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Women's History

Powerful and Memorable Queens

Catherine the Great

Every person who wants to be literate in history should know about the powerful women who have wielded power and influence -- queens, pharaohs, empresses.

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More Memorable Women Rulers
Women's History Spotlight10

Bessie Coleman

Thursday January 26, 2012
Born January 26, 1892 (or maybe 1893), Bessie Coleman, the daughter of sharecroppers, became the first African American woman with a pilot's license, the first African American woman to fly a plane, and the first American (any race or gender) with an international pilot's license. She worked as an aviator and stunt pilot, amazing audiences with her barnstorming tricks.

Introducing Women's History?

Thursday January 26, 2012
About.com 2012 Readers' Choice AwardsWhat book do you recommend as the best introduction to women's history? Here's your chance to help others learn more about this field. What helped you, or what have you successfully used to teach from? (If it's not nominated, it won't be in the finals for readers to vote on!)

More books you can nominate:

Angela Davis

Thursday January 26, 2012

Born January 26, 1944, Angela Davis was once on the FBI's most wanted list, and in 1980, ran for Vice President of the US on the Communist Party ticket. She achieved tenure at the University of California at Santa Cruz though former governor Ronald Reagan swore she would never teach again in the University of California system.

About being a radical, Angela Davis said, "Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'" Read more about this philosopher, activist, and educator:

Lighthouse Keeper and Hero: Weekly Women's History Image

Wednesday January 25, 2012
Learn more about a woman who was, in her day and for generations after, considered a hero and role model for her brave acts. Some in her day argued that she was not a good role model, since her acts of bravery were not exactly within the usual "women's sphere."
Ida Lewis

Related articles:

More women and girls held up as role models for earlier generations of American girls:

Image: Public domain image, from Ten Girls from History, 1917

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