BORN NEAR ROCHESTER, N.Y., in 1839, to a politically active father and a well-educated, deeply supportive mother, Frances Willard absorbed their ambition and learned about social responsibility. In 1871, she committed herself to the women’s movement and to education of women as the vehicle of progress. Willard became president of the women’s college associated with […]

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery circa 1797 and was originally named Isabella “Belle” Baumfree. Truth took on her new name later in life because she claimed to hear the Spirit of God calling on her to preach the truth, particularly about the abolition of slavery. The New York native worked as an abolitionist and

A Quaker teacher, Dr. Alice Bunker Stockham (1833-1912) earned obstetrics and gynecology degrees from two medical colleges, one specializing in homeopathy, and one in “eclectic” medicine (herbalism).  While operating a clinic and a free kindergarten, Stockham embraced suffrage and the nonviolent philosophies of iconic writers like Leo Tolstoy.  Tolstoy Stockham’s Tokology (Greek for “obstetrics”), which

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON: FEMINIST, WIFE AND MOTHER OF SEVEN When her seventh child, Henry, was born in 1859, early feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton raised a flag in front of her home–scandalizing the Seneca Falls, N.Y., community by her public celebration of motherhood. The mid-19th century was a time when pregnancy and birth were still surrounded