15 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Elizabeth Van Lew (15 Oct 1818 – 25 Sep 1900 | Richmond VA – Richmond VA) diarist, memoirist, aka Crazy Bet, Civil War Union spy / ring leader, post-War postmistress.


Helen Hunt Fiske Jackson (15 Oct 1830 – 12 Aug 1885 | Amherst MA – San Francisco CA) poet, novelist, historian, pen name: H.H., Native American rights activist.


Fannie Jackson Coppin (15 Oct 1837 – 21 Jan 1913 | Washington DC – Philadelphia PA) educator, missionary, African-American, Bethel Institute co-founder.


Florence Adelaide Fowle Adams (15 Oct 1863 – 31 Jul 1916 | Chelsea MA – Pierce WA) orator, author, gesture / pantomime researcher, educator at Boston School of Oratory, focus on Delsarte method of dramatic expression, founded Boston Ideal Tableaux Company for young women staging tableaux vivants.


Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (15 Oct 1872 – 28 Dec 1961 | Wytheville VA – Washington DC) First Lady, memoirist, unofficial acting US President.

14 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Laura Askew Haygood (14 Oct 1845 – 29 Apr 1900 | Watkinsville GA – Shanghai CN) educator, missionary, memoirist, letter correspondent.


Mary Theodora [Dora] Starbuck Ebert (14 Oct 1856 – 29 Feb 1924 | Winston NC – Old Richmond NC) boarding house owner / operator, Moravian church and settlement family member.


Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore (14 Oct 1856 – 03 Nov 1928 | Clinton IA – Geneva CH) writer, geographer, photographer, Washington DC cherry-tree-planting advocate, first female board member of National Geographic Society.


Winifred Sweet Black Bonfils (14 Oct 1863 – 25 May 1936 | Chilton WI – San Francisco CA) reporter, journalist, columnist, pen names Annie Laurie and Winifred Black.

13 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley (13 Oct 1744 – 22 Jan 1832 | Philadelphia PA – Carlisle PA) folk figure, aka Molly Pitcher, American Revolutionary War heroine.


Lillie Langtry (13 Oct 1853 – 12 Feb 1929 | Jersey UK – Monaco FR) British-American actress, vineyard owner, autobiographical author, thoroughbred race horse farm owner, stage production company founder / director, born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton.


Eleanor Clarke Slagle (13 Oct 1868 – 18 Sep 1942 | Hobart NY – Yonkers NY) social worker, occupational therapy pioneer / leader / founder, founding member of National Society for Promotion of Occupational Therapy.


Louise Closser Hale (13 Oct 1872 – 26 Jul 1933 | Springfield MA – Los Angeles CA) actress, novelist, playwright.

12 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Frances Dana Barker Gage (12 Oct 1808 – 10 Nov 1884 | Marietta OH – Greenwich CT) poet, author, activist, reformer, abolitionist.


Augusta Emma Simmons Stetson (12 Oct 1842 – 12 Oct 1928 | Waldoboro ME – Rochester NY) poet, pastor, author, reader, fundraiser, Christian Science leader, excommunicated for alleged false teaching and insubordination.


Julia Richman (12 Oct 1855 – 24 Jul 1912 | New York NY – Paris FR) educator, textbook author, educational reformer.


Mabel Thorp Boardman (12 Oct 1860 – 17 Mar 1946 | Cleveland OH – Washington DC) author, philanthropist, American Red Cross leader.

11 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Ann Eliza Schuyler Bleecker (11 Oct 1752 – 23 Nov 1783 | New York, Colony of New York – Albany NY) poet, short story writer, letter correspondent.


Anna Warner Bailey (11 Oct 1758 – 19 Jan 1851 | Groton CT – Groton CT) folk figure, storyteller, tavern keeper, Revolutionary War heroine, aka Mother Bailey and The Petticoat Patriot.


Margaretta Bleecker Faugères (11 Oct 1771 – 09 Jan 1801 | New York, Colony of New York – Brooklyn NY) poet, editor, author, playwright, political activist.


Harriet Boyd Hawes (11 Oct 1871 – 31 Mar 1945 | Boston MA – Washington DC) nurse, author, archeologist, relief worker, discoverer / director of one of first Minoan archaeological excavation sites.

10 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Sarah Thompson, Countess Rumford (10 Oct 1774 – 02 Dec 1852 | Concord NH – Concord NH) educator, philanthropist, first US woman to be named Countess, founded school for motherless girls.


Harriet Atwood Newell (10 Oct 1793 – 30 Nov 1812 | Haverhill MA – Port Louis MUS) memoirist, first wave US Christian missionary to India, Burma, and Mauritius.


Josephine [J.P.] Pollard (10 Oct 1834 – 15 Aug 1892 | New York NY – New York NY) poet, editor, author, hymn writer, religious / historical children’s writer, founding member of Sorosis professional women’s club.


Caroline M. Hewins (10 Oct 1846 – 04 Nov 1926 | Roxbury MA – Hartford CT) librarian, travel writer, library activist, children’s author, letter correspondent, autobiographical author, founded first Children’s Reading Room in Hartford [CT], aka First Lady of the Library, founded Education Club for Parents and Teachers [later the Parent-Teachers Association], first woman speaker at annual meeting of American Library Association, founded first Connecticut State Library Committee [later CT State Library Commission].


Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon (10 Oct 1852 – 06 Jan 1942 | Hamilton IL – Keokuk IA) author, educator, suffragist, Unitarian minister, women’s rights activist.

09 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Mary Ann Shadd Cary (09 Oct 1823 – 05 Jul 1893 | Wilmington DE – Washington DC) lawyer, teacher, publisher, journalist, African-American, anti-slavery / Underground Railroad activist, first black woman publisher in Canada and North America.


Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (09 Oct 1830 – 21 Feb 1908 | Watertown MA – Watertown MA) neo-classical sculptor.


Elizabeth Chase Akers Allen (09 Oct 1832 – 07 Aug 1911 | Strong ME – Tuckahoe NY) poet, author, journalist, pen names: Florence Percy and Elizabeth Akers.


Caroline [Carrie] Olivia Mayhew Speake (09 Oct 1834 – 20 Mar 1906 | Alabama US – Alabama US) poet, artist, musician [note: allegorical image created as no images of this woman or her works were located.


Elaine Goodale Eastman (09 Oct 1863 – 22 Dec 1953 | Mount Washington MA – Hadley MA) poet, author, novelist, educator, Native American Sioux advocate, aka The Sister of the Sioux.

08 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Caroline Howard Gilman (08 Oct 1794 – 15 Sep 1888 | Boston MA – Washington DC) poet, editor, author, publisher.


Abby May Alcott (08 Oct 1800 – 25 Nov 1877 | Boston MA – Concord MA) Unitarian, social activist, journal keeper, literary folk figure, one of first female social workers in Boston.


Emily Blackwell (08 Oct 1826 – 07 Sep 1910 | Bristol UK – York Cliffs ME) physician, professor of obstetrics, sister of Elizabeth Blackwell, second female MD graduate at Case Western Reserve, third female MD graduate in US, organizer of Civil War Women’s Central Relief Association / post-war United States Sanitary Commission, co-founded [with sister] NYC Women’s Medical College.


Louisa Lander (08 Oct 1826 – 1923 | Salem MA – Washington DC) expatriate US sculptor, narrative figure sculptor, American Civil War volunteer nurse.


Zara A. Mahurin Wilson (08 Oct 1840 – unknown | Burnettsville IN – unknown) lawyer, suffragist, women’s activist.

07 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Ann Eliza Brainerd Smith (07 Oct 1819 – 06 Jan 1909 | St Albans VT – St Albans VT) poet, author, novelist, essayist.


Abby Maria Hemenway (07 Oct 1828 – 24 Feb 1890 | Ludlow VT – Chicago IL) Vermont historian, religious convert, pioneering author / editor / publisher of Vermont Historical Gazetteers.


Margaretta [Maggie] Fox Kane (07 Oct 1833 – 08 Mar 1893 | Consecon ON – New York NY) folk figure, Canadian spiritualist, Catholic convert, one of the [in]famous Fox Sisters, co-established Spiritualist movement.


Mary Dana Hicks Prang (07 Oct 1836 – 07 Nov 1927 | Syracuse NY – Melrose MA) author, art educator, kindergarten pioneer, peace activist / reformer, Social Arts Club founder, earned Masters in Education from Harvard University aged 85.


Elizabeth McCourt Tabor (07 Oct 1854 – 07 Mar 1935 | Oshkosh WI – Leadville CO) aka Baby Doe, American folk figure, namesake of The Ballad of Baby Doe opera, aka Best Dressed Woman in the West.

06 Oct | Herstorical.Reflections

Sarah Pugh (06 Oct 1800 – 01 Aug 1884 | Alexandria VA – Philadelphia PA) teacher, Quaker, suffragist, abolitionist, non-violent activist.


Myra Belle Martin (06 Oct 1861 – unknown | Grafton NH – unknown) author, teacher, financier, social activist, art historian, business executive, founded Patria Club of New York, first female president of Eastern Connecticut Teachers’ Association.


Emily Palmer Cape (06 Oct 1865 – 1953 | New York NY – Florida US) artist, painter, agnostic, co-author, travel writer, freethiker, first female co-ed at Columbia University, co-founded Society of Independent Artists.


Enid Yandell (06 Oct 1869 – 13 Jul 1934 | Louisville KY – Boston MA) author, suffragist, women’s rights advocate, pioneering female sculptor, founded Brancock School for artists on Marchtha’s Vineyard, World War I Red Cross war orphans worker.