Women's History Month- Women in the Activism, Politics & Social Change (March 22-28)

(Courtesy Library of Congress)

The First Black Army Nurse and Established the First Known Free School for African Americans

Susan Ann “Susie” Baker King Taylor defied the odds in a time when it was illegal for enslaved people to learn to read or write. Recognizing the power of education, her grandmother secretly sent Susie and her siblings to an underground school for Black children. As a teenager, Susie escaped slavery and found refuge behind Union lines on St. Simon’s Island. At just 14, she established the first known free school for African Americans. She also served the First South Carolina Volunteers, the first Black regiment in the U.S. Army, teaching soldiers to read and write. While the soldiers earned full salaries, Susie was never paid or officially acknowledged for her work. Despite this, she remained committed to education, later opening several schools in Georgia. She is the only Black woman to have written a firsthand account of her experiences during the American Civil War.

(Public Domain)

The First Known Female Professional Author and Early Feminist

Christine de Pizan was a medieval writer, philosopher, and one of the first known female professional authors. Born in 1364 in Venice but raised in France, she became a prolific poet and scholar after being widowed at a young age. She is best known for The Book of the City of Ladies (Published 1405), in which she challenged misogynistic views and celebrated women’s achievements. Her work advocated for women’s education and intellectual equality, making her an early feminist thinker. Through her writings, she defied societal norms and left a lasting impact on literature and women’s rights.

(Painting by Miguel Cabrera |1700s| National Museum of History Chapultepec Castle Mexico City)

The First Feminist of the Americas

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a Mexican writer, scholar, and nun, often considered the first feminist of the Americas. A brilliant self-taught intellect, she defied societal expectations by pursuing education in an era when women were discouraged from intellectual pursuits. She became a nun to dedicate herself to study and writing, producing poetry, plays, and essays that challenged gender norms and advocated for women’s rights. Her most famous work written in 1691, Respuesta a Sor Filotea/ Reply to Sister Philothea, defended women's right to knowledge. However, pressure from the Church forced her to abandon her literary work later in life. Despite this, Sor Juana’s legacy as a trailblazing thinker and advocate for women’s education endures.

(Courtesy of NEA Reporter 1974)

Labor Rights Trailblazer 

Jo Carol LeFleur Nesset-Sale, a schoolteacher, took a stand against the Cleveland Board of Education's policy that forced pregnant teachers onto unpaid leave months before their due dates. Her courageous challenge led to the landmark Supreme Court case Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur (1974). In a pivotal decision with a 7-2 vote, the Court ruled the policy unconstitutional, finding it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause by creating an "irrebuttable presumption" of incapacity. This ruling struck down restrictive mandatory maternity leave policies and significantly advanced women’s workplace rights, setting a crucial precedent against pregnancy discrimination. Nesset-Sale’s case marked a turning point, emphasizing the need for fairness and equality for pregnant women in the workplace. She later left teaching to go to law school, becoming a public defender, and later a private lawyer specializing in mediation and legal ethics.

“For many of us, the greatest satisfaction we have is continuing to do the job we chose for ourselves,” Nesset-Sale said. “Pregnancy is not an illness but a joyous circumstance. I could not let that discrimination go unchallenged.” 

(Courtesy PBS | CNS photo Bettmann |1964)

Civil Rights Movement Advocate

Fannie Lou Hamer wasn’t just a voice for change—she was a force for it. Born the daughter of sharecroppers in Mississippi, she knew firsthand the struggles of poverty and racial injustice. When she tried to register to vote in 1962, she was fired from her job, jailed, and brutally beaten. Hamer co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to challenge the all-white Democratic delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. When she testified on national TV about the violence and discrimination Black voters faced, she shook the country’s conscience. Though President Johnson tried to silence her, her words rang louder than ever. She fought for voting rights, economic justice, and Black political representation, paving the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Later, she founded cooperative farms and advocated for poor Black families to gain economic independence.  

(Credit The Gerhard Sisters | Chicago)

The First American Woman to Win a Nobel Peace Prize

Jane Addams, a trailblazer in social work and activism, believed in building a better world from the ground up. In 1889, she co-founded Hull House, a community center in Chicago that provided education, childcare, and job training for immigrants and the poor. She fought for women’s suffrage, labor rights, and world peace, becoming the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Her advocacy helped lay the groundwork for New Deal and Great Society programs, which expanded social welfare, workers’ rights, and public assistance. She also helped establish the NAACP and the ACLU, proving that social justice is a lifelong fight. Her work foreshadowed the New Deal and the Great Society. 

 (Painting by John Opie | 1797 | National Portrait Gallery London)

Early Feminist Philosopher

Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) was a trailblazing feminist philosopher who challenged the deeply ingrained belief that women were naturally inferior to men. During her brief career she wrote novels, essays, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men but appeared to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. She believed that if given the same intellectual opportunities as men, women could contribute equally to society, politics, and morality. She also critiqued how women were socialized to prioritize beauty and obedience over reason and independence. Unlike later feminists who focused on legal rights, Wollstonecraft was more concerned with how gender inequality was rooted in education and culture. She envisioned a world where women could be rational, self-sufficient individuals rather than mere companions to men. Her work laid the foundation for later feminist movements. Though she was largely dismissed in the 19th century, the rise of modern feminism brought renewed appreciation for her ideas, proving just how ahead of her time she truly was. 

Special Note: Mary Wollstonecraft is the mother of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein.