02 Dec | Women.Words.Work

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Mary Mortimer (02 Dec 1816 – 14 Jul 1877 | Trowbridge UK – Milwaukee WI) educator, woman’s club leader, art history lecturer, co-founded Milwaukee College, founded Industrial School for Girls of Milwaukee [middle image courtesy of Lawrence.edu].

Elizabeth Lyle Saxon (02 Dec 1832 – 14 Mar 1915 | Greenville TN – Memphis TN) speaker, memoirist, women’s rights activist, pioneer Southern suffrage leader.

Grace Mac Gowan Cooke (02 Dec 1861 – 24 Jun 1944 | Brooklyn NY – Santa Clara CA) novelist, co-writer with sister Alice Mac Gowan.

Ruth Draper (02 Dec 1884 – 30 Dec 1956 | New York NY – New York NY) diseuse, actress, dramatist, memoirist.

Josephine Aspinwall Roche (02 Dec 1886 – 26 Jul 1976 | Neligh NE – Bethesda MD) activist, politician, industrialist, humanitarian, New Deal administrator, first female Denver police officer, United Mine Workers administrator, Foreign Language Information Services director.

26 Nov | Women.Words.Work

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Sarah Moore Grimké (26 Nov 1792 – 23 Dec 1873 | Charleston SC – Boston MA) writer, lawyer, speaker, suffragist, abolitionist, feminist, women’s laws / legal activist.

Lilly Martin Spencer (26 Nov 1822 – 22 May 1902 | Exeter UK – New York NY) French-American artist, genre painter, born Angelique Marie Martin.

Ellen Gould Harmon White (26 Nov 1827 – 16 Jul 1915 | Gorham ME – Saint Helena CA) author, religious pioneer, Seventh Day Adventist co-founder / leader / visionary / prophetess.

Mary Edwards Walker (26 Nov 1832 – 21 Feb 1919 | Oswego NY – Oswego NY) surgeon, alleged spy, feminist, suffragist, abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war, only woman [as of 2015] ever awarded US Medal of Honor.

24 Nov | Women.Words.Work

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Caroline Elizabeth Thomas Merrick (24 Nov 1825 – 29 Mar 1908 | East Feliciana Parish LA – New Orleans LA) poet, suffragist, short fiction writer, social / civic activist, women’s rights advocate.

Susan Hunt Hammond Barney (24 Nov 1834 – 29 Apr 1922 | Pawtucket RI – Providence RI) author, evangelist, aka The Prisoner’s Friend, founded Prisoners’ Aid Society of Rhode Island, National Superintendent of WCTU Prison, Jail, Police, and Almshouse Visitation.

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 Nov 1849 – 29 Oct 1924 | Cheetham Hill UK – Plandome NY) novelist, short story writer.

Lola Maverick Lloyd (24 Nov 1875 – 25 Jul 1944 | Castroville TX – Winnetka IL) author, pacifist, feminist, suffragist, social / political activist, co-founded Campaign for World Goverment, founding member of Woman’s Peace Party and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom [WILPF].

31 Oct | Women.Words.Work

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Josephine Louise Le Monnier Newcomb (31 Oct 1816 – 07 Apr 1901 | Baltimore MD – New Orleans LA) philanthropist, founded H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College at Tulane University.

Eliza Boardman Burnz (31 Oct 1823 – 19 Jul 1903 | Essex UK – Walters Park PA) author, librarian, suffragist, founded Burnz’ Fonic Shorthand, shorthand inventor / educator / promoter, aka Mother of Women Stenographers, advocated Dianism sexual practice [physical contact without ejaculation].

Marie Louise Newland Andrews (31 Oct 1849 – 07 Feb 1891 | Bedford IN – Connersville IN) poet, editor, author, few works extant / ever published, founding member / secretary of Western Association of Writers.

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (31 Oct 1852 – 13 Mar 1930 | Randolph MA – Metuchen NJ) children’s poet / short fiction writer, adult novelist / short fiction writer.

Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon Low (31 Oct 1860 – 17 Jan 1927 | Savannah GA – Savannah GA) organizer / founder / promoter of Girl Guides / Girls Scouts USA.

18 Oct | Women.Words.Work

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Elizabeth Fries Lummis Ellet (18 Oct 1818 – 03 Jul 1877 | Sodus Point NY – New York NY) poet, author, editor, historian, translator, first to record lives of American Revolutionary women.

Ellen Browning Scripps (18 Oct 1836 – 03 Aug 1932 | London UK – La Jolla CA) editor, journalist, philanthropist, women’s education / democratic principles advocate, funded La Jolla Women’s Club building, founded Scripps College / Scripps Aquarium / The Scripps Research Institute [TSRI] / Scripps Institute of Oceanography [and many more].

Emma Elizabeth Brown (18 Oct 1847 – 1907 | Concord NH – Massachusetts) poet, artist, author, essayist, biographer, watercolorist, pen names: B.E.E. and E.E.Brown.

Sarah Tyson Rorer (18 Oct 1849 – 27 Dec 1937 | Richboro PA – Colebrook PA) author, domestic science pioneer educator, Pennsylvania Chautauqua School of Domestic Science director.

Helen Reimensnyder Martin (18 Oct 1868 – 29 Jun 1939 | Lancaster PA – New Canaan CT) novelist, short fiction writer, focus on Pennsylvania Dutch / Amish / Mennonite.

13 Oct | Women.Words.Work

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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.

04 Sep | Women.Words.Work

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Mary Wells Morris (04 Sep 1764 – 06 Nov 1819 | Burlington County NJ – Wellsboro PA) Quaker, settler, namesake of Wellsboro PA [note: middle image is painting of anonymous Quaker woman].

Sarah Childress Polk (04 Sep 1803 – 14 Aug 1891 | Murfreesboro TN – Nashville TN) US First Lady, active Presbyterian, Presidential consultant, hosted first annual White House Thanksgiving Dinner.

Phoebe Cary (04 Sep 1824 – 31 Jul 1871 | Mount Healthy OH – Newport RI) poet, lyricist, co-author with sister Alice Cary.

Marion Juliet Mitchell (04 Sep 1836 – 30 Jan 1917 | Buffalo NY – Janesville WI) poet, graduate of first chartered US women’s college Ingham Institute in Le Roy NY.

Isabella Preston (04 Sep 1881 – 31 Jan 1965 | Lancaster UK – Georgetown ON) British-Canadian author, civil servant, plant hybridist, horticulturist, first female professional hybridist in Canada, aka Queen of Ornamental Horticulture.

31 Aug | Women.Words.Work

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Anna Bartlett Warner (31 Aug 1827 – 22 Jan 1915 | Long Island NY – Highland Falls NY) poet, author, hymnist, children’s song writer.

Esther Pugh (31 Aug 1834 – 29 Mar 1908 | Cincinnati OH – Philadelphia PA) Quaker, temperance reformer, national WCTU treasurer, editor / publisher Our Union temperance journal.

Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi (31 Aug 1842 – 10 Jun 1906 | London UK – New York NY) author, novelist, feminist, suffragist, physician.

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (31 Aug 1842 – 13 Mar 1924 | Boston MA – Boston MA) editor, publisher, journalist, suffragist, civil rights leader, anti-lynching activist.

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward (31 Aug 1844 – 28 Jan 1911 | Boston MA – Boston MA) author, essayist, intellectual, Spiritualist, social activist, women’s clothing reform advocate, aka Mary Adams, Lily Phelps, Mary Gray Phelps.

05 Aug | Women.Words.Work

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Edith Dean Painter (05 Aug 1821 – 20 Jul 1899 | New Garden OH – Pasadena CA) Quaker, farmer, abolitionist, Underground Railroad conductor.

Clara Dorothy Bewick Colby (05 Aug 1846 – 07 Sep 1916 | Cheltenham UK – Palo Alto CA) writer, editor, teacher, suffragist, public speaker, equal rights activist, public library founder, newspaper founder / publisher.

Mary Ellen Richmond (05 Aug 1861 – 12 Sept 1928 | Belleville IL – New York NY) social work pioneer, Unitarian, first Social Caseworker, aka Mother of Professional Social Work, [with Jane Addams] founded professional social case work.

Mary Ritter Beard (05 Aug 1876 – 14 Aug 1958 | Indianapolis IN – Phoenix AZ) author, archivist, historian, memoirist, suffragist, woman’s historian, women’s rights activist.

Ruth Wheeler (05 Aug 1877 – 29 Sep 1948 | Plains PA – Poughkeepsie NY) author, chemist, nutritionist, professor, developed first college curriculum for study of dietetics and nutrition.

04 Aug | Women.Words.Work

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Susanna Wright (04 Aug 1697 – 01 Dec 1784 | Lancashire UK – Wright’s Ferry PA) poet, pundit, author, pioneer, translator, landowner, entrepreneur, multi-linguist, first American female silk farmer / producer / exporter.

Clarissa C. Bryan Cook (04 Aug 1811 – 19 Feb 1879 | Sidney NY – Davenport IA) philanthropist, civic / religious / charitable activist, founded Clarissa Cook Library and Clarissa C. Cook Home for the Friendless [later Clarissa C. Cook Retirement Home].

Florence Newell Barbour (04 Aug 1866 – 24 Jul 1946 | Providence RI – Providence RI) pianist, lyricist, musician, composer.

Emily Helen Butterfield (04 Aug 1884 – 22 Mar 1958 | Algonac MI – Neebish Island MI) artist, editor, author, architect, feminist activist, children’s book writer, first licensed female architect in Michigan, pen-and-ink / watercolor illustrator.

Barbara Nachtrieb Grimes Armstrong (04 Aug 1890 – 18 Jan 1976 | San Francisco CA – Oakland CA) author, legal scholar, law professor, social insurance advocate.