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.

30 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Amalia Barney Simons Post (30 Jan 1826 – 28 Jan 1897 | Johnson VT – Cheyenne WY) pioneer, suffragist, 1869 instrumental in having franchise granted women in Wyoming Territory by the 1st Wyoming Territorial Legislature, 1871 delegate to Woman’s National Convention in Washington DC, 1873 vice-president of National Woman Suffrage Association.

Catharine Van Valkenburg Waite (30 Jan 1829 – 09 Nov 1913 | Dumfries ON – Chicago IL) author, attorney, suffragist, women’s rights activist, founded C. V. Waite & Co. publishing firm, founder / editor Chicago Law Times magazine, president of Woman’s International Bar Association.

Matilda Beatrice Samuel De Mille (30 Jan 1853 – 08 Oct 1923 | Liverpool UK – Hollywood CA) agent, playbroker, playwright, screenwriter, theatre actress, theatrical entrepreneur, aka Agnes Graham, Matilda Beatrice Samuel, Tillie Samuel, Mrs. Henry De Mille.

Emma Brown Malone (30 Jan 1859 – 12 May 1924 | Pickering ON – Cleveland OH) American Quaker, writer, social activist, co-founded Cleveland Bible School [later became Malone College], women’s ministerial activist / advocate.

Käte Frankenthal (30 Jan 1889 – 21 Apr 1976 | Kiel DEU – New York NY) German-American author, physician, memoirist, psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, socialist politician, marriage / family therapist.

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.

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.

01 Jan | Women.Words.Work

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Jane Frazier [or Fraser] (01 Jan 1735 – 14 Apr 1815 | Winchester VA – Schellsburg PA) survivor, memoirist, captured / escaped Native Americans.

Elizabeth Griscom Claypoole Ross (01 Jan 1752 – 30 Jan 1836 | Philadelphia PA – Philadelphia PA) American Revolutionary War folk figure, seamstress for First Flag of the United States, best known as Betsy Ross.

Harriet E. Bishop (01 Jan 1817 – 08 Aug 1883 | Panton VT – St Paul MN) writer, educator, suffragist, temperance activist.

Amelia Stewart Knight (01 Jan 1817 – 25 Jan 1898 | Boston MA – Vancouver WA) diarist, memoirist, Northwest Oregon Trail pioneer / settler.

Lucy Lambert Hale (01 Jan 1841 – 15 Oct 1915 | Dover NH – Warren NH) society belle, engaged to John Wilkes Booth, later political wife / hostess to Senator Chandler.

31 Dec | Women.Words.Work

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Lucretia Crocker (31 Dec 1829 – 09 Oct 1886 | Barnstable MA – Boston MA) author, educator, first female superintendent Boston Public Schools, educational activist / advocate / innovator.

Queen Kapi’olani Napelakapuokakaʻe (31 Dec 1834 – 24 Jun 1899 | Hilo HI – Waikiki HI) Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Hawai’i, medical / educational philanthropist, founded Kapi’olani Maternity Home and Kapi’olani Home for Girls.

Mary Jane Safford-Blake (31 Dec 1834 – 08 Dec 1891 | Hyde Park VT – Tarpon Springs FL) author, teacher, novelist, translator, Civil War Union field nurse. 

Elizabeth Arden (31 Dec 1878 – 18 Oct 1966 | Woodbridge ON – New York NY) Canadian-American author, social icon, beauty products innovator, cosmetics businesswoman, born Florence Nightingale Graham.

17 Dec | Women.Words.Work

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Deborah Sampson Gannett (17 Dec 1760 – 29 Apr 1827 | Plympton MA – Sharon MA) diarist, memoirist, political activist, Continental soldier.

Delia Ann Webster (17 Dec 1817 – 18 Jan 1904 | Vergennes VT – Jeffersonville IN) teacher, abolitionist, Underground Railroad activist, girls’ school founder, aka The Petticoat Abolitionist.

Celia Logan Connelly (17 Dec 1837 – 18 Jun 1904 | Philadelphia PA – New York NY) author, actress, aka L. Fairfax, journalist, playwright, translator, social activist / organizer.

Kate M. Youngman (17 Dec 1841 – 29 Sep 1910 | Kingston NY – Tokyo JP) nurse, missionary, founded Ihaien Leprosy Hospital in Tokyo.

04 Dec | Women.Words.Work

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Angelia [Angie] Louise Thurston French Newman (04 Dec 1837 – 15 Apr 1910 | Montpelier VT – Lincoln NE) poet, editor, author, teacher, lecturer, Spanish-American War hospital inspector.

Cornelia Foster Bradford (04 Dec 1847 – 15 Jan 1935 | Granby NY – Montclair NJ) social worker, kindergarten advocate, social activist and reformer, founded Whittier House [first settlement house in New Jersey].

Mary Reed (04 Dec 1854 – 08 Apr 1943 | Lowell OH – Chandag IND) missionary social worker, leprosy colony missionary.

Julia Evelyn Ditto Young (04 Dec 1857 – 19 Apr 1915 | Buffalo NY – Buffalo NY) poet, novelist.

Lillian Russell (04 Dec 1861 – 06 Jun 1922 | Clinton IA – Pittsburgh PA) singer, actress, columnist, suffragist, born Helen Louise Leonard.

30 Nov | Women.Words.Work

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Mary Hayden Green Pike (30 Nov 1824 – 15 Jan 1908 | Eastport ME – Baltimore MD) author, novelist, pen names: Mary Langdon and Sydney A. Story, Jr.

Martha George Ripley (30 Nov 1843 – 18 Apr 1912 | Lowell VT – Minneapolis MN) suffragist, feminist, woman’s physician, women’s rights advocate, public health activist / educator, founder / administrator Minneapolis Maternity Hospital [later renamed Ripley Memorial Hospital].

Mary Eliza McDowell (30 Nov 1854 – 14 Oct 1936 | Cincinnati OH – Chicago IL) social worker / reformer, community / neighborhood organizer, workplace / public health activist, head of University of Chicago’s Settlement House [later renamed Mary McDowell Settlement], aka The Settlement Lady and Angel of the Stockyards.

Elise Mercur Wagner (30 Nov 1868 – 27 Mar 1947 | Towanda PA – Old Economy Village PA) author, public / private architect, first female architect in Pittsburgh.

Etta Cone (30 Nov 1870 – 31 Aug 1949 | Jonesboro TN – Baltimore MD) heiress, literary figure, modern art collector.

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.