Sojourner Truth
- Sojourner was one of ten children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree in 1797. When she was nine, Truth was sold at an auction with a flock of sheep for $100 to a man named John Neely. After suffering for years of abuse by Neely, Truth was then sold about every two years to various slave owners. In 1826, Sojourner Truth finally escaped to freedom with her daughter Sophia, but had to leave her other children behind. After hearing that her son was sold illegally upon her departure, Truth took the case to court where she eventually was granted custody of her son. This event made Truth the first black woman to go to court against a white man and win the case. In 1844, Sojourner Truth became a member of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, which supported women's rights as well as religious tolerance and pacifism. She traveled to places like Akron, Ohio where she delivered a speech on women's rights which was later known as “Ain't I a Woman?” It addressed the reality that despite her femininity, Sojourner and all women are similar to men which should result in equality among men and women. Truth's speech was addressed at various events such as the Mob Convention in 1853, the American Equal Rights Association in 1867, and the Eighth Anniversary of “Negro” Freedom in 1871. Truth continued to travel during this time discussing topics such as abolition, women's rights, prison reform, and capital punishment. Truth passed away in late 1883 where more than 3,000 people gathered to pay their last respects for such an honorable and heroic woman.
Robin Morgan
- This woman's activist was born into a Jewish family in 1941. During Morgan's toddler years, her mother started her as a child model where Morgan went on to star in a variety of television shows. By the 1960's, Robin Morgan began her poetry career as well as displaying an increased involvement in political activism and presenting various lectures on feminism. In the mid-1970s, Morgan went on to be the Contributing Editor to Ms. Magazine and eventually worked her way up to editor-in-chief. In 2012, she debuted on a radio show and podcast called, “Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan,” where they discussed feminism in regards to the news and hosted a multitude of interviews with activists, politicians, and authors. Morgan was also involved in Women's Liberation activism and contemporary feminism, a founding member of the New York Radical Women group in 1967, and the key organizer of an inaugural protest towards a Miss America pageant in Atlantic City in 1968. Robin went on to help found W.I.T.C.H., which served as a radical feminist group which utilized public theater to address the issue of sexism. She coined the term “herstory” and wrote a book in 1970 titled, Sisterhood is Powerful. Morgan still serves as an activist in regards to women's rights and feminist thoughts as she currently resides in Manhattan.
Henry Browne Blackwell
- Henry Blackwell was born in 1832 in Bristol, England as the seventh of nine children. Blackwell grew up watching his father engage in the Nascent Labor Abolition Movement and his eldest sister, Anna, who actively pursued in women's rights movements. In May of 1853, Blackwell met Lucy Stone where he immediately began his romantic pursuit of her. Stone did not desire the traditional role of a woman within a marriage, as she would be required to sacrifice control of herself to Blackwell. However, after much discussion, Blackwell assured Stone that he believed in equality of men and women within marriage. After much deliberation, Stone agreed to marry Blackwell where they would pursue financial independence as well as personal independence and autonomy. Blackwell also organized a protest against marriage laws at their weeding ceremony, going against laws indicting that a husband has custody of a wife's person, exclusive control and guardianship of the couple's children, sole ownership of personal estate, in addition to a variety of other marriage laws. Blackwell and Stone's untraditional marriage commitment inspired other couples to incorporate similar protests into their own wedding ceremonies. The couple went on to give lectures, co-manage the National Woman's Rights Convention, help found a New England Woman suffrage Association, and speak out about woman suffrage. Henry Blackwell eventually became the recording secretary and created the constitution for the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. The couple continued to be actively engaged in women's rights until Blackwell died in 1909, where their daughter Alice took his place and becoming a leader for women's rights.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
- Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 22, 1823, Higginson went lived a life as an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist, and soldier. After his time spent in war, Thomas Higginson devoted his like fighting for the rights of freed slaves, women, and other marginalized people. His involved in woman's rights activism began during the decade before the Civil War. In 1853, Higginson addressed the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention asking that women be allowed to vote on ratification of the new constitution. He later went on to publish “Women and Her Wishes,” which addressed the importance of women's rights. Thomas was the reason that Blackwell and Stone's marriage law protests became a famous document. He worked along side Lucy Stone where they compiled and published The Women's Rights Almanac for 1858. Higginson continued to publish various written works that address women's rights and gender equality, eventually becoming a member of the National Woman's Rights Central Committee. After the Civil War, Thomas Higginson became an organizer of the New England Suffrage Association in 1866 and one of the original editors of the suffrage newspaper, The Woman's Journal, founded in 1870. Thomas Wentworth Higginson was eventually laid to rest on May 9, 1911 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a valuable asset to women's suffrage activism.
Ida Bell Wells-Barnet
- Ida was born a slave in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She grew up watching her father serve as an active participant in the advancement of black people. In 1878, both of her parents and 10-month old brother suffered from yellow fever and died. This forced her to drop out of school and work as a teacher in a black elementary school to provide for the remainder of her family. Ida only made $30 a month teaching which inspired her interest in the politics of race and improving the education of black students. Wells eventually returned to college where the majority of her conversations with others addressed women's rights. In 1884, she was asked to give up her seat in a first class train car and move to the smoking car instead. She brought the case to court and won which was later appealed by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Ida eventually went on to found the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 as well as the Women's Era Club, which was later named the Ida B. Wells Club in honor of her efforts and enthusiasm. She actively spoke out about anti-lynching and traveling throughout the United States to educate others on the topic. Ida was known to be militant in her demands for equality and justice for American-Americans and women. In 2002, Ida B. Wells was added to the list of 100 Greatest African Americans due to all of her efforts for equality and justice for African-Americans and women. Wells died at the age of sixty-eight in Chicago on March 25, 1931.
Kamini Roy
Kamini was born in October of 1864 in what is now known as Bangladesh. She was one one of the earliest groups of girls to attend school, was one of the first woman honors graduate in the country, and obtaining a bachelor of arts degree from Bethune College of the University of Calcutta in 1886. Kamini eventually became a teacher at Bethune College. Roy was known as a feminist during the time where women's education was considered wrong. She believed that the aim of women's education was to contribute to all-round development and fulfillment of a woman's potential. Roy later wrote an essay addressing these topics entitled, The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. By 1921, Kamini Roy served as a leader in the fight for woman's suffrage. By 1925, limited suffrage was granted and by 1926, Bengali women exercised their right for the first time. Roy also served as a member in the Female Labour Investigation Commission during this time as well. She continuously encouraged a variety of activities from women such as writing as she was an extraordinary writer herself. Throughout her writings, especially Alo Chhaya, Roy created a “stir” in the literary world as she discussed womanly self-realization. Through her writings, Kamini Roy was able to enrich and enlighten a new generation of womanhood. She eventually died on September 27, 1933.
- Sojourner was one of ten children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree in 1797. When she was nine, Truth was sold at an auction with a flock of sheep for $100 to a man named John Neely. After suffering for years of abuse by Neely, Truth was then sold about every two years to various slave owners. In 1826, Sojourner Truth finally escaped to freedom with her daughter Sophia, but had to leave her other children behind. After hearing that her son was sold illegally upon her departure, Truth took the case to court where she eventually was granted custody of her son. This event made Truth the first black woman to go to court against a white man and win the case. In 1844, Sojourner Truth became a member of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, which supported women's rights as well as religious tolerance and pacifism. She traveled to places like Akron, Ohio where she delivered a speech on women's rights which was later known as “Ain't I a Woman?” It addressed the reality that despite her femininity, Sojourner and all women are similar to men which should result in equality among men and women. Truth's speech was addressed at various events such as the Mob Convention in 1853, the American Equal Rights Association in 1867, and the Eighth Anniversary of “Negro” Freedom in 1871. Truth continued to travel during this time discussing topics such as abolition, women's rights, prison reform, and capital punishment. Truth passed away in late 1883 where more than 3,000 people gathered to pay their last respects for such an honorable and heroic woman.
Robin Morgan
- This woman's activist was born into a Jewish family in 1941. During Morgan's toddler years, her mother started her as a child model where Morgan went on to star in a variety of television shows. By the 1960's, Robin Morgan began her poetry career as well as displaying an increased involvement in political activism and presenting various lectures on feminism. In the mid-1970s, Morgan went on to be the Contributing Editor to Ms. Magazine and eventually worked her way up to editor-in-chief. In 2012, she debuted on a radio show and podcast called, “Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan,” where they discussed feminism in regards to the news and hosted a multitude of interviews with activists, politicians, and authors. Morgan was also involved in Women's Liberation activism and contemporary feminism, a founding member of the New York Radical Women group in 1967, and the key organizer of an inaugural protest towards a Miss America pageant in Atlantic City in 1968. Robin went on to help found W.I.T.C.H., which served as a radical feminist group which utilized public theater to address the issue of sexism. She coined the term “herstory” and wrote a book in 1970 titled, Sisterhood is Powerful. Morgan still serves as an activist in regards to women's rights and feminist thoughts as she currently resides in Manhattan.
Henry Browne Blackwell
- Henry Blackwell was born in 1832 in Bristol, England as the seventh of nine children. Blackwell grew up watching his father engage in the Nascent Labor Abolition Movement and his eldest sister, Anna, who actively pursued in women's rights movements. In May of 1853, Blackwell met Lucy Stone where he immediately began his romantic pursuit of her. Stone did not desire the traditional role of a woman within a marriage, as she would be required to sacrifice control of herself to Blackwell. However, after much discussion, Blackwell assured Stone that he believed in equality of men and women within marriage. After much deliberation, Stone agreed to marry Blackwell where they would pursue financial independence as well as personal independence and autonomy. Blackwell also organized a protest against marriage laws at their weeding ceremony, going against laws indicting that a husband has custody of a wife's person, exclusive control and guardianship of the couple's children, sole ownership of personal estate, in addition to a variety of other marriage laws. Blackwell and Stone's untraditional marriage commitment inspired other couples to incorporate similar protests into their own wedding ceremonies. The couple went on to give lectures, co-manage the National Woman's Rights Convention, help found a New England Woman suffrage Association, and speak out about woman suffrage. Henry Blackwell eventually became the recording secretary and created the constitution for the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. The couple continued to be actively engaged in women's rights until Blackwell died in 1909, where their daughter Alice took his place and becoming a leader for women's rights.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
- Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 22, 1823, Higginson went lived a life as an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist, and soldier. After his time spent in war, Thomas Higginson devoted his like fighting for the rights of freed slaves, women, and other marginalized people. His involved in woman's rights activism began during the decade before the Civil War. In 1853, Higginson addressed the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention asking that women be allowed to vote on ratification of the new constitution. He later went on to publish “Women and Her Wishes,” which addressed the importance of women's rights. Thomas was the reason that Blackwell and Stone's marriage law protests became a famous document. He worked along side Lucy Stone where they compiled and published The Women's Rights Almanac for 1858. Higginson continued to publish various written works that address women's rights and gender equality, eventually becoming a member of the National Woman's Rights Central Committee. After the Civil War, Thomas Higginson became an organizer of the New England Suffrage Association in 1866 and one of the original editors of the suffrage newspaper, The Woman's Journal, founded in 1870. Thomas Wentworth Higginson was eventually laid to rest on May 9, 1911 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a valuable asset to women's suffrage activism.
Ida Bell Wells-Barnet
- Ida was born a slave in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She grew up watching her father serve as an active participant in the advancement of black people. In 1878, both of her parents and 10-month old brother suffered from yellow fever and died. This forced her to drop out of school and work as a teacher in a black elementary school to provide for the remainder of her family. Ida only made $30 a month teaching which inspired her interest in the politics of race and improving the education of black students. Wells eventually returned to college where the majority of her conversations with others addressed women's rights. In 1884, she was asked to give up her seat in a first class train car and move to the smoking car instead. She brought the case to court and won which was later appealed by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Ida eventually went on to found the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 as well as the Women's Era Club, which was later named the Ida B. Wells Club in honor of her efforts and enthusiasm. She actively spoke out about anti-lynching and traveling throughout the United States to educate others on the topic. Ida was known to be militant in her demands for equality and justice for American-Americans and women. In 2002, Ida B. Wells was added to the list of 100 Greatest African Americans due to all of her efforts for equality and justice for African-Americans and women. Wells died at the age of sixty-eight in Chicago on March 25, 1931.
Kamini Roy
Kamini was born in October of 1864 in what is now known as Bangladesh. She was one one of the earliest groups of girls to attend school, was one of the first woman honors graduate in the country, and obtaining a bachelor of arts degree from Bethune College of the University of Calcutta in 1886. Kamini eventually became a teacher at Bethune College. Roy was known as a feminist during the time where women's education was considered wrong. She believed that the aim of women's education was to contribute to all-round development and fulfillment of a woman's potential. Roy later wrote an essay addressing these topics entitled, The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. By 1921, Kamini Roy served as a leader in the fight for woman's suffrage. By 1925, limited suffrage was granted and by 1926, Bengali women exercised their right for the first time. Roy also served as a member in the Female Labour Investigation Commission during this time as well. She continuously encouraged a variety of activities from women such as writing as she was an extraordinary writer herself. Throughout her writings, especially Alo Chhaya, Roy created a “stir” in the literary world as she discussed womanly self-realization. Through her writings, Kamini Roy was able to enrich and enlighten a new generation of womanhood. She eventually died on September 27, 1933.