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The First Women's Rights Convention
The First Women's Rights Convention held in marked the formal beginning of the women's rights movement. At the time of the convention, women were not allowed the freedoms assigned to men in the eyes of the law, the church, or the government. Women did not vote, hold elective office, attend college, or earn a living. If married, they could not make legal contracts, divorce an abusive husband, or gain custody of their children.. -
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree from an American medical school, after overcoming several odds against her With Dr. Marie Zakrzewska, she opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1856. A medical college was also opened along with it in 1857, which broadened opportunities for women doctors by providing training and necessary experience, as well as specialized medical care for the poor. -
The London Society for Women’s Suffrage
The London Society for Women’s Suffrage is formed to campaign for female suffrag -
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony was raised in a Quaker family with deep roots in activism and social justice and became an advocate for women’s suffrage, women’s property rights and the abolition of slavery. In 1872, to challenge suffrage, Anthony tried to vote in the 1872 Presidential election. While Anthony was never able to legally vote, the 19th amendment, ratified in 1920, was named the “Susan B. Anthony Amendment.” -
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societie
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, founded in 1897, was formed from local suffrage societies. -
Petition demanding votes for women.
A delegation of women’s textile workers from Northern England present a 37,000 signatory petition to Parliament demanding votes for women. -
The Women’s Social and Political Union
The Women’s Social and Political Union is founded in Manchester by Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, and Annie Kearney. -
The National Federation of Women Workers
The National Federation of Women Workers is set up by Mary MacArthur. -
Marie Curie
Born in Warsaw, Marie Curie became the first woman Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences at the Sorbonne (known as the University of Paris) in 1906. She had Masters Degrees in both physics and mathematical sciences and was the first woman to obtain a Doctor of Science degree. Madame Curie was also the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. The first was in Physics in 1903, with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel, for their study in spontaneous radiation. -
Epsom Derby
One suffragette, Emily Davison, died under the King's horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby . It is debated whether she was trying to pin a "Votes for Women" banner on the King's horse or not. -
Mother Teresa
Was a Catholic nun. Although she spent the majority of her life in India, her work included helping evacuate hospital patients in war torn Lebanon, and ministering to famine victims in Ethiopia. She founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the sick and poor. Among many other honors, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 “for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress. -
Rigoberta Menchú Tum
An indigenous Guatemalan woman of the K’iche’ branch of the Mayan culture, Rigoberta Menchú has dedicated her life to promoting the rights of indigenous peoples. She became active in the women’s rights movement as a teenager and later was a prominent workers’ rights advocate. In 1981, after most of her family had been killed and with her own life in danger, she fled to Mexico, where she continued her resistance work against oppression in Guatemala.
In 1992 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -
Aung San Suu Kyi
Is the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero, General Aung San and she became involved in politics and activism after being inspired by the non-violent campaigns of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King and India’s Mahatma Gandhi. In 1988, during a time of major political upheaval in Myanmar. However, the demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the army, who seized power in a 1988 coup, and Aung San Suu Kyi, as Chairperson of the opposition party, was placed under house arrest. -
Benazir Bhutto
Born in Pakistan, was a political activist from a young age and in 1984 she founded an underground organization to resist the military dictatorship. In 1988, she became Prime Minister at only 35 years old, making her one of the youngest chief executives in the world, and the first woman to serve as prime minister in an Islamic country. She was assasinated in 2007. Her efforts to promote democracy and women’s empowerment are an important part of her legacy. -
Dr. Mae Jemison
Dr. Mae Jemison, an American physician, is the first African-American female astronaut. Before her career at NASA, she worked in a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand and served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Liberia. She was accepted to NASA’s astronaut training program in 1987 and in 1992, as a science mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, she became the first African-American woman in space. -
Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, human rights activist, and the first female judge in Iran. In 2000 she herself was imprisoned for having criticized her country’s hierocracy. She won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially those of women, children and refugees. She is the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the prize. She is currently living in exile in the UK due to increased persecution of opponents of the current regime. -
Wangari Muta Maathai
was a Kenyan scientist, professor, environmental and political activist. She was the first woman in East or Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree and is credited with founding the Green Belt Movement, a community initiative that seeks to empower women through civic education and environmental stewardship. In 2004, for her work on sustainable development, democracy and peace, she became the first African woman, and first environmentalist, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. -
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa when she took office as the President of Liberia in January 2006 To investigate crimes committed during Liberia’s civil war, she established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and became a global icon with her commitment to fighting dictators, corruption and poverty through empowerment of women and girls, were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace prize for their nonviolent role in promoting peace. democracy and gender equality -
Malala Yousafzai
A Pakistani advocate for girls education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. In 2009, (Pakistan has the second highest number of children out of school and two-thirds of them are female.) The blog on BBC Urdu garnered international attention while also making her the target of death threats. In October 2012, a gunman shot her and two other girls as they were coming home from school. Malala survived the attack and in 2013 published an autobiography,