Throughout history, women have been uncredited and unrecognized, so we need to celebrate some of these incredible, intelligent, and inspirational women who have paved the way for women’s rights and racial equality, and who have made amazing advances in science, mathematics, and literature. These women are only a few of the powerful female politicians, leaders, scientists, and social activists without whom the world would not be where it is today.
To recognize and honor some of these women for Women’s History Month here are ten of the most influential women in history:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: She was the second woman ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court as a justice. She served on the court for 27 years, during which she fought for women’s rights.
Marie Curie: She was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics. She later also became the first person to claim a Nobel Honors twice, the second time for Chemistry. Her scientific discoveries, with her husband Pierre Curie, included their discovery of polonium and radium, as well as her advancements in the development of x-rays.
Rosa Parks: She was a social activist; she fought for the rights of POC in the United States. She is most widely known for her help in the civil rights movement where she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus in 1955.
Malala Yousafzai: She is a young female activist who fought against Tehrik-e-Taliban who restricted education for girls in Pakistan. She is also the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize, at age 17.
Maya Angelou: She was a civil rights activist, poet, and award-winning author. Her book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was also the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American Woman.
I wanted to look a little closer to home and highlight five influential women from Ithaca:
Dorothy Cotton: She was a Civil Rights Movement leader who acted both as an educator and activist. She even met Martin Luther King Jr. and helped him write his famous “I have a dream” speech. She became part of the Ithaca community afterward but continued on her journey of being an advocate for civil rights in her Dorothy Cotton Institute.
Caryn Davies: She graduated from Ithaca High School and went on to become an Olympic rower, making it to the Olympics three times. Before going to the Olympics she received many awards for rowing and won a national championship in college with her Harvard University team. After her rowing career, she continued with her education at Columbia Law School, received a Doctor of Law degree and became an attorney.
Alison Lurie: She lived in Ithaca since 1961 and was a professor of Children’s Literature at Cornell and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Similarly, in her books, she references both Ithaca and Cornell. In 2012, she was even named the 10th New York State Author by Governor Andrew Como for two years.
Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer: These women were in a same-sex relationship and were open about their relationship which was very uncommon for the time. They even became the first full-time female professors at Cornell. Together, these women founded a home economics department at Cornell, which later became the New York State College of Human Ecology. Their department was admired by the women’s rights movement.
Each of the women I have chosen to honor this month has made amazing achievements in a variety of fields. However, what made these women stand out to me is their ability to push past societal limitations to change our world for the better. Not only did these women greatly impact their current society, but they also all improved the world for future generations by expanding opportunities for women and sharing their talents and knowledge.