Histories of feminism
There are many, many different “herstories” of feminism. The following is just a
short list of a few versions to get you started. Hopefully they will encourage you
to find more on your own.
http://ntb.stanford.edu/resources3-5.html#mainText
No Turning Back: The Feminist Resource Site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_feminism
http://chicanas.com/defs.html
Defining Chicana Feminisms In Their Own Words
http://www.asian-nation.org/gender.shtml
Asian-Nation: the landscape of Asian America
http://www.gwsafrica.org/knowledge/africa%20review/history.html
African Feminist Studies: 1980-2002
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/182links.html
Women's History & Feminist Theory Links--Some Starting Points
- Fannie Lou Hamer--from Sunflower Country, Mississippi. She successfully
registered many blacks to vote throughout the south and became one of the first
black delegates to attend the primary elections. She was a founder of the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party. She also led the crusade to stop the unknown sterilization
of black women.
- Rosa Parks (1913--) She has been referred to as "the mother of the civil
rights movement." She is most famous for refusing to give up her seat in the front
of the bus and move to the back of the bus, something that was expected of blacks
pre-1960s activism. This act led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which many people
credit as a first step in the civil rights movement.
- Sojourner Truth--an abolitionist and women's rights activist, who lived
from 1799-1883. She gave a famous speech "Ain't I A Woman?" which demanded that
women who are poor and black be included in the category "women."
- Harriet Tubman (1821-1913) who was a runaway slave and the conductor of the
"Underground Railroad," which helped many other runaway slaves. She rescued over
200 slaves. She has been distinguished as the only woman in American military history
to plan and execute an armed expedition against enemy forces.
For more contemporary women I suggest: Johnetta Coal (former president of Spellman
College); Ruth Simmons (current president of Smith College); Congresswoman Maxine
Waters; Senator Carol Mosley Braun; Politician Shirly Chisolm--and so many more.
- Delores Huerta, organizer of the Farm Workers
- Wilma Mankiller, former chief of the Cherokee Nation
- Susan B. Anthony, suffragist
- Victoria Woodhull—a pioneer on Wall Street--and the first woman to run
for president in the last 1800s.
- Babe Didrickson, famous athlete.
- Mrs. Frank Leslie—she was the Queen of publishing row in the late 1800's.
She had to keep her husband's name after he died because people didn't take her
seriously as a woman.
- Patsy Mink, Congresswoman from Hawaii.
- Sarah Josepha Hale was born in 1788 and was responsible for persuading
Abraham Lincoln to declare the first Thanksgiving in 1864. She was also the author
of "Mary Had A little Lamb" and for 40 years edited the Ladies Magazine, the first
literary magazine for women. She was also a fervent opponent of slavery.
- Jeanette Rankin—the first woman in the U.S. Congress.
- Amelia Earhart—an incredibly accomplished pilot who made it possible
for many more...
- Sakajawea, who lead Lewis and Clark