13 families attempted to enroll their children at the all white school Sumner Elementary in Topeka, Kansas. Linda Brown still fights for racial equality in her local school system.
5. Angela Davis
Angela Davis is an American political activist, academic scholar, and author. She emerged as an important Civil Rights Movement activist and radical as a leader of the Communist Party USA and supporter of the Black Panther Party. She was fired from her position as a philosophy professor at UCLA in 1969 due to her membership in the Communist Party and placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List in 1970 because of false accusations.
Davis went on to found Critical Resistance, an organization focused on abolishing the prison-industrial complex, and work as a professor and director for the Feminist Studies department at the University of California.
6. Dolores Huereta
Dolores Huerta is an activist, labor leader, and mother to 11 children. Huerta worked as an elementary school teacher where she saw many of her students, who were children of farm workers, living in poverty without enough food or other basic necessities. This led her to become one of the founders of the Stockton chapter of the Community Services Organization (CSO), which worked to fight discrimination and improve social and economic conditions for farm workers.
She is a founder of the United Farm Workers and Agricultural Workers Association, which are aimed at improving the lives of workers, immigrants, and women. Huerta was inducted to the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
7. Female Heads Of States
Here are some of the most prominent female leaders to know about:
Indira Ghandi
Indira Ghandi is the only female Prime Minister of India to date. She was the daughter of India’s first Prime Minister, Mahatma Ghandi, and held the position from for a total of 15 years, making her the second-longest-serving Prime Minister in India.
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan and the only female to ever hold this position in the country. She also served as the founder and chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Benazir was the first woman in any Muslim nation to become the head of government and a major political party.
Luísa Diogo
Luisa Diogo was the first female Prime Minister of Mozambique from February 2004 to January 2010. She now advocates for free reproductive and sexual health services, gender equality, and women empowerment through the Network of Women Ministers and Parliamentarians (MUNIPA).
Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000. Forbes magazine ranked Angela as the world’s second most powerful person in 2012 and 2015, which is the highest ranking ever achieved by a woman. Angela was also named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in December 2015.
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland was the first female Prime Minister of Norway and is currently a Special Envoy with the United Nations and the Deputy Chair of The Elders.
Dame Jenny Shipley
Dame Jenny Shipley was the first female Prime Minister of New Zealand and the only female leader of the New Zealand National Party.
Portia Simpson-Miller
Portia Simpson-Miller is the current Prime Minister of Jamaica, serving her second nonconsecutive term, which began in 2012. She previously served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007. Portia is also the leader of the People’s National Party and was the Leader of the Opposition between 2007 and 2012.
Beatriz Merino
Martha Beatriz Merino Lucero was the first female Prime Minister of Peru, the highest political rank ever held by a woman in the country’s history. Merino is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally, for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.
8. Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas
Known as the “Trimates” and “Mothers of Primatology,” Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas are all known for their advancements in the study of primates and their behavior. Jane Goodall is known as a pioneer of modern field biology for her research on chimpanzee behavior in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.
Dian Fossey spent more than 20 years researching mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda.
Birute Galdikas began field studies of orangutans in the jungles of Borneo and is still the leading expert on orangutans and their behavior.
These three woman have produced more understanding of primates and their behavior than any other scientists in history.
Which other women do you want to celebrate this Women’s History Month? Let us know in the comments below!
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