04 Feb | Women.Words.Work

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Mary Phinney von Olnhausen (04 Feb 1818 – 12 Apr 1902 | Lexington MA – Boston MA) author, diarist, abolitionist, head nurse at Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria VA during American Civil War, field hospital nurse during Franco-Prussian War, awarded Iron Cross by Kaiser Wilhelm I [1873].

Lila Hardaway Meade Valentine (04 Feb 1869 – 14 Jul 1921 | Richmond VA – Richmond VA) suffragist, social activist, educational reformer, public health advocate, co-founded Richmond Education Association, founder-president of Equal Suffrage League of Virginia.

Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn (04 Feb 1876 – 04 Apr 1959 | Norfolk VA – Philadelphia PA) poet, radical activist, anti-child labor, autobiographical author, Christian Socialist, member American Naturalist movement.

Harriet Joephine Terry (04 Feb 1885 – 15 Aug 1967 | Cornwall-on-Hudson NY – Washington DC) university professor, founding member African-American women’s Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Elizabeth Nye Sorrell (04 Feb 1909 – 15 Jul 2007 | Laredo TX – San Antonio TX) teacher, journalist, social activist, political critic, society columnist.

03 Feb | Women.Words.Work

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Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson (03 Feb 1737 – 23 Feb 1801 | Horsham PA – Philadelphia PA) poet, author, commonplace book writer.

Amelia Ball Coppuck Welby (03 Feb 1819 – 03 May 1852 | St Michael’s MD – Louisville KY) poet.

Anna Campbell Palmer (03 Feb 1854 – 18 Jun 1928 | Elmira NY – Elmira NY) novelist, aka Mrs. George Archibald.

Alice Locke Park (03 Feb 1861 – 18 Oct 1961 | Boston MA – Palo Alto CA) pacifict, suffragist, feminist, peace / women’s rights activist, WILPF leader, founded Palo Alto Women’s Peace Party, organized American Union Against Militarism [later the American Civil Liberties Union].

Gertrude Stein (03 Feb 1874 – 27 Jul 1946 | Allegheny PA – Neuilly-sur-Seine FR) poet, novelist, lesbian, playwright, language innovator.

01 Feb | Women.Words.Work

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Johanna Graham Bethune (01 Feb 1770 – 28 Jul 1860 | Fort Niagara ON – New York NY) author, memoirist, social activist, leader in Sunday school education movement, founded Orphan Asylum Society and Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Children.

Hannah Harrison Cohoon (01 Feb 1788 – 07 Jan 1864 | Williamstown MA – Hancock MA) Shaker visionary artist, music composer, created Tree of Life iconic ‘gift painting’.

Harriet Ann Jacobs (01 Feb 1813 – 07 Mar 1897 | Edenton NC – Washington DC) former slave, pen name: Linda Brent, autobiographical author, Civil War relief worker, co-founded two schools for freed slaves.

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (c. 01 Feb 1818 – c. 01 May 1907 | Dinwiddie County Court House VA – Washington DC) former slave, memoirist, First Lady’s seamstress, businesswoman. 

Lucy Wheelock (01 Feb 1857 – 01 Oct 1946 | Cambridge VT – Boston MA) author, lecturer, translator, one of first US kindergarten education pioneers, founding director of Wheelock Kindergarten Training School.

25 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Clarina Irene Howard Nichols (25 Jan 1810 – 11 Jan 1885 | West Townshend VT – Potter Valley CA) author, abolitionist, journalist, lobbyist, public speaker, temperance worker, women’s rights activist, Underground Railroad conductor.

Virginia Jane Kyle Campbell (25 Jan 1822 – 30 Jan 1882 | Raleigh NC – St Louis MO) Irish-American philanthropist, social / political hostess, St. Louis high society matron / activist.

Ann Ralston James (25 Jan 1853 – 06 Jul 1944 | Independence MO – Excelsior Springs MO) American folk figure, wife of Western outlaw / reformed businessman Frank James.

Bertha Feiring Tapper (25 Jan 1859 – 02 Sep 1915 | Oslo NO – New York NY) pianist, author, altruist, composer, humanitarian, music editor, music teacher.

Maud Wood Park (25 Jan 1871 – 08 May 1955 | Boston MA – Reading MA) activist, author, lecturer, playwright, suffragist.

21 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Eliza Roxcy Smith Snow Young (21 Jan 1804 – 05 Dec 1887 | Becket MA – Salt Lake City UT) poet, Mormon historian, married to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow.

Anna White (21 Jan 1831 – 16 Dec 1910 | Brooklyn NY – Mount Lebanon NY) Shaker Eldress, religious sister, social / political / peace activist, Mt. Lebanon Shaker Community member.

Helen Hamilton Gardener (21 Jan 1853 – 26 Jul 1925 | Winchester VA – Washington DC) author, lecturer, suffragist, political activist, government functionary, born Alice Chenoweth, Free Thought movement member.

Willie Betty Newman (21 Jan 1863 – 06 Feb 1935 | Murfreesboro TN – Nashville TN) portrait artist, worked / exhibited in Paris salons / in her native Tennessee / throughout the US.

Marguerite Agniel (21 Jan 1891 – 01 Apr 1971 | Indiana US – Washington DC) actress, author, dancer, yoga practitioner, health and beauty guru, nude yoga proponent.

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.

14 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt (14 Jan 1809 – 24 Aug 1891 | Groton VT – Pleasant Grove, Utah Territory) midwife, essayist, early feminist, Mormon folk figure, legal / political activist, allegedly married to one or two original Church of Latter Day Saints founders.

Katharine Prescott Wormeley (14 Jan 1830 – 04 Aug 1908 | Ipswich UK – Jackson NH) author, philanthropist, volunteer Civil War nurse, French-English translator.

Juliet Corson (14 Jan 1841 – 18 Jun 1897 | Boston MA – New York NY) American author, teacher, social activist, cookbook author, cooking school founder.

Clara Kathleen Rogers (14 Jan 1844 – 08 Mar 1931 | Cheltenham UK – Boston MA) British-American writer, singer, composer, music educator, aka Clara Doria.

Cornelia [Nellie] Cole Fairbanks (14 Jan 1852 – 24 Oct 1913 | Marysville OH – Indianapolis IN) suffragist, US Vice-Presidential Second Lady, women’s political activist / pathfinder, founding member all-women’s Fortnightly Literary Club.

13 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Ernestine Louise Susmond Polowsky Rose (13 Jan 1810 – 04 Aug 1892 | Piotrków Trybunalski PL – Brighton UK) American author, atheist, feminist, lecturer, abolitionist, women’s rights / political activist, aka The Queen of the Platform, first US female petitioner for married women’s property rights.

Sarah Horton Cockrell (13 Jan 1819 – 26 Apr 1892 | Virginia US – Dallas TX) pioneer, philanthropist, businesswoman, one of first Texas millionaires, City of Dallas benefactor.

Ethelinda [Ethel Lynn] Eliot Beers (13 Jan 1827 – 11 Oct 1879 | Goshen NY – Orange NJ) US Civil War poet.

Lilla Cabot Perry (13 Jan 1848 – 28 Feb 1933 | Boston MA – Hancock NH) poet, artist, painter, translator, self-taught till age of 36.

Charlotte E. Ray (13 Jan 1850 – 04 Jan 1911 | New York NY – Woodside NY) teacher, suffragist, first practicing female African-American lawyer.

12 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Caroline Maria Seymour Severance (12 Jan 1820 – 10 Nov 1914 | Canandaigua NY – Los Angeles CA) author, abolitionist, suffragist, women’s clubs founder, aka The Mother of Clubs, first woman registered to vote in California State.

Laura Adams Armer (12 Jan 1874 – 16 Mar 1963 | Sacramento CA – Yolo CA) artist, writer, photographer | Women.Bourne.Works © Susan.Powers.Bourne

Lucy Allen Smart (12 Jan 1877 – 07 Sep 1960 | Steubenville OH – Forest Hills NY) author, editor, historian, librarian, American women’s historical performance artist, curator for Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society Museum, co-edited and co-authored (though uncredited) The Archaeological Atlas of Ohio 

Eloise Gerry (12 Jan 1885 – 11 Dec 1970 | Boston MA – Madison WI) author, research scientist, focus on southern pine trees / production of turpentine, one of first US women to specialize in forest products research, first female appointed to professional staff of US Forest Service at Forest Products Laboratory. 

Beatrice Banning Ayer Patton (12 Jan 1886 – 30 Sep 1953 | Haverhill MA – Hamilton MA) author, sailor, speaker, novelist, translator, equestrian, political figure, married to General George Patton.

10 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Sally Foster Otis (10 Jan 1770 – 06 Sep 1838 | Boston MA – Boston MA) hostess, folk figure, Francophile, aka Queen of Boston Society.

Louisa Lane Drew (10 Jan 1820 – 31 Aug 1897 | London UK – Larchmont NY) British-American stage actress, theater owner, theatrical family matriarch.

Larcena Ann Pennington Page Scott (10 Jan 1837 – 31 Mar 1913 | Nashville TN – Tucson AZ) pioneer, Western folk heroine, Indian kidnap survivor.

Manie Payne Ferguson (10 Jan 1850 – 08 Jun 1932 | Carlow IE – Los Angeles CA) hymnist, evangelist, social activist, co-founded Peniel Mission, American Holiness Movement pioneer leader.

Mary Amelia Ingalls (10 Jan 1865 – 17 Oct 1928 | Pepin WI – De Smet SD) blind, folk / literary family figure, one of sisters of Little House on the Prairie.