There are thousands of women upon whose shoulders we stand today — women who defied expectations, shattered barriers, and created paths for us to walk freely. The privileges we enjoy today were painstakingly won by those who came before us, shaping every facet of our lives.
Yet, when you were in school, did your history books truly reflect the contributions of women who have shaped our world? Did they highlight women as writers, aviators, photographers, advocates, or pioneers in voting rights, labor laws, civil rights, scientific research, medicine, the military, literature, the arts, sports, and politics?
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, I’d like to highlight a few of these intrepid women — trailblazers whose courage and contributions continue to inspire.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797): An early inspiration to the suffragette movement, Mary Wollstonecraft was a writer and activist who, in the 18th century, advocated for women’s education and equal standing with men. Her groundbreaking work, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” laid the foundation for the fight for gender equality.
The Grimké Sisters: Sarah and Angelina Grimké grew up on their father’s plantation in South Carolina but defied societal norms by teaching enslaved individuals to read and write — despite their parents’ objections.
They later moved to Philadelphia, became Quakers, and became among the first women to publicly denounce slavery while advocating for equal rights for women. In 1838, Sarah Grimké published “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes,” a powerful argument for gender equality.
Barbara McClintock (1902-1992): Barbara McClintock pursued genetics at a time when women were largely excluded from the field. She made groundbreaking discoveries about how genes move within chromosomes — work that was initially dismissed but later recognized as a critical step toward understanding DNA. In 1983, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Lise Meitner (1878-1968): A brilliant physicist, Lise Meitner was the first to explain the process of nuclear fission when uranium was bombarded with neutrons. Although her male colleagues received the Nobel Prize for their work, Meitner was overlooked. However, she was later honored with the Enrico Fermi Award in 1966, and in 1997, Element 109 was named meitnerium in her honor.
Bessie Coleman (1892-1926): Inspired by French women fighter pilots in World War I, Bessie Coleman dreamed of becoming an aviator. Denied flight instruction in the United States due to her race, she moved to France, where she earned her pilot’s license in 1921 — becoming the first Black American and Native Cherokee woman to do so. She later became a stunt pilot and encouraged other Black Americans to pursue aviation.
Frances Perkins (1880-1965): After the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, which killed 146 workers, Frances Perkins became a leading advocate for workplace safety, child labor laws, and fair wages.
As President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945 — the first woman to hold a U.S. Cabinet position — she played a pivotal role in shaping Social Security and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Mourning Dove (1884-1936): Born Christine Quintasket, Mourning Dove was one of the first Native American women to publish a novel, “Cogewea, the Half-Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range.” She was also the first woman elected to the Council of the Confederated Colville Tribes, dedicating her life to preserving Indigenous culture and storytelling.
Amy Beach (1867-1944): At a time when a newspaper headline questioned, “Are Women Composers People?” Amy Beach defied expectations. Her Gaelic Symphony in E Minor was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman and was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896. She later helped establish the Society of American Women Composers, advocating for women in music.
Gertrude Bell (1868-1926): Gertrude Bell was a scholar, archaeologist, adventurer, and diplomat whose knowledge of the Middle East was invaluable to British intelligence during World War I.
Fluent in Arabic, Persian, French, German, Italian, and Turkish, she played a crucial role in shaping modern Iraq, yet she was notably absent from the Lawrence of Arabia narrative. Her contributions, however, remain undeniable.
Women’s History Month is about recognizing, remembering, and honoring the women who have shaped our world. Their stories are not just history — they are a call to action. The fight for equality and justice continues, and as Robert Frost once wrote, “We have miles to go before we sleep.”
Sheila Cameron is a former mayor of Encinitas.
