March, National Women’s History Month, is a time for all to look back and honor the powerful women who came before and paved the way for the rights and freedoms modern women have today. From racial to gender boundaries, these women prodded and broke the glass ceilings women today are still fighting against and surpassing with excellence on the regular.
Rachel Carson, born in 1907, was one of the first female American marine biologists, conservationists, and writers. She is credited with advancing marine conservation and the worldwide environmental movement. Her book Silent Spring, a novel about the impacts of pesticides on the Earth, inspired a grassroots movement that eventually led to the inception of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After her death, President Jimmy Carter awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Sojourner Truth, one of the most famous Abolitionists and advocates for Civil rights, lived from the late 1700’s to 1883 and after being born into slavery in Swartekill, New York. After escaping with her daughter to freedom in 1826, she went back for her son and won in court, making her the first ever black woman to win a case like this. During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black men for the Union Army and after the war was over, she tried to establish federal land for formerly enslaved people to live on, where the origins of the phrase “forty acres and a mule” comes from. She is also credited for helping fight for black women’s exposure and accessibility in the Women’s Suffrage movement
Indira Gandhi, who unfortunately was assassinated in 1984, was the first and only woman to ever serve as Prime Minister of India. Gandhi was the second longest serving Indian Prime Minister at nearly 16 years of service, only after her own father. Before her tenure as Prime Minister, she was the elected President of the Indian National Congress and served in many parliamentary positions within government before her election. During her tenure, she saw many controversies but undoubtedly led India through some of its most troubling times and saw many of India’s successes through her leadership. She was considered the most powerful woman in the world as Prime Minister and was named “Women of the Millenium” by the BBC.
