05 Aug | Women’s Words & Works

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.

02 Aug | Women’s Words & Works

Marie-Anne Gaboury Lagimodière (02 Aug 1780 – 14 Dec 1875 | Maskinongé QC – Saint-Boniface MB) pioneer / settler, Canadian folk figure, aka Grandmother of the Red River.


Hannah Jones Armstrong Wilcox (02 Aug 1810 – 19 Aug 1890 | Illinois US – Winterset IA) folk figure, Lincoln neighbor, Lincoln defended her son Duff in Almanac Trial.


Carrie Estelle Betzold Doheny (02 Aug 1875 – 30 Oct 1958 | Philadelphia PA – Los Angeles CA) philanthropist, library foundress, rare book collector, founded Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation, donated book collection to St John’s Seminary (Camarillo CA), funded construction of St Vincent’s Church (LA) and buildings at Loyola Marymount University (LA), former Doheny home Chester Place became Mount St Mary’s College campus, awarded title of Papal Countess (1939) by Pope Pius XII for her services to Catholic Church.


Mittie Maude Lena Gordon Nelson (02 Aug 1889 – 1961 | Webster Parish LA – Ethiopia) African-American, black nationalist, civil rights activist, established Peace Movement of Ethiopia.


Kate [Kathe] Steinitz (02 August 1889 – 07 April 1975 | Upper Silesia [now Poland] – Los Angeles CA) artist, art historian, focus on Bauhaus / Dadaist movement.

24 Jul | Women’s Words & Works

Frances [Fanny] Flora Bond Palmer (24 Jul 1812 – 20 Aug 1876 | Leicester UK – Brooklyn NY) artist, teacher, entrepreneur, lithographer, lithographic innovator, Currier & Ives printmaker [though often not credited or recognized as original artist and designer].


Mary Margaret Bartelme (24 Jul 1866 – 25 Jul 1954 | Chicago IL – Carmel CA) judge, author, attorney, girls and women’s rights activist / advocate / educator.


Alice Jane [Jean] Chandler Webster (24 Jul 1876 – 11 Jun 1916 | Fredonia NY – New York NY) novelist, femininst, journalist, playwright, suffragist, social reformer, political activist, short fiction writer, girls’ school teacher, Settlement House worker, portrayed strong female protagonists.


Eleanor Manning O’Connor (24 Jul 1884 – 12 Jul 1973 | Lynn MA – Mexico City MX) architect, educator, watercolorist, public housing activist, Special Instructor of Architecture and Housing.


Agnes May Meyer Driscoll (24 Jul 1889 – 16 Sep 1971 | Genesco IL – Fairfax VA) aka Miss Aggie or Madame X, high school math teacher, military academy music director, WW I / WW II US Navy cryptanalyst, member Armed Forces Security Agency.

04 Jul | Women’s Words & Works

Helen Stuart Campbell (04 Jul 1839 – 22 Jul 1918 | Lockport NY – Dedham MA) author, journalist, educator, literary editor, women’s labor activist, children’s short fiction writer.


Mary Edmonia Lewis (04 Jul 1844 – 17 Sep 1907 | Greenbush NY – London UK) sculptor, African-American Haitian-Mississauga Ojibwe, first African-American / Native American female to achieve international fame and recognition as fine arts sculptor.


Annie Haven Thwing (04 Jul 1851 – 05 Jun 1940 | Roxbury MA – Roxbury MA) Boston historian, nonfiction author, children’s book writer.


Nellie Grant Jones (04 Jul 1855 – 30 Aug 1922 | St Louis MO – Chicago IL) US Presidential daughter, social / literary figure.


Jessie A. Ackermann (04 Jul 1857 – 31 Mar 1951 | Frankfort IL – Pomona CA) writer, feminist, traveler, journalist, social reformer, American WCTU leader, second round-the-world missionary for World’s Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

02 Jul | Women’s Words & Works

Ellen Liddy Watson (02 Jul 1860 – 20 Jul 1889 | Aran Lake ON – Natrona County WY) folk figure, aka Cattle Kate, Ella Watson, Mrs James Averell, accused of cattle rustling, only woman ever lynched in Wyoming.


Grace Raymond Hebard (02 Jul 1861 – 11 Oct 1936 | Clinton IA – Laramie WY) author, historian, suffragist, pioneering scholar, political economist.


Harriet Brooks Pitcher (02 Jul 1876 – 17 Apr 1933 | Exeter ON – Montreal QC) professor, researcher, first female to earn Master’s degree at McGill University, Canada’s first female nuclear physicist, focused on nuclear radioactivity and transmutations.


Lucy Sprague Mitchell (02 Jul 1878 – 15 Oct 1967 | Chicago IL – New York NY) children’s book author, adult non-fiction author, autobiographical author, first female dean UCAL Berkeley, child development / education researcher, founded Bureau of Educational Experiments [became Bank Street College].


Corinne Douglas Robinson Alsop Cole (02 Jul 1886 – 23 Jun 1971 | Orange NJ – Avon CT) state politician, national political family member.

29 Jun | Women’s Words & Works

Hannah Maria Libby Smith (29 Jun 1828 – 21 Sep 1906 | Ossipee NH – Provo UT) bobbin doffer, rug weaver, needleworker, historical figure, Mormon pioneer / educator.


Celia Laighton Thaxter (29 Jun 1835 – 25 Aug 1894 | Portsmouth NH – Appledore Island ME) poet, gardener, short story writer.


Julia Clifford Lathrop (29 Jun 1858 – 15 Apr 1932 | Rockford IL – Rockford IL) author, social worker, educational reformer, mother / child rights activist, Director US Children’s Bureau, first-ever female to head federal US bureau.


Emma Azalia Hackley (29 Jun 1867 – 13 Dec 1922 | Murfreesboro TN – Detroit MI) singer, author, lecturer, musician, child prodigy, school teacher, music publisher, civic / social / civil rights activist, founding executive director Colored Women’s League, founded Hackley Choral Society and Voice Normal Institute.


Elizabeth Lehman Myers (29 Jun 1869 – 06 Jan 1936 | Bethlehem PA – Bethlehem PA) historical author / essayist.

27 Jun | Women’s Words & Works

Hannah Mather Crocker (27 Jun 1752 – 11 Jul 1829 | Roxbury MA – Boston MA) essayist, educator, school founder, women’s rights activist, advocate for women Freemasons, Revolutionary War spy, authored first American book on rights of women.


Maria Monk (27 Jun 1816 – 08 Sep 1849 | Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu QC – Roosevelt Island NY) author, memoirist, religious sister, controversial Canadian folk figure, alleged infanticide / systemic sexual abuse in Catholic convent.


Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney (27 Jun 1824 – 19 Nov 1904 | Boston MA – Jamaica Plain MA) writer, editor, reformer, philanthropist, secretary of School of Design for Women.


Eugenia Scholay Washington (27 Jun 1838 – 30 Nov 1900 | Charles Town WV – Washington DC) historian, civil servant, co-founded Daughters of American Revolution / Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America.


Harriet Hubbard Ayer (27 Jun 1849 – 23 Nov 1903 | Chicago IL – New York NY) socialite, journalist, essayist, kidnap victim, proto-feminist, founded first successful US female-owned cosmetics company, editor of New York World newspaper women’s pages, highest paid US female journalist at the time of her death.

24 Jun | Women’s Words & Works

Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (24 Jun 1831 – 29 Sep 1910 | Washington PA – Mount Kisco NY) author, novelist, journalist.


Elizabeth [Lizzie] Sewall Alcott (24 Jun 1835 – 14 Mar 1858 | Boston MA – Concord MA) writer, literary figure, literary family member.


Ruth Miriam Randall Edström (24 Jun 1867 – 05 Oct 1944 | Wilmington IL – Stockholm SE) peace activist, Unitarian, expatriate, Swedish-American, women’s rights activist, participated in International Women’s Congress, worked on Hague peace conference.


Caroline Ellen Furness (24 Jun 1869 – 09 Feb 1936 | Cleveland OH – New York NY) author, astronomer, astronomy professor at Vassar College, women’s education advocate, first female PhD in Astronomy from Columbia University.


Beatrice Tonnesen (24 Jun 1871 – 12 May 1958 | Winneconne WI – Oshkosh WI) artist, inventor, photographer, Mars Ware sculpture innovator, pioneer in picture calendar photographs, developed process for silhouette photographs, pioneered use of live models in print advertising.

20 Jun | Women’s Words & Works

Mary Smith Garrett (20 Jun 1839 – 18 Jul 1925 | Philadelphia PA – North Conway NH) author, deaf educator, proponent of speech for deaf [in addition to sign language].


Susan Marcia Oakes Woodbury (20 Jun 1865 – 07 Nov 1913 | South Berwick ME – Ogunquit ME) artist, author, painter, Dutch portrait specialist, Dutch Masters art commentator.


Leah Baird (20 Jun 1883 – 03 Oct 1971 | Champaign IL – Los Angeles CA) silent actress, film producer, screenwriter.


Erica Tietze-Conrat (20 Jun 1883 – 12 Dec 1958 | Vienna AT – New York NY) Austrian-American, author, academic, art historian, one of first women to study art history.


Mary Ross Calvert (20 Jun 1884 – 25 Jun 1974 | Nashville TN – Nashville TN) author, astro-photographer, astronomical computer, high-level assistant at Yerkes Observatory, Yerkes photographic plate collection curator.

15 Jun | Women’s Words & Works

Adah Isaacs Menken (15 Jun 1835 – 10 Aug 1868 | New Orleans LA – Paris FR) poet, painter, actress, journalist, née Dolores Adios Fuertes, highest earning actress of her time.


Kate Elizabeth Duval Hughes (15 Jun 1837 – unknown | Philadelphia PA – unknown) author, inventor, translator, US government clerk, Catholic youth writer, invented / patented Combined Window-Sash Fasteners and Holders, created ointment for skin diseases after rediscovering the art of extracting frankincense essential oil, died in poverty and obscurity.


Ernestine Rössler Schumann-Heink (15 Jun 1861 – 17 Nov 1936 | Liebe BOH – Hollywood CA) operatic contralto, historical preservationist, WWII US supporter / fundraiser / entertainer.


Grace Hall Hemingway (15 Jun 1872 – 28 Jun 1951 | Chicago IL – Oak Park IL) painter, composer, opera singer, voice teacher, mother of author Ernest Hemingway.


Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter (15 Jun 1876 – 26 Apr 1963 | Towanda PA – Princeton NJ) author, pen name H. T. Lowe-Porter, pioneering translator of Thomas Mann’s works.