Heroines Who Got Us Here: Unforgettable Women

In a world that seems to be constantly testing the progress women have made, it’s important to remember the heroines who got us here. These are the women who took risks, challenged the status quo, and made a lasting impact on the world. From the many ways they've defied expectations to their groundbreaking achievements, women have shaped the world as we know it. Here are just a few of the heroines who got us where we are today. It's a long article for this space, but it touches upon just a fraction of the inspiring women who made a difference.

Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright was the first female Secretary of State and a powerful voice for human rights during her tenure. She famously said, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." Albright was known for her bluntness and her willingness to stand up to anyone, no matter their position.

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was a writer, poet, and civil rights activist. Her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is considered one of the most important works of the 20th century. Angelou was also an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement, working alongside Martin Luther King Jr. She later served as the first African American woman to write a column for a major newspaper, and she was also the first African American woman to read a poem at a presidential inauguration.

Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony was born in 1820 and grew up in a Quaker family that advocated for social reform. In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, with whom she would go on to form the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. This organization fought for both women’s suffrage and African American men’s suffrage. In 1869, Anthony and Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. Anthony was arrested in 1872 for voting illegally and fined $100, which she refused to pay. Following her death in 1906, Congress passed the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote—14 years after Anthony’s death.

Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm was an American politician and the first African American woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm was a member of the Democratic Party, and she served as a representative from New York from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, Chisholm ran for president, and she was the first black candidate to receive electoral votes.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie discovered two new chemical elements—polonium and radium—and was awarded half of the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics along with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel “in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the influence of magnetism on radiation phenomena." After Pierre died in 1906, Marie took over his position at Sorbonne becoming its first female professor—and went on to win a second Nobel Prize, this time solo, “in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by her discovery of radium and polonium" making her the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes in different sciences.

Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was a French writer, philosopher, and feminist theorist. She is best known for her groundbreaking work The Second Sex, which is considered one of the most important works of feminist thought. de Beauvoir was also a leading figure in the French existentialist movement, and she wrote extensively on philosophy, ethics, and politics. In addition to her work as a writer and thinker, de Beauvoir was also an active participant in the women’s rights movement.

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart was a trailblazing aviator and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She also set numerous other aviation records, and she wrote several books about her flying adventures. In addition to her accomplishments in aviation, Earhart was also an active supporter of the women’s rights movement. In 1935, she founded the Women’s Airplane Club, which worked to promote women’s involvement in aviation.

Naomi Parker Fraley

Naomi Parker Fraley was one of the women who served as the inspiration for the famous "We Can Do It!" wartime poster. The poster, which featured a woman with her fists raised in defiance, was intended to encourage women to enter the workforce during World War II. Fraley worked as a mechanic and welder during the war, and she later became a teacher.

Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a German-born Jewish girl who was forced to go into hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. During her time in hiding, Frank kept a diary that recounted her experiences and detailed her hopes for the future. Frank’s diary has been read by millions of people, and it is considered one of the most important documents of the Holocaust.

Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin was a scientist who made major contributions to the understanding of DNA. She helped to discover the structure of DNA, and her work laid the foundation for the field of molecular biology. In addition to her work in science, Franklin was also an accomplished photographer. She used her skills as a photographer to capture images of DNA, which helped to further our understanding of this important molecule.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a champion of gender equality and one of the most influential Supreme Court Justices in history. During her time on the court, Ginsburg has worked to dismantle laws that discriminate against women, and she has been a powerful voice for gender equality. In 2018, she was the subject of the documentary film RBG, which chronicles her life and career.

Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall is a British primatologist and anthropologist. She is best known for her work with chimpanzees, and she has made important contributions to our understanding of animal behavior. In addition to her work with animals, Goodall is also an environmental activist. She has worked to protect endangered species and to raise awareness about the importance of conserving our planet.

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was an American civil rights activist who worked to end racial segregation and voting discrimination against African Americans. Hamer was born into a family of sharecroppers in Mississippi, and she became an active member of the civil rights movement after attending a workshop on voter registration in 1961. Hamer risked her life to register African American voters in Mississippi, and she helped found the Freedom Democratic Party (FDP). The FDP was created to challenge the all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Dorothy Height

Dorothy Height was an American civil rights activist who worked to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans. Height was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1912, and she became involved in the civil rights movement after moving to New York City in the 1930s. She joined the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in 1957, and she served as the organization's president from 1957 to 1997. Height also worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement.

Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper was a computer scientist and a United States Navy rear admiral. She was one of the first people to develop a compiler for a computer programming language, and she also helped to develop COBOL, one of the first high-level programming languages. In addition to her work in computer science, Hopper was also an accomplished military leader. She served in both World War II and the Korean War, and she was the first woman to achieve the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy.

Dr. Mae C. Jemison

Mae Jemison is an American astronaut and physician. She was the first African American woman to fly in space, and she has also worked as a teacher, engineer, and doctor. In addition to her work in science and medicine, Jemison is also an accomplished dancer. She has danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and she has also choreographed her own dances.

Katherine G. Johnson

Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician who made important contributions to the field of aeronautics. She calculated the trajectory for the Apollo 11 mission, which was the first manned mission to land on the moon. Johnson’s work was critical to the success of the mission, and she later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her accomplishments.

Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan was an American politician and the first African American woman to serve in the Texas Senate. Jordan was a member of the Democratic Party, and she served in the Texas Senate from 1966 to 1972. In 1976, Jordan was elected to the United States House of Representatives, and she served until 1979. Jordan was a strong advocate for civil rights, and she was one of the six co-sponsors of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr was an actress and an inventor. During World War II, she helped to develop a frequency-hopping signal that could be used to jam radio-controlled torpedoes. This technology is now used in wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and WiFi. In addition to her work as an inventor, Lamarr was also a successful actress, appearing in films such as Samson and Delilah and Ziegfeld Girl.

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmentalist and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement, an organization that has planted millions of trees across Africa. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to her work with forestry and conservation, Maathai was also instrumental in getting Kenyan women involved in politics.

Maryam Mirzakhani

Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician and the first woman to win the Fields Medal, which is considered to be the Nobel Prize for mathematics. Mirzakhani made important contributions to the fields of geometry and dynamical systems. In addition to her work in mathematics, Mirzakhani was also an accomplished artist. She often drew pictures to help explain her mathematical ideas, and her work has been featured in galleries and museums around the world.

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is best known for her role in the Montgomery bus boycott, but she was also an active participant in the civil rights movement more broadly. In 1955, Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, an act of defiance that sparked a year-long boycott of Montgomery’s public buses. The boycott was a major victory in the civil rights movement, and it paved the way for future desegregation efforts.

Alice Paul

Alice Paul was an American suffragist and women's rights activist who played a major role in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Paul was born in 1885, and she became involved in the women's suffrage movement while attending college in England. When she returned to the United States, she helped organize a series of protests known as the Silent Sentinels. These protests ultimately led to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Sally Ride

Sally Ride was an American astronaut and the first American woman to fly in space. Ride also worked as a physics professor, and she was an advocate for science education. In addition to her work in science, Ride was also an accomplished athlete. She competed in tennis and golf, and she was a member of the U.S. national team for both sports.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential First Ladies in history. As First Lady, she advocated for the civil rights of African Americans and worked to end discrimination against them. She also helped to found the United Nations, and served as its first delegate from the United States. After her husband’s death, Roosevelt continued to work for social justice, serving as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and working for the passage of civil rights legislation.

Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger was an American birth control advocate and the founder of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Sanger was a controversial figure, and she faced opposition from both the government and the Catholic Church. However, her work helped to bring birth control into the mainstream, and she is credited with helping to start the modern women’s rights movement.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an abolitionist and suffragist who was instrumental in the fight for women’s rights. In 1848, Stanton helped organize the first-ever women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. At the convention, Stanton drafted and presented the “Declaration of Sentiments,” which called for equality between men and women. Stanton continued to fight for women’s rights throughout her life, and her work laid the foundation for future generations of feminists.

Mary Church Terrell

Mary Church Terrell was one of the first African American women to earn a college degree. She was also an accomplished activist and educator. Terrell was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). She also worked to end segregation in Washington, D.C., and was one of the first African American women to serve on a school board.

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was an abolitionist and feminist who fought for the rights of African Americans and women. In 1851, she delivered her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at a women’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio. In the speech, she challenged the notion that women were not strong enough to fight for their rights. Truth continued to fight for both African American and women’s rights until her death in 1883.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was an African American abolitionist who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Tubman was born into slavery in 1820, but she escaped in 1849 and dedicated her life to helping others achieve freedom. She is often referred to as the “Moses of her people” for her leadership during the perilous journey to freedom. During the Civil War, she served as a Union spy. After the war, she became an advocate for women’s suffrage. In 1896, she helped establish the National Association of Colored Women.

Nancy Wake

During World War II, Nancy Wake was one of the Allies' most effective spies. Operating behind enemy lines in Germany-occupied France, she helped downed Allied pilots escape and led resistance efforts against the Nazis. She once killed a Gestapo agent with her bare hands, and her code name was "the White Mouse" because she was so elusive. By the end of the war, she was one of the most wanted people in Germany.

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for girls' education and the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize. When she was just 15 years old, she was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against their ban on girls attending school. Miraculously, she survived and has since become a powerful advocate for girls' education around the world. In 2014, she delivered a speech to the United Nations and founded the Malala Fund, which works to empower girls through education.

Summary

Women have always been at the forefront of change, whether they're leading resistance movements or making scientific discoveries. The women featured here are just a few of the many heroines who've made an impact on our world. Thanks to their courage and tenacity, we've come a long way—but there's still more work to be done. Let's continue honoring these unforgettable women by carrying on their legacies and fighting for a better future for all.

Who are your Heroines? Post your answer below.

Clara Conti is a transformational leader, senior global public sector executive, corporate restructuring guru, and founder of multiple business startups. Connect with her on?LinkedIn ?and?Twitter .