Enlightenment and Mary Wollstonecraft by Ava Grant
Dawn Stanley by Madeline Oswald
Jhansi Rani by Saina Srivastava
Dolores Huerta by Sofia Segura
Women's History Month Intro by Sofia Segura
Women are often glossed over in history; their achievements go unnoticed and are rarely spoken about. Growing up, I always struggled with finding role models in history; often, I only learned about the same core women. While these women did amazing feats and shattered glass ceilings, there are so many more who deserve recognition and praise for their work. Women of color are often forgotten about in history, too. The erasure of their hard work and existence is perpetuated by our continued silence and lack of education of them. There are only a few women talked about within these articles, and I cannot strongly encourage you enough to continue to look for the untold stories of women. The more you learn about the forgotten women the more you ensure that this will not happen to my generation of women, and those who will come after us. I never want another woman’s name to collect dust waiting to be recognized for the strides she made.
Women in Science Article by Armaan Verma
Throughout history, you hear the names of many men who have pioneered the main fields of science: Newton, Isaac, Darwin, all famed in their respective fields of study, but all male. Where are all the successful female scientists? Where are they in our textbooks, in our media? Women throughout history have faced a lack of rights to education, severe prejudice in the workforce, and erasure to the point where their work was stolen right out of their hands by men. This all contributes to the fact that most people can’t even name a few female scientists off the top of their head. In light of Women’s History Month, here are a few trailblazing female scientists who haven’t gotten the clout they deserve.
Alice Ball
Ball was only in her early 20s when she earned her degree in chemistry, becoming one of the first black female professors in America, not to mention one with a major in a STEM field, which even today is not a field friendly to women. She developed a breakthrough treatment for leprosy, a condition which can cause blindness and even paralysis in the people it infects, saving thousands of lives. However, at the young age of 24, she died due to a lab accident, and her professor stole all of her work, passing it off as his own; however, being a woman in that time period (late 1890s), this wasn’t all that uncommon.
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin, another chemist, tore open the entire biology field through her discoveries in genetics. She used a method now known as “x-ray crystallography,” which revealed that DNA was double-helix shaped, solving a question biologists had been asking for decades. However, as a woman (whose associate also happened to be an African-American man), she never received credit for her work. Instead, her work was credited to famed male scientists Watson and Crick. She never received a Nobel Prize and didn’t see any credit for her work until well past her death.
Janaki Ammal Edvaleth Kakkat
Ammal, a botanist and the first woman in the entire nation of India to earn a Ph. D, contributed greatly both to the well-being of India and the growth of the field of botany as a whole. She developed hybrids for plants, which would grow stronger and faster, helping to ease the famine, which plagued India for much of the early 1900s. She wrote many works documenting the plant life of India and their structures, resources still referenced today in the fields of wildlife biology and botany. What really made her story inspiring was not the “firsts” she accomplished, but rather her perseverance leaping the obstacles of Indian society. Born in Kerala, a region of India whose culture empowered women, she grew up around knowledge and literature but still faced the blatant misogyny that permeated much of Indian culture at the time. As a young woman, she was constantly pressured to an arranged marriage, but she refused time and time again, no matter how judgmental those around her were. She overcame an entire society of stigma, as a woman in STEM, as a woman unmarried, as a woman who wanted to do big things without being tethered to a man, and she did achieve just that.
Vera Rubin
Rubin is famous for making what is one of the most important scientific discoveries in the entire field of astronomy: the existence of antimatter. Most modern astronomy is derived from this principle, but she did not receive a Nobel Prize in light of this. It is common knowledge that the committee is biased against female candidates, and Rubin’s case is one of the most glaring examples to prove this.
Shukuntala Devi
Hailed as the “Human Computer,” Devi is a Guiness-World Record holder for many of her math calculations, calculating things such as the 23rd root of a 201 digit number correctly in her head within an astonishing 50 seconds. She showed this skill off all across India and Europe, going to universities and high schools alike and asking audiences for problems she would solve instantly. My father actually had the pleasure of asking her a question when he was in college, which she solved before he could even finish speaking. However, her mathematical skills weren’t the only feat that made her fantastic; she was a skilled author. The reason many do not know of or even scorn her is due to her groundbreaking bookThe World of Homosexuals. This work documents the experience of a gay couple in Canada trying to get married at the time, which was instantly controversial worldwide. Having had been married (and eventually divorced to, obviously) a gay man, she wanted to understand homosexuality at its origin; despite this experience, she was still very pro-gay, and this message permeated her whole book (on homosexuality) “full and complete acceptance - not tolerance or sympathy” The World of Homosexuals
The Enlightenment and Mary Wollstonecraft by Ava Grant
The Enlightenment, although sounding very, well, enlightened, for women’s rights, it seemed anything but. Although ideas of religious toleration, a less absolutist government, and educational opportunities spread, the rights of women seemed to be ignored except by only a few. Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the few.
Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women, is considered a basis for the ideals regarding women's rights during the Enlightenment. She advocates for women to have more education opportunities and rights. She then goes on to inspire more people to believe in feminist ideologies like John Stuart Mill. Along with her, Olympe de Gouges fights against the oppression women of their era, and even some women of this era, are facing. These issues about women’s rights, or lack thereof, as well as lack of access to proper education for women, is still evident in society even today in some places. However, when talking about the outliers of the ideas on women’s rights during the Enlightenment, it is also important to talk about those who conformed to traditional views on this topic.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is the definition of traditional views on women. In his book, Emile, which when translated from French means On Education, talks about his views on education and his views on women. He states that nature in a sense creates women inferior to men and that women do not deserve equal rights, if any. He emphasizes in this his view that men are the superior sex. He continues on his rant that insults, demeans, demoralizes, and overall belittles women. This derogatory and insulting view is what so many people, even during the Enlightenment that focuses on progressive ideologies, believed about women.
This shows that the rights of women and their opportunities have been severely limited over time, but the main importance of this traditional view is the focus on the women who fought against these beliefs. It takes great power to stand up to others. To fight for yourself and your rights. It takes courage, it takes strength, and it takes an unbreakable will to do so. And by standing up to traditional views of hundreds and hundreds of years, it shows Mary Wollstonecraft and the women like her had great determination and internal strength to stand up for what is right. Especially when so many, like Rousseau and the other men who believed women did not deserve the basic rights granted to human beings, did not have the courage or strength to fight against this traditional view and instead encouraged it.
It is easy to follow the beliefs of others before you, it is easy to follow tradition, it is easy to stick with the safe option. But what Wollstonecraft, de Gouges, and many other women of this era, and later eras did by standing up and speaking out, is difficult. It takes guts. It takes strength. It takes will. Therefore, these women, those that stand up for their rights, although said by these men to be weak are truly those with the greatest strength.
Dawn Stanley by Madelie Oswald
Dawn Staley is an African American woman who coaches the lady gamecocks basketball team at U of SC, or the University of South Carolina. Staley has carried her gamecocks through one hundred and twenty five total SEC wins. The lady gamecocks and their loyal coach are a force to be reckoned with.
Childhood: Dawn Staley was born on May fourth, 1970 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. She played basketball in high school at Murrell Dobbins Tech high school and won player of the year her last season there.
Awards: Dawn Staley has won numerous awards during her playing and coaching careers. Some of these awards include:
USA basketball female athlete of the year
National player of the year
NCAA region most outstanding player
Gold metal in the Olympics in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics
Named national coach of the year in 2014 and 2020
Staley has been such an important part of the Lady Gamecocks victories and journey throughout the year. She has rewritten history not only as a female, but an African American female. Accomplishing so many different things throughout her player and coaching career proves that anyone can be a coach of an NCAA basketball star just like Dawn Staley.
Jhansi Rani by Saina Srivastava
Many times in history, women are gravely overlooked. Especially the strongest ones and those of color. I’d like to introduce you to Rani (Queen) Lakshmi Bai, or commonly known as Jhasi ki Rani (the queen of Jhansi). More often than not, she isn’t someone an ordinary person may know. However, she was one of the leading figures in the fight against the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1957. She became a symbol of resistance against the British and an inspiration for all.
Born to a commander, it’s no surprise that not only was she educated, she was also taught weaponry. Her unique childhood broke the patriarchal norms at the time around the world. Later in her life, the British tried to lay claim on her kingdom after her son died. She refused. Eventually, in 1857, the Indian rebellion was brewing. At first, she was diplomatic with the British; however, when the British broke trust by accusing her of allowing 40-60 Europeans to be massacred and tried to divide her kingdom between two East India Company allies, she defended her fort and protected her people. And when the British attacked Jhasi in March 1858, she protected Jhasi from the attack and defeated them. Unfortunately, the British attacked again, forcing her to flee. In her final fight, she was dehorsed and severely injured, but still fought for her country. Later on, Englishman Colonel Malleson would write, “Whatever her faults in British eyes may have been, her countrymen will ever remember that she was driven by ill-treatment into rebellion, and that she lived and died for her country, We cannot forget her contribution for India.” Her contributions to Indian society were paramount; she was an example of bravery and dedication to her countrymen. Women in history seldom are mentioned in history, especially those in warrior positions. She is a paragon of empowerment for the good of all.
Dolores Huerta by Sofia Segura
Dolores Huerta has dedicated her life to advocating for workers, immigrants, and women’s rights. She is seen as one of the most influential leaders of the Chicano civil rights movement--one of the least studied social movements of the 1960s, which focused on everything from restoration of land grants, to farmworkers' rights, to enhanced education, to voting and political rights. She is notorious for her phrase “Sí, se puede” (“yes, we can”) which she used to inspire Latino workers to fight for their rights, specifically fair wages, and better working conditions. She co-founded the United Farmworkers Association which aims to fight for labor rights and she remains an integral part of this organization today. She was the only woman on the UFW board, until 2018. Her work with migrant workers is the most well-known due to her organizing the Delano grape strike in 1965, which worked against the exploitation of farmworkers by grape growers in Delano, California. She was also the primary negotiator in the worker’s contract that was created to end the strike in 1970. In 1966 she successfully negotiated a contract between the UFW and Schenley Wine Company, making it the first time farmworkers were able to effectively bargain with an agricultural enterprise--all thanks to Huerta and her efforts.
Huerta’s work doesn't stop there; she also co-founded the Stockton Chapter of the Community Service Organization, which fought for economic improvements for Latino migrant farmworkers. She also founded the Dolores Huerta Foundation in 2003 with the goal to weave in movements like women’s, LGBTQ, immigrant, labor, and civil rights into a single thread. This foundation works tirelessly to inspire and establish communities and volunteer organizations that can work towards social justice for these groups. Huerta has been recognized numerous times for her lifelong commitment to activism. She was the first Latina woman to be indoctrinated into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, but her accolades don't end there. She earned the Eugene V. Debs Foundation Outstanding American Award, the United States Presidential Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has never stopped fighting for other people, even as she approaches her 92nd birthday this April she still remains dedicated to her work and on the boards of a handful of massively influential organizations, such as People for the America Way, Consumer Federation of California, United Farmworkers Association, and Feminist Majority Foundation.
Women poets Men have been prioritized by the patriarchy for centuries. Even in artistic spaces and conversations, men will be mentioned more frequently than women. They’re more famous and continue to live on while some of the most brilliant artistic women are left in the past. As you will see, many of these women were as artistically strong as their male counterparts, yet their names aren't talked about in public conversation the way Poe, Frost, and Whitman are. While there are some women like Angelou, Plath, and Austen who are renowned; they are also often treated as the only women who broke glass ceilings in their work. There are many brilliant women out there who dedicated their lives to poetry and deserve more recognition for their groundbreaking work. I want to give the spotlight to women I hope you haven’t heard of before, rather than continue to give the spotlight to the same women we are already familiar with, or most likely will be during our education. I want to honor women, both presently and historically, who have used their poetry to be influential in all aspects of their lives and who became trailblazers, paving the way for the women who will come after them. I implore you to read this article and continue learning and looking for women history may have forgotten. Gwendolyn Brooks was a highly influential poet, being the first black author to win the Pulitzer Prize, and the first black woman to be a poetry consultant to the Library of Congress. Many of her poems display a political consciousness, she wrote through the Civil Rights era, and her poems from that period reflect the touchingly intense nature of that time. According to critic George E. Kent, she had “a unique position in American letters. Not only has she combined a strong commitment to racial identity and equality with a mastery of poetic techniques, but she has also managed to bridge the gap between the academic poets of her generation in the 1940s and the young Black militant writers of the 1960s.” She began publishing her poetry as a teenager in Chicago in local magazines and didn’t stop eventually winning her the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for her poetry book, Annie Allen,which tells the brilliantly-written story of a young African American girl growing into her adulthood.
Joy Harjo is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and an incredibly unique poet. She frequently draws on First Nation histories and storytelling, feminist and social justice poetic traditions. She often incorporates indigenous myths, symbols, and values into her poetry where she focuses on the value of remembrance and transcendence. She once commented, “I feel strongly that I have a responsibility to all the sources that I am: to all past and future ancestors, to my home country, to all places that I touch down on and that are myself, to all voices, all women, all of my tribe, all people, all earth, and beyond that to all beginnings and endings. In a strange kind of sense [writing] frees me to believe in myself, to be able to speak, to have voice, because I have to; it is my survival.” She is the first Native American to be named U.S. Poet Laureate and was granted this title in 2019. She is also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to serve three terms, showing her dedication to the world of poetry. She continues to change that world the more she writes and continues to tell the stories she feels are unheard and crucial.
Lucila Godoy Alcayaga was the first Spanish American author to receive the Nobel Prize in literature; she will always be seen as a representative figure in cultural history. Both in her verse and prose, she deals with the basic passion of love as seen in the relationships of mother and child, man and woman, individual and humanity, soul and spirituality. She incorporates cultural and traditional elements into her work that were often unseen in literature before her. She defended the rights of children, women, and the poor; the freedoms of democracy; and the need for peace in times of social, political, and ideological conflicts, not only in Latin America but internationally. She always took the side of those who were mistreated by society and tried to speak for them through her poetry, many newspaper articles, letters, talks, and actions as a Chilean representative in international organizations. Above all, she was concerned about the future of Latin America and its peoples and cultures. She used her vast talent and skill for writing for activism, using it as a vessel to promote ideas of social progress and justice.
Sarojini Naidu, sometimes called “the nightingale of India,” was renowned for her poetry and used her powerful work to the advantage of India. She was a masterful poet and would use her work to champion causes like Indian independence, often she worked alongside Gandhi as an activist. She would write about causes that needed awareness and would bring light to issues that were previously unspoken of. Naidu soon became the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and to be appointed an Indian state governor. As she governed over the United Provinces, currently Uttar Pradesh, she continued to write impactful poetry and remained Governor until her death, paving the way for future women in political power. As a poet, she is known for having a remarkably unique style and masterful technical skill that propelled the world of poetry forward; her audience often deeply resonated with her work and rallied around her to support the causes she wrote about. She could combine the delicacy of her poetry with the strength of her political activism all for the sake of radical change and progress. There are so many more women who have, or still are, writing amazing poetry. I refuse to let their names be forgotten and ignored; I wasn't able to include all of the incredible women who have used their poetry to change the world around them but I encourage you to go look for them. If you don’t know where to start, here are a few names to invest your time into: Julia de Burgos, June Jordan, Mirabai, Delmira Agustini, Kimiko Hahn, and Kamala Surayya.