“Women have made up at least half the human race, but you could never tell that by looking at the books historians write.”– Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
HerStory is all about the women pioneers who helped make our modern world—and whose names you’ve probably never heard. Too much of what they’ve done has been overlooked by history, as have the remarkable stories of how they achieved, what and who inspired them.
That’s why we started HerStory.
There’s Frances Perkins, who created Social Security as FDR’s Secretary as Labor. As Lawrence says, “No President has made a better or more important Cabinet choice since and no Cabinet member in history has had such a lasting effect on the way we live in this country.”
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, whose parents were so determined to educate their daughters that they built their own school. She became the sole woman awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, America’s highest military commendation, for her service as the first female Army surgeon in the Civil War and her valor as a POW.
Rep. Jeanette Rankin (R-MT), the first woman elected to Congress—three years before the 19th Amendment gave American women the right to vote. In 1941, she cast the lone vote opposed to war with Japan. As Rep. Rankin said, “As a woman, I can’t go to war and I refuse to send anybody else.” From Jane Hart, mother of nine, who passed the rigorous tests to become an astronaut decades before America sent Sally Ride into space, to Annie Cannon, who, as one of the underappreciated women “computers” at the Harvard Observatory, mapped the universe and created the classification system for stars we still use today, these women became leaders in their chosen fields despite the barriers they faced because of their sex. Today, girls and women around the globe are showing that same determined spirit as they fight for equal opportunity, education and to improve the lives of all people, from 13-year-old Mo’ne Davis, who just wanted to play baseball and made it onto the cover of Sports Illustrated to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala, who has dedicated her life to speaking out for the 66 million girls worldwide who are deprived of an education. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, Capt. Kristen Griest and Lt. Shaye Haver are the first female graduates of the U.S. Army Ranger School, and trailblazers like Ida B. Wells, Wilma ManKiller, Helen Keller, and Rep. Patsy Mink have been tipped as potential candidates to be the face of the new $10 bill. HerStory is a celebration of women’s achievements and the parents, educators, mentors, and community who championed them. Watch, learn and join the conversation- we hope HerStory inspires your story!
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