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Hannah Wilkinson Slater
Hannah Wilkinson Slater was the first American woman to receive a patent. She received her patent for inventing a new method of producing sewing thread from cotton. She took surinam cotton and used a hand spinning wheel to spin it into thread. The resultant thread proved to be stronger than linen thread. Source - http://www.inventricity.com/hannah-slater-inventor -
Lucy Brewer
Lucy Brewer was the first woman to join the United States Marine Corps. She tricked her way in, pretending to be a man named George Baker. She then served for a respective three years, fighting in the War of 1812, all the while keeping her gender hidden. Sources - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucy-Brewer -
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to earn a medical degree in America. She graduated from Hobart college, and moved to Britain as they had better jobs than America for women at the time. Later, she moved back and served as a physician in the civil war for the North. Source - https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_35.html -
Victoria Woodhull
Victoria Woodhull was the first women to run for United States President. She was nominated for President by the newly formed Equal rights party on May 10, 1872 at Apollo Hall in New York City. She also spoke publicly against the government being made of only men, and proposed a new constitution and government. Source - https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/04/victoria-woodhull-first-woman-presidential-candidate-116828 -
Margaret Abbott
Margaret Abbott was the first American women to win first place in any olympic event. She won the women's golf tournament at the 1900's Paris Games. These games were so poorly organized and publicized since this was the first year women were allowed to compete in. Historical research did not establish that the game was on the olympic program until after Abbott's death, so she herself never knew it. Source - https://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/March/21/Margaret-Abbott -
Florence Lawrence
Florence Lawrence was America's first movie star. She was a stage performer and film actress, and was the first film actor to be named publicly. She reached her height of fame in the 1910's, and appeared in almost 300 films for various motion picture companies throughout her career. Source - http://www.history.com/news/florence-lawrence-the-first-movie-star -
Rebecca Felton
Rebecca Felton was sworn in as the first female Senator in the United States. She was sworn in on November 21, 1922 until a man named Walter George took office on November 22, 1922. She only served as Senator for one day. She has since then been the only women seated in the Senate from Georgia. Source - http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/rebecca-latimer-felton-1835-1930 -
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was the first women to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the the U.S Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. She set many other records and wrote best selling books about her flying experiences. She became a celebrity image and even took on flying competitions. Source - http://www.history.com/topics/amelia-earhart -
Arlene Pieper
Arlene Pieper became the first woman to finish a marathon when she finished the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in 1959. She ran to promote the gym her and her husband owned, and trained for a year with sneakers she bought from a dime store. She was unaware of the groundbreaking nature of her marathon until she was contacted by a historian in 2009. Source - http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/04/21/arlene-pieper-marathon -
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony was the first American woman depicted on a coin. She was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. At first she was harshly ridiculed for her women's rights speeches, but her 80th birthday was celebrated in the White House. She became the first actual woman to be depicted on U.S. coinage when her portrait appeared on the 1979 dollar coin. Source - http://susanbanthonyhouse.org/her-story/biography.php -
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor was the first woman to win a Tony Award for best director of a musical. She is an American director of theater, opera and film. She is best known for directing the stage musical The Lion King, for which she became the first woman to win the Tony Award for directing a musical, in addition to a Tony Award for Original Costume Design. Source - https://www.biography.com/people/julie-taymor-320722 -
Peggy Whitson
Peggy Whitson broke the record for most total days spent in space by any NASA astronaut. Her first space mission was in 2002, with an extended stay aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 5. She was on her third long-duration space flight and was the commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 51, before handing over command to Fyodor Yurchikhin on June 1, 2017. Source - https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/peggy-a-whitson
