31 May | Women.Words.Work

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Jessie Ann Benton Frémont (31 May 1824 – 27 Dec 1902 | Rockbridge VA – Los Angeles CA) author, memoirist, abolitionist, political activist, short story writer.

Kate Kennedy (31 May 1827 – 18 Mar 1890 | Gaskinstown IE – Oakland CA) essayist, educator, educational reformer, teacher tenure activist / advocate.

Emily Perkins Bissell (31 May 1861 – 08 Mar 1948 | Wilmington DE – Wilmington DE) essayist, health activist, social reformer, Christmas Seals founder.

Cynthia Westover Alden (31 May 1862 – 08 Jan 1931 | Afton IA – Brooklyn NY) poet, author, editor, teacher, journalist, civil servant, philanthropist, pen name: Kate Kensington, invented NYC street-cleaners’ cart, founder / president-general of the International Sunshine Society to house / educate blind babies / children / elderly.

Kathlyn Williams Eyton (31 May 1888 – 23 Sep 1960 | Butte MT – Hollywood CA) actress, screenwriter, social philanthropist. 

26 May | Women.Words.Work

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Ann Hall (26 May 1792 – 11 Dec 1863 | Pomfret CT – New York NY) miniature portrait painter.

Mary Andrews Denison (26 May 1826 – 15 Oct 1911 | Cambridge MA – Cambridge MA) editor, novelist, playwright, aka Clara Vance, Civil War nurse, short story writer.

Clara Louise Root Burnham (26 May 1854 – 20 Jun 1927 | Newton MA – Bailey Island ME) author, hymnist.

Edna Brady Cornwell (26 May 1868 – 01 Dec 1958 | Romney WV – Romney WV) newspaper publisher, West Virginia State First Lady.

Peggy Hopkins Joyce (26 May 1893 – 12 Jun 1957 | Berkley VA – New York NY) dancer, actress, folk figure, artist model, autobiographical author.

21 May | Women.Words.Work

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Nancy H. Adsit (21 May 1825 – 27 Apr 1902 | Palermo NY – Milwaukee WI) art lecturer / educator / essayist, first US female insurance agent.

Elizabeth Storrs Billings Mead (21 May 1832 – 25 Mar 1917 | Conway MA – Coconut Grove FL) author, educator, president of Oberlin and Mount Holyoke Colleges.

Anna Callender Brackett (21 May 1836 – 18 Mar 1911 | Boston MA – Summit NJ) author, educator, translator, philosopher, first female normal school principal, editor of New England Journal of Education.

Mary Virginia [Jennie] Wade (21 May 1843 – 03 Jul 1863 | Gettysburg VA – Gettysburg VA) Civil War Union supporter, lone civilian casualty at Battle of Gettysburg.

Amelia [Amy] Muller Fay (21 May 1844 – 28 Feb 1928 | Bayou Goula LA – Cambridge MA) author, musician, concert pianist.

16 May | Women.Words.Work

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Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (16 May 1804 – 03 Jan 1894 | Billerica MA – Jamaica Plain MA) US editor, writer, educator, translator, school founder, bookstore owner, Transcendentalist, kindergarten founder / teacher / activist.

Mary Nimmo Moran (16 May 1842 – 25 Sep 1899 | Strathaven SCT – East Hampton NY) Scottish-American etcher, landscape artist.

Elizabeth Armstrong Reed (16 May 1842 – 18 Jun 1915 | Winthrop ME – Chicago IL) editor, author, Oriental scholar.

LaSalle Corbell Pickett (16 May 1843 – 22 Mar 1931 | Nansemond VA – Richmond VA) US author, lecturer, biographer Civil War Confederate memoirist.

Matilda Smyrell Calder Thurston (16 May 1875 – 18 Apr 1958 | Hartford CT – Auburndale MA) teacher, missionary, memoirist, founded Ginling College in Nanking.

11 May | Women.Words.Work

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Letitia Tyler Semple (11 May 1821 – 28 Dec 1907 | Cedar Grove Plantation VA – Baltimore MD) founder / principal Eclectic Institute for Young Women, White House hostess for father President John Tyler.

Caroline Clement [Carroll] Watson Rankin (11 May 1864 – 13 Aug 1945 | Marquette MI – Marquette MI) reporter, novelist, short story writer.

Harriet Quimby (11 May 1875 – 01 Jul 1912 | Arcadia MI – Quincy MA) aviator, journalist, drama critic, screenwriter.

Alma Gluck Zimbalist (11 May 1884 – 27 Oct 1938 | Iasi RO – Manhattan NY) editor, operatic soprano, née Reba Feinsohn.

Martha Graham (11 May 1894 – 01 Apr 1991 | Allegheny PA – New York NY) dancer, choreographer, autobiographical author, aka The Dancer of the Century.

09 May | Women.Words.Work

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Eliza Seaman Leggett (09 May 1815 – 08 Feb 1900 | New York NY – Detroit MI) social activist, suffragist, abolitionist, Underground Railroad worker, public restrooms and public drinking fountain advocate.

Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston (09 May 1830 – 03 Jul 1903 | Franklin County PA – Narragansett RI) fine art collector, arts / music advocate, Native American reservation activist, acting US Presidential First Lady for uncle James Buchanan, children’s hospital founder, founded Washington Cathedral School for Choir Boys, aka First Lady of National Collection of Fine Arts.

Mary Eno Bassett Mumford (09 May 1842 – 09 May 1935 | Litchfield CT – New Britain CT) author, activist, editor, teacher.

Fanny Titus Hazen (09 May 1840 – 20 Jan 1930 | Vershire VT – Cambridge MA) Civil War nurse, suffragist, president Army Nurse Association of Massachusetts, member of Woman’s Relief Corps / Cambridge Equal Suffrage League.

Isabella Maria [Belle] Boyd (09 May 1844 – 11 Jun 1900 | Martinsburg VA [now WV] – Kilbourn [now Wisconsin Dells] WI) spy, lecturer, memoirist, aka Cleopatra of the Secession, Siren of the Shenandoah.