These are American women, and their actions were not motivated by fortune or fame. There was no glory, and in many cases very little recognition for their activities. They simply did what needed to be done, and they did so in an extraordinary way. They roared without making a sound and it is time they were given a voice.
Meet the Heroines
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- Annette Abbott Adams: She paved the road for women to work in the judicial system.
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- Jane Addams: She introduced social reform to Chicago, and then made it work.
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- Susan “Doc Susie” Anderson: Trying to save her own life, this frontier doctor saved countless others.
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- Jean Bartik: As a member of the ENIAC project, she was one of the first computer programmers.
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- Daisy Bates: Meet the leader of the Little Rock Nine.
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- Mary Elizabeth Bowser: She risked everything to become the best placed Union spy during the Civil War.
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- Aurelia Browder: Meet the woman behind the lawsuit that ended the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
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- Shirley Chisholm: A catalyst for change, she thrust American politics forward.
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- Pauline Cushman: Actress turned spy, turned back into an actress.
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- Mary Katherine Goddard: Meet the woman whose name can be found on the Declaration of Independence.
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- Fannie Lou Hamer: She took her fight for civil rights to the road and to the stage.
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- Mary Harris Jones: She was dubbed the “Most Dangerous Woman in America,” and for good reason.
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- Dorothy Height: Meet the Grand Dame of the Civil Rights Era.
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- Endesha Ida Mae Holland: Meet the Civil Rights worker, award-winning author, and college professor.
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- Sybil Ludington: Before Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride, there was Sybil Ludington’s.
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- Rebecca Lukens: This ironclad matriarch saved the family iron mill, and all of the employees.
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- Jeanne Manford: Meet the woman bold enough to become the mother of the straight ally movement.
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- Eloise Page: Meet the “Iron Butterfly” who defied the odds by thriving at the CIA.
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- Ellen Pavloff: First she got revenge on her abusive husband. Then she spent his money to help the town.
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- Ethel Payne: Meet the First Lady of the Black Press.
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- Mary Ellen Pleasant: Voodoo queen or civil rights pioneer? Maybe a little of both.
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- Helen Richey: Despite accolades as a stunt pilot and wartime flier, this aviatress flew too close the sun.
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- Margaret Sanger: Her work ensured women could be more than child-bearing machines.
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- Lillian Smith: A controversial author and subversive camp leader of young Southern ladies.
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- Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin: She used what little privilege she had to fight for equality.
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- Lucy Stone: Meet the woman who fought for abolition as well as women’s rights.
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- Elizabeth Van Lew: Her intelligence network was so valuable, General Grant thanked her personally.
