Category Great Womens

          Marie Curie was one of the most famous women scientists in the world. Her parents were both school teachers, and they had high expectations from their children.

          Marie chose to study physics, which is a branch of science that investigates the four forces at work in the universe, both on a large scale, as in the solar system, or on a small scale, as in atoms. The structure of the atom, and the forces which hold it together were still unknown when Marie enrolled as a student at the Sorbonne in 1891. Here she met and married Pierre Curie, who encouraged her to do research. With Pierre acting as her advisor, Marie spent several years purifying uranium ore. It was a grueling task to isolate the ‘radioactive’ substances from tonnes of ordinary rock.

           Marie proposed that the radiation came from inside the atoms. Other scientists followed her lead, and started to investigate the structure of atoms. She discovered two new elements which the Curies named radium – after ‘radiation’ – and polonium – after Poland. In 1903, the Curies and Henri Becquerel received the Nobel Prize in physics for their combined research and discoveries on radioactivity.

           Marie Curie has become an icon and a role-model for other women to follow, for she was someone who succeeded-despite many difficulties, in carving a niche for herself in the world of science. 

         Anne Sullivan Macy overcame poverty and blindness to obtain an education, which in turn, enabled her to teach Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf. Anne lost most of her sight at the age of seven, the result of an untreated bacterial infection known as trachoma. Soon after, her mother died, and her father abandoned her. Anne became a ward of the state, and was sent to a poorhouse. A chance encounter with a state official made it possible for her to attend the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston.

         Anne threw herself into her studies at Perkins, and soon learnt to use a manual alphabet. When the Keller family contacted the school looking for an instructor for their blind and deaf daughter Helen, Anne’s unique combination of knowledge and personal experience made her the ideal candidate. Anne taught Helen to read, write, sign and speak. Helen even went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College, and it was Anne who made it possible. She attended lectures with Helen, and spelled what the professors were saying into the palm of Helen’s hand.

         Helen Keller became world famous for the way she overcame her difficulties-and much of the credit for achievements must go to Anne – for if a student achieves extraordinary heights, it is sometimes because of an equally extraordinary teacher. 

          Mary Church Terrell was an early civil rights advocate, an educator, an author, and a lecturer on woman suffrage and rights for African Americans. An early advocate of women’s rights, Terrell was an active member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, addressing in particular the concerns of black women. In 1896, she became the first president of the newly formed National Association of Coloured Women, an organization that under her leadership, worked to achieve educational and social reform, and an end to discriminatory practices. Appointed to the District of Columbia Board of Education in 1895, Terrell was the first black woman to hold such a position.

          Mary was an articulate spokeswoman, efficient political organizer, and prolific writer. She addressed a wide range of social issues in her long career. Her last act as an activist was to lead a successful three-year struggle against segregation in public eating places and hotels in the nation’s capital. Do you know what segregation is? It is the forced separation of a race in a community or country. In those days, segregation existed in many parts of the USA, and coloured people were kept separate from the whites in public places. This unfair system was finally abolished thanks to the work of brave people like Mary. 

Carrie Chapman Catt was a suffrage movement leader and the founder of the League of Women Voters. She became head of field organizing for the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1895, and in 1900, having earned the trust of the leaders of that organization, became its president. Her leadership was the key in the final passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. She was also one of the founders of the Women’s Peace Party during World War I, and helped to organize the League of Women Voters after the passage of the 19th Amendment. She supported the League of Nations after World War I, and the founding of the United Nations after World War II. Between the wars, she worked for Jewish refugee relief efforts, and for child labour protection laws. 

          Ida Wells was born a slave in 1862, and was orphaned by the yellow fever epidemic of 1878. But somehow Ida Wells managed to get an education and become a teacher. Then, in 1884, she was forcibly removed from the first-class ladies coach on a railroad, and she filed a suit against the railroad. Though she first won the case and later lost it before the Memphis Supreme Court, the incident set off her career in journalism. She became the Memphis correspondent for African-American newspapers in Northern cities.

          Ida’s stories about the atrocities committed against the blacks made her a hero in the African American community, but angered white people in Memphis. She moved to New York, and launched an anti-lynching crusade. For the next several years, Ida Wells became one of America’s most prolific writers and speakers about the lynching that were happening with some regularity in the South.

          Wells spoke all over the North, and on two occasions, conducted speaking tours of England. In the process, she had many admirers but, in an era where her candour was very unique, many critics as well.

          In addition to being an active writer and speaker for her entire life, Ida also married and raised four children. Today, many people regard Ida – a journalist, activist, teacher, organizer and plaintiff- as one of the forerunners of the Civil Rights Movement.

Jane Adams was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and perhaps, the most famous social worker from the United States. As a young woman, Jane desperately wanted to make a difference in the world. She found her opportunity when she visited Toynbee Hall, the settlement house in London. It inspired her to start Hull House. Hull House’s purpose was two-fold. Its primary purpose was to serve the poor inner city residents. Its other purpose was to give an outlet for educated, well to do women to prove they useful to society. Hull House worked for social change, addressing such issues as child labour, public health reform, garbage collection, labour laws and race relations.

          Jane believed women had a social responsibility to work for peace because, working men would never be against war. She took on a leadership role in the Woman’s Peace Party. Jane had a heart attack in 1926. She never fully regained her health. As a matter of fact, she was being admitted to a Baltimore hospital on the very day on December 10, 1931, that the Nobel Peace Prize was being awarded to her in Oslo. True to her cause, Jane gave all her prize money away.