Lady Hay Drummond-Hay (September 12, 1895—February 12, 1946) was a star journalist who became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe, and she did it in a damned Zeppelin. She went on to report from war zones like Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) and Manchuria (now part of China), fell into a tumultuous romance with a fellow reporter, and was eventually captured by the Japanese during WWII.
…swim the English Channel.
Gertrude Ederle (October 23, 1905 – November 30, 2003) was a competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and at one time held five world records. If there was a world record for coolest nickname she would’ve held six, because hers was “Queen of the Waves.” When Ederle set out to become the first woman to swim the English channel, she used motorcycle goggles and sealed the edges with wax to keep the salt water out of her eyes. Due to unfavorable and violent wind conditions twelve hours into her 14 hour and 34 minute journey, her trainer shouted at her to get out of the water and into his boat. She reportedly popped her head up from the water to simply ask “what for?”
…travel around the world in less than 80 days.
Nellie Bly (May 5, 1864—January 27, 1922) asked her editor at the New York World if she could take a stab at turning the story Around the World in 80 Days from fiction to fact. Using railways and steamships, Bly chuggah-chuggahed and toot-tooted the nearly 25,000 mile trip in just 72 days, meeting Jules Verne and buying a monkey along the way. If her name sounds familiar but these stories don’t, it’s probably because you’ve heard about how she once faked a mental illness so she could write an exposé on psychiatric asylums. Or maybe it’s because of her famed coverage of the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913. Or maybe it’s because you’re a big fan of farming and industrialist patents and heard she invented a novel milk can and a stacking garbage can. Nellie Bly did a lot in her short 57 years.
Follow these Tumblrs for more Women’s History:
Stuff You Missed in History Class (@missedinhistory) is not exclusively about women, but hoo boy, it turns out most history classes aren’t great at teaching us about women’s history. You’ll learn a lot here.
The New-York Historical Society (@nyhistory) has been pulling articles, artifacts, and documents deep from the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library this Women’s History Month.
Because they’ve advanced the success and growth of those fields for just as long as men, even when they weren’t afforded the opportunity, the recognition, or the grants. Onward:
Rosalind Franklin (July 25, 1920—April 16, 1958)
Rosalind Franklin was a chemist and, get this, X-ray crystallographer. As far as titles go, you can’t do much better than crystallographer. Her work in understanding the molecular structure of DNA laid the foundation for the discovery of the double helix. She also made significant contributions to understanding the structures of RNAs. And viruses. And coal. And graphite. Her work was not fully appreciated until after she passed away. Two teams of all-male scientists who used her work to discover great things later went on to win Nobel Prizes.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler (February 8, 1831—March 9, 1895)
Rebecca Lee Crumpler spent most of her professional life being the first at things. She was the very first Black woman to become a physician in the United States. The first (and only) Black woman to graduate from New England Female Medical College. She authored Book of Medical Discourses, one of the very first medical books written by a Black person. Every obstacle she powered through was done in an effort to provide care for other people. Hero.
Mary Anning (May 21, 1799—March 9, 1847)
Mary Anning discovered the first full Ichthyosaur skeleton at 11, the very first Plesiosaur at 22, and then opened up her own fossil store front a few years later. We repeat: She opened up her own fossil store. We could go on and on, but Rejected Princesses (@rejectedprincesses) already did it best in this biographical comic. While you’re over there, check out their whole archive and the dozens and dozens of women’s life stories within.
Follow these too:
She Thought It: Crossing Bodies in Sciences and Arts (@shethoughtit) is a database dedicated to shedding light on women making strides in both science and the arts. A whole bunch of great things.
Lady Scientists of Tumblr (@scientific-women) promises everything you could ever want from a feminist science round-up blog: intersectionality and equal representation of all scientists who identify as female. Hell yeah.
Math Brain (@ihaveamathbrain) backs the novel idea that women are indeed capable of understanding math. Shocking. With the perfect amount of sarcasm, they tackle the idea some bozos have that women just don’t have the mind for mathematics.
-instantly became ride or die with harry after the troll incedent
-set snape on fire
-brewed an illegal potion for two months in the girls’ bathroom
-turned into a furry
-immediate thought upon encountering a giant murdersnake was ‘better make sure the others find this page on my helpless petrified body bc god knows they won’t figure it out themselves’
-wanted to take finals after like a month in a magical coma
-traveled through time to get evenmore homework
-figured out lupin was a werewolf and didn’t tell anyone because he was a relatively competent teacher compared to magic ryan seacrest and literal voldemort
-essentially snatched trelawney’s weave gotdamn
-slugged draco malfoy, terrified him and his hulking buddies into running, went back in time to watch it again
-confronted a werewolf and his alleged mass murderer friend because, again, ride or die
-broke time travel laws in order to jailbreak azkaban escapee and his pet hippogriff
-dated an international sports star
-put up with all the vile shit rita skeeter wrote about her
-joined secret order dedicated to fighting voldemort
-put up with harry’s shit
-imprisoned a woman in a jar for months, blackmailed her into doing what she wanted
-formed and organized secret defense class, peer pressured harry into leading it
-permanently disfigured the girl who ratted them out. snitches get stitches.
-manipulated the shit out of umbridge
-basically left her to rot in the forbidden forest
-went to fight death eaters with like six of her mates despite her misgivings (RIDE. OR. DIE.)
-immediately agreed to destroy the dark lord’s soul with her buddies despite not having any idea how (RIDE! OR! DIE!)
-mind wiped her parents and made them go to australia to keep them safe
-essentially singlehandedly kept harry and ron alive and functional for the majority of the deathly hallows
-wore the locket while still managing not to be a shithead
-got the shit tortured out of her by bellatrix lestrange. didn’t go insane.
-fought in the battle of hogwarts. didn’t die.
-was unfailingly loyal and did everything she could to keep harry safe for seven years, even when he was quite frankly being a jackass
The film “Hidden Figures,” based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, focuses on the stories of Katherine Johnson (left, after receiving the Medal of Freedom in 2015), Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan, African-American women who were essential to the success of early spaceflight. Today, NASA embraces their legacy and strives to include everyone who wants to participate in its ongoing exploration. “Progress is driven by questioning our assumptions and cultural assumptions,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says in a new video. “Embracing diversity and inclusion is how we as a nation will take the next giant leap in exploration.“
god bless the girl warriors, the defenders of teenage laughter, the women who push themselves between fire and body; god bless the women witches who pull love like endless scarves, who pull together families, who magic dinners in ten minutes; god bless the science dragon-kin who come with their scales rippling, who tear down STEM fields and burn the patriarchy just by studying, who work their bellies raw only to be told they’re “naturally talented,” who are keepers of the late nights and coffees, who catch doctor mistakes but get lower pay, who double-shift without wincing; god bless the art queens, hair messy and creativity overflowing, who present ideas without apologizing, who carve raw their bones and put honest on display – god bless the avenging seraphim in the form of women, the quiet close-standing of one woman watching another in a train station, the silent knowing here-i-am glance of women when men are too rowdy, the steel of women protecting young girls, the fire of women who protect their trans sisters, the arc light of trans sisters leading the charge in standing up for women’s rights; god bless women, seen as weak, seen as relenting, taught to bow and beg and apologize – god bless every social justice fighter, every freedom bell ringer, every young lady who does not just shake chains but instead is using them to shatter glass ceilings. go forth and conquer. you’re all my heroes.
Pictured above is Edmonia Lewis (bottom), along with her sculptures The Death of Cleopatra (top left) and Forever Free (top right).
I am not sure how to begin even trying to summarize the fascinating life of Edmonia Lewis and her sculptures. The Smithsonian magazine’s 1996 article on her does a far better job than I ever could, so I encourage you to check it out!
The Death of Cleopatranow resides in the Smithsonian American Art Museum (the source of the picture of it above). But the sculpture almost fell into complete obscurity after wowing the public at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia. SAAM also has a brief biography on Edmonia that’s worth exploring. Wikipedia’s article on Lewis is also a fine place to start, given the number of great references and sources listed. It’s also the source of Lewis’s portrait above.
The life Edmonia Lewis forged at a time when being anything but white or male would almost certainly relegate you to the dustbin of history stands as an inspiration. Do yourself a favor and don’t resist exploring more.
We’re reblogging this post of ours from 2014 today since Edmonia Lewis has a Google Doodle today! (It’s also wonderful to see that Freeman H.M. Murray now has a great Wikipedia page, too.)
I should mention we have a couple more books in our collection about Edmonia Lewis (though not digitally available—check WorldCat to find books in libraries near you):
Also, don’t forget to take a look at the Smithsonian’s Collection Search to take a look at the many sculptures, etc. in our museums & research centers!
Steel Phoenix Studios 