15 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Abigail [Abby] Kelley Foster (15 Jan 1811 – 14 Jan 1887 | Pelham MA – Worcester MA) suffragist, speaker, abolitionist, women’s rights activist, radical social reformer.

Constance Faunt Le Roy Runcie (15 Jan 1836 – 17 May 1911 | Indianapolis IN – Winnetka MO) poet, artist, author, pianist, composer, short story writer.

Katharine Bement Davis (15 Jan 1860 – 10 Dec 1935 | Buffalo NY – Pacific Grove CA) author, criminologist, progressive era social reformer, first female NYC Correction Commissioner, science-based prison reformer, groundbreaking female sexuality researcher, first US female PhD in economics and political science.

Loïe Fuller (15 Jan 1862 – 01 Jan 1928 | Fullersburg IL – Paris FR) dancer, memoirist, choreographer, free dance practitioner, stage lighting artist / inventor / patent holder.

Frances Benjamin Johnston (15 Jan 1864 – 16 May 1952 | Grafton WV – New Orleans LA) pioneering photographer, early female photojournalist.

02 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Queen Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke of Hawaiʻi (02 Jan 1836 – 25 Apr 1885 | Honolulu or Kawaihae, Sandwich Islands – Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) Queen monarch, social activist, hospital founder, advocated Hawaii’s independence.

Alice Mary Robertson (02 Jan 1854 – 01 Jul 1931 | Tullahassee Mission, Creek Nation – Muskogee OK) politician, educator, social worker, anti-feminist, Native American rights advocate.

Martha [Minnie] Carey Thomas (02 Jan 1857 – 02 Dec 1935 | Baltimore MD – Philadelphia PA) linguist, suffragist, Bryn Mawr founder / president, first female Johns Hopkins’ student / honorary graduate.

Anne Sewell Young (02 Jan 1877 – 15 Aug 1961 | Bloomington WI – Claremont CA) author, astronomer, astronomy professor, variable star observer.

Mary Hamilton Swindler (02 Jan 1884 – 16 Jan 1967 | Bloomington IN – Haverford PA) author, archaeologist, art historian, classical art scholar, first female Editor-in-Chief American Journal of Archaeology.

23 Dec | Women.Words.Work

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Ada Langworthy Collier (23 Dec 1843 – 06 Aug 1919 | Dubuque IA – Dubuque IA) author writing sketches, short stories, poems, novelist, clubwoman / social activist, pen names Anna L. Cunningham and Marguerite.

Helen Cecilia De Silver Abbot Michael (23 Dec 1857 – 29 Nov 1904 | Philadelphia PA – Boston MA) author, chemist, biologist, physician, hospital founder, plant analysis expert researcher.

Louisa Melvin Delos Mars (23 Dec 1859 – c. 1926 | Providence RI – Boston MA) singer, composer, librettist, first African-American woman to have her opera composition produced, one of first black graduates of New England Conservatory, one of first black women to achieve recognition as a composer [Note: none of her works survive].

Harriet Monroe (23 Dec 1860 – 26 Sep 1936 | Chicago IL – Arequipa PER) poet, editor, scholar, biographer, playwright, literary critic, patron of arts, autobiographical author, Poetry magazine editor / founder / publisher.

Anna Farquhar Bergengren (23 Dec 1865 – unknown | Brookville IN – unknown) editor, author, memoirist, journalist, foreign correspondent, pen name Margaret Allston.

27 Nov | Women.Words.Work

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Rachel Brooks Gleason (27 Nov 1820 – 13 Mar 1905 | Winhall VT – Elmira NY) author, physician, essayist, hydrotherapist, anti-slavery activist, women’s dress reform advocate, hydrotherapy spa administrator, fourth US female to earn medical degree.

Adele [Della] Lindley Straup (27 Nov 1866 – 15 Sep 1947 | South Bend IN – Salt Lake City UT) educator, active club woman.

Margaret Ruthven Lang (27 Nov 1867 – 29 May 1972 | Boston MA – Boston MA) composer, devotional pamphlet writer / printer / publisher, one of first two US female composers with music performed by American symphony orchestras.

Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (27 Nov 1875 – 19 Dec 1941 | New York NY – New York NY) author, feminist, folklorist, sociologist, anthropologist, textbook author, pen name: John Main.

03 Nov | Women.Words.Work

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Martha Laurens Ramsay (03 Nov 1759 – 10 Jun 1811 | Charleston SC – Charleston SC) diarist, geneaologist, letter correspondent, private memoirs published by husband six weeks after her death.

Isabella Macdonald Alden (03 Nov 1841 – 05 Aug 1930 | Rochester NY – Palo Alto CA) author, editor, diarist, aka The Pansy, short story writer, adult education activist.

Mary Hannah Krout (03 Nov 1851 – 27 May 1927 | Crawfordsville IN – Crawfordsville IN) editor, author, journalist, suffragist, international lecturer.

Rosalie Barrow Edge (03 Nov 1877 – 30 Nov 1962 | New York NY – Kempton PA) birder, socialite, suffragist, national parks proponent, avian preservationist, founded Hawk Mountain and Emergency Conservation Committee.

Grace Hubbard Bell Fortescue (03 Nov 1883 – 24 Jun 1979 | Washington DC – Arlington VA) socialite, convicted of kidnapping-murdering an innocent man for allegedly raping her daughter.

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.

27 Oct | Women.Words.Work

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Mary Elizabeth Wilson [M.E.W.] Sherwood (27 Oct 1826 – 12 Sep 1903 | Keene NH – Manhattan NY) poet, essayist, memoirist, travel / etiquette writer, autobiographical author.

Janet Scudder (27 Oct 1869 – 09 Jul 1940 | Terre Haute IN – Rockport MA) sculptor, memoirist, born Netta Deweze Frazee.

Sharlot Mabridth Hall (27 Oct 1870 – 09 Apr 1943 | Lincoln KS – Prescott AZ) poet, author, historian, journalist, photographer, Arizona artifacts collector, local history / folklore lecturer, first woman to hold office in Arizona Territorial government, founded Old Governor’s Mansion Museum [now Sharlot Hall Museum], namesake for Sharlot Hall Historical Society [in Prescott AZ].

Emily Bruce Price Post (27 Oct 1872 – 25 Sep 1960 | Baltimore MD – New York NY) author, novelist, etiquette expert, founded The Emily Post Institute.

Jane Macklem Crisp Murfin (27 Oct 1884 – 10 Aug 1955 | Quincy MI – Los Angeles CA) director, producer, playwright, screenwriter.

08 Oct | Women.Words.Work

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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.

29 Aug | Women.Words.Work

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Anna Ella Carroll (29 Aug 1815 – 19 Feb 1893 | Pocomoke City MD – Washington DC) author, reporter, lobbyist, politician, pamphleteer, US Presidential consultant, informal member of Lincoln’s Cabinet, never officially recognized for her strategic contributions.

Eliza Allen Starr (29 Aug 1824 – 08 Sep 1901 | Deerfield MA – Durand IL) poet, author, lecturer, illustrator, Catholic convert.

Abby Hutchison Patton (29 Aug 1829 – 24 Nov 1892 | New York NY – Milford NH) hymnist, concert singer.

Mary Garrett Hay (29 Aug 1857 – 29 Aug 1928 | Charlestown IN – New Rochelle NY) suffragist, community organizer, co-worker and companion to Carrie Chapmann Catt, president of Women’s City Club of New York / Woman Suffrage Party / New York Equal Suffrage League.

Florine Stettheimer (29 Aug 1871 – 11 May 1944 | Rochester NY – Manhattan NY) poet, painter, designer.

17 Aug | Women.Words.Work

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Charlotte Louise Bridges Forten Grimké (17 Aug 1837 – 23 Jul 1914 | Philadelphia PA – Washington DC) African-American poet, educator, journal writer, anti-slavery activist, volunteer Civil War Union nurse, first black teacher hired in two different US schools.

Laura de Force Gordon (17 Aug 1838 – 05 Apr 1907 | North East PA – Lodi CA) editor, lawyer, Spiritualist, women’s rights activist, second female attorney in California, first woman to run daily US newspaper [Stockton Daily Leader].

Caroline Bartlett Crane (17 Aug 1858 – 24 Mar 1935 | Hudson WI – Kalamazoo MI) educator, suffragist, journalist, civic reformer, Unitarian minister, aka America’s Housekeeper.

Geneva [Gene] Stratton-Porter (17 Aug 1863 – 06 Dec 1924 | Lagro IN – Los Angeles CA) author, naturalist, wildlife photographer, early female movie studio / production company founder.