March is Women's History Month! To commemorate this time, Kate Kelly, the author and founder of America Comes Alive, is featuring a different young female American daily who had achieved a first during the history of the United States in her month-long series called 30 Under 30. I think it would be both interesting and educational to visit Kate's site each day in March to learn about a new inspirational woman. If my daughter were older, this is something I would do together with her.
Here is a list of ten inspirational women from American history . . .
Nellie Bly (1864-1922) When Nellie Bly is remembered, it is usually in the context of her round-the-world trip; less well known but perhaps more significant was her work as an under- cover journalist, getting admitted to a mental institution to write about how mental illness was treated at that time.
Bessie Coleman (1893-1926) was the first African-American woman to get an international pilot’s license. At a time when it was difficult for a woman to make money as a pilot, Coleman found a way.
Marian Wright Edelman (1939- ) Today we know her as the founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund. Her accomplishments are enhanced when we learn that was first African-American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar Association.
Edith Houghton (1912- ?) played professional baseball on a woman’s team when she was only 10. Later she was hired as the first woman baseball scout for major league team.
Nancy Kelsey (1823-1896) was 17 years old and the mother of an infant daughter when she became the first woman to travel to California on a wagon train in a group that included her husband, their baby, and about 30 men. Young women like Nancy were vital to settling the West.
Nancy Lieberman (1958- ) was the first woman to break the gender barrier in order to play professional basketball in the United States Basketball League.
Agnes Nestor (1880-1940) was the first elected female president of an international labor union. Nestor began work in a glove-making factory when she was still in her teens, and by the age of 22 she was a strike organizer to press for better pay and better work conditions. She became one of the founders of the women's International Glove Workers Union.
Kitty O’Neil (1947- ) O’Neil was the first woman to be accepted into Stunts Unlimited (1976), an organization of Hollywood’s top stunt people. (Kitty’s accomplishment is all the more remarkable when readers learn she has been deaf since she was a baby.)
Loretta Walsh (1896-1925) Walsh was the first woman to serve on active duty in the Navy after enlisting in 1917.
Sheyann Webb (1956- ) is sometimes referred to as Martin Luther King Jr.’s “smallest freedom fighter.” She took part in “Bloody Sunday” in 1967 and continues to fight for human and civil rights.
To read more about each of these women and to read about the other women being featured in “30 Under 30,” please visit www.americacomesalive.com.
Thank you to America Comes Alive for providing this list for publication. No compensation was received for sharing this information with my readers.
