Women’s History Month
As Women’s History Month draws to a close, I’ve been thinking of the many women I admire, whether it’s family, friends, or historical figures.
Today, I want to highlight a few outstanding women who stood up, spoke out, and made a difference—women who rose to the occasion and helped advance not only women but also their communities. Their efforts forged a path for future generations.
Harriet Tubman
Born into slavery, Harriet escaped from the South through the Underground Railroad, traveling over 90 miles. She returned to the Underground Railroad as a “conductor” to help other enslaved people. With her code name, “Moses,” Harriet carried out 13 rescue missions, helping roughly 70 people escape to freedom.
She was active in the abolitionist and social justice movements, giving speeches on women’s issues, including advocating for the right to vote.
Ms. Tubman served as a cook, nurse, scout, and spy for the North. Along with Colonel James Montgomery of the Union Army, she led a military operation that freed over 700 enslaved people in South Carolina.
In 2021, she was inducted into the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame for her work with the Union Army during the Civil War.
Two national parks are named after Ms. Tubman: the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland, where she was born, and the Harriet Tubman National Historic Park in Albany, New York, where she lived until her death in 1913.
Edith Windsor
Edith Windsor was a plaintiff in the Defense of Marriage Act (a.k.a. DOMA). She sued the United States government for not recognizing her partner, Thea Spyer, who died in 2009. Because the government did not recognize their marriage as legitimate, it required her to pay an estimated $350,000 in estate taxes.
Her battle reached the Supreme Court, which ruled DOMA was unconstitutional for failing to recognize same-sex marriages.
This landmark victory paved the way for legalizing same-sex marriages. Ms. Windsor was also an activist in the LGBTQAI community, and she supported women in the tech industry.
Judy Heumann
Judy contracted polio and began using a wheelchair as a young child. At five years old, her school sent her home because they considered her wheelchair a fire hazard. This type of discrimination profoundly impacted her and inspired her to create change.
When she was in her twenties, she sued the New York Board of Education when it denied her a teaching license because they feared she wouldn’t be able to evacuate her students in an emergency. She won her case and became the first teacher in the state to use a wheelchair.
Ms. Heumann is known as the “Mother of Disability Rights.” She helped develop and pass several disability laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which “prohibits discrimination based on disability in programs conducted and funded by the government.” This was the first civil rights disability law enacted in the United States and became law in 1973.
“Some people say that what I did changed the world,” Huemann wrote, “But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.”
You can find more information on Ms. Heumann here.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg became an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court for 27 years.
She was the second and first Jewish woman appointed to the high court. A lawyer who graduated first in her class at Columbia University, she was a trailblazer for women’s rights, gay rights, and people with low incomes and disenfranchised.
Ms. Ginsburg briefed and argued most major sex discrimination cases in the 1970s, and she was successful in five of the six cases.
In United States vs. Virginia Military Institute (or VMI), Ginsburg stated the male-only admission policy violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. In 1996, the Supreme Court struck down VMI’s long-standing policy. It was considered a landmark decision in advancing women’s equality.
Ms. Ginsburg (affectionately referred to as RBG) became a symbol as an advocate and protector of equal rights for women. Throughout her career (over 50 years), she worked to end sex and gender discrimination.
Bethany Yellowtail
A Native American from the Crow Nation tribally enrolled in the Northern Cheyenne Nation in Montana, Bethany studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Technology in Los Angeles.
Learning to sew from her family’s matriarchs, she now has her brand, B. Yellowtail, where she creates clothing inspired by her heritage in the Cheyenne and Crow tribes. Through her brand, she raises social awareness and is an authentic leader of her culture in fashion.
Her work has helped raise money for such causes as the Dakota Access Pipeline (No-DAPL).
In 2021, Bethany founded the B. Yellowtail Collective, a group of Native artists from different tribes and peoples to create economic opportunities on various platforms.
Katherine Johnson
Ms. Johnson worked at NASA during the early space program as a mathematician.
Her work in orbital mechanics helped calculate the path of Freedom 7, which sent Alan B. Shepard, the first American astronaut in space, into orbit and safely home.
She then helped analyze and verify John Glenn’s flight and assisted with Apollo 11, which landed on the moon.
Her story, along with those of her female colleagues (Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan) at NASA, was recently made into a film entitled Hidden Figures, based on the book of the same title.
Katherine Johnson has won several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2016, NASA dedicated a building in her name at the Langley Research Center.
Jane Goodall
Known for her pioneering research on chimpanzees in the 1960s, Jane Goodall has spent most of her life helping endangered species and the earth.
In her research, she discovered that primates made tools (once thought to be only associated with humans) and that chimpanzees were not vegetarians, as once thought.
Her non-profit, The Jane Goodall Institute, is a global community conservation organization whose approach is to bring communities into conservation and, in doing so, “improve the lives of the people, animals, and the environment.”
She has also created Roots and Shoots, which aims to “empower young people to affect positive change in their communities.”
Malala Yousafzai
An advocate for girls’ education in her homeland of Pakistan, Malala has been fighting for equal and quality education since she was a child.
She and her father, Ziauddin, advocated for girls’ empowerment and demanded their right to a free and quality education.
When someone revealed her identity in 2012, the Taliban shot Malala on her school bus for speaking out against the restriction of female education.
She survived and now lives (along with her family) in England, where she continues to advocate for girls’ rights to free, quality education.
She founded the Malala.org, which “invests in education advocates and activists who are challenging the policies and practices that prevent girls from going to school in their communities.”
Malala spoke at the United Nations and is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
We Can All Contribute
These women created a new path for what they believed in, fostering change that has benefited us all.
But here’s the thing: women’s accomplishments don’t have to be something we perceive as grand or beyond our grasp.
It’s about having the courage to follow one’s passion, embracing our true selves, and honoring what we bring into the world.
We can contribute to our world in many ways, whether lending a helping hand to someone in need or tending to a garden.
The Power of Art
I remember sitting in anticipation as the lights dimmed in the auditorium, knowing the magic theater creates.
That evening, I was transported on Maria’s journey (portrayed by actor Zoe Caldwell), including her triumphs, struggles, and loneliness.
When the play ended, my mom and I walked out of the theatre into the bustle of Times Square without speaking a word.
We walked in silence through the frenzied streets of New York City back to my place, where we discussed the play’s profound impact on both of us.
Great art can do this. It can transform and transcend, provide a different perspective, increase empathy, and better understand ourselves and humanity.
Zoe Caldwell and the other actors didn’t know this happened to my mom and me, but that’s also the beauty of it.
I would like to offer my experience as an example. You never know how one action, performance, or act of kindness can help improve or transform a person, creating a ripple effect of transformation, goodness, empathy, or compassion.
When we listen within, we can honor our gifts and move toward what we know deep within our hearts we are here to do. The women I listed above did just that—they were true to themselves.
If we dare to be vulnerable and trust in where our heart is leading us, if we believe in ourselves and the Universe enough to bravely align with our true essence, then we will live a life filled with our unique power: a reverberating heartbeat that is felt in everything around us.
When we listen to the quiet voice inside saying, Yes, you can, or Go for it, and nurture that voice with love, kindness, wonder, and grace, we claim ourselves. We embody our gifts and our power. From there, anything is possible.
Yours,
Stacy
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