March has been designated as the month to shine a spotlight on women’s achievements throughout history. The Dorktales Storytime Podcast celebrates women and their accomplishments all year long! We have featured stories of female trailblazers from different time periods in history. These women felt the calling to go beyond their societal barriers despite the challenges and struggles they faced. Each left a legacy of innovation and accomplishments for us all. In this article, we share three facts about each of these amazing hidden heroes of history!
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Bessie Stringfield
Bessie Stringfield, the trailblazing motorcyclist, roared through the societal barriers of the 1930s, becoming the first Black woman to ride solo across the United States. Her story is not just one of adventure and daring feats; it’s a testament to resilience, determination, and the power of pursuing one’s passion against all odds.
- Bessie learned how to ride a motorcycle by practicing on her neighbor’s bike. Her mother purchased her first motorcycle when she was 16 and, in 1930, she opened a paper map, flipped a penny on it and rode her motorcycle wherever it landed. This was her first of eight journeys across the United States.
- The highways system we enjoy today wasn’t in place when Bessie traveled on her motorcycle. The quality of the roads varied from state to state, so every time Bessie hit a bump in the road, she really felt it. She also learned to be her own mechanic so she could fix her motorcycle when it broke down.
- She put her riding skills to good use when she served in the U.S. Army during World War II. She was a civilian motorcycle dispatch rider caring messages, documents, and orders between military units. This was a rare role for a woman at the time.
Emma Lazarus
Emma Lazarus was a writer, poet, and an activist who wrote “The New Colossus,” for the Statue of Liberty symbolizing America’s promise of freedom for all.
- Emma Lazarus was born on July 22, 1849, into a wealthy Sephardic Jewish family in New York City. Her father, Moses Lazarus, was a successful sugar refiner, and her mother, Esther Nathan Lazarus, was from an affluent merchant family.
- Despite her privileged upbringing, Ms. Lazarus was deeply affected by the plight of others, particularly Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution in Europe. This empathy would drive much of her later activism. She became actively involved in assisting Jewish immigrants arriving in New York City, advocating for their rights and helping them find shelter and support.
- Ms. Lazarus’ most famous work, “The New Colossus,” was written in 1883 as part of an effort to raise funds for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The poem would later become synonymous with the statue itself, symbolizing America’s promise of freedom and opportunity to immigrants.
Isabella Aiona Abbott
Isabella Aiona Abbott is the First Lady of Limu—the Hawaiian word for water plants. She was the leading expert on marine algae and seaweeds of the Pacific Ocean.
- Isabella Aiona Abbott was born in Hawaii on June 20, 1919, and her mother taught her about native Hawaiian plants, including various edible Hawaiian seaweeds. She became an expert in marine algae and seaweeds, and she discovered over 200 species of seaweed and marine algae during her lifetime.
- Ms. Abbott introduced recipes for pickling seaweed and baking it into cake, as well as educating people on how to use plants for food and other purposes. She brought awareness to culturally important plants and promoted Hawaiian ocean stewardship practices to ensure the sustainable harvesting of seaweed and marine algae.
- In 1972, Ms. Abbott became a full professor of Biology at Stanford University, making her the first woman and first person of color to hold that position at the university. She wrote eight books, over 150 academic articles and papers, and received numerous honors and awards in her field.
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols was an actor, singer and dancer best known for her groundbreaking role of Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek series.
- The original Star Trek series began in 1966. Ms. Nichols portrayed Communications Officer and Translator, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. She was one of the first Black women featured in a major television series.
- After the first season, she wanted to leave but Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. convinced her to stay, saying that her playing Uhura was “reflecting what we are fighting for,” referring to the Civil Rights Movement.
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, invited her to work with them as their ambassador. She advocated for more women and people of color to become astronauts. Some of the people who were recruited through her advocacy were Dr. Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, and Colonel Guion Bluford, the first African American astronaut. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, has also publicly said that she was inspired by Ms. Nichols and her work on Star Trek.
Dr. Patricia Bath
Dr. Patricia Bath was an ophthalmologist, inventor, and humanitarian. Ophthalmologists are eye doctors who perform medical and surgical treatments for eye conditions.
- At age 16, Dr. Bath applied for and was awarded a scholarship at the National Science Foundation, an organization that supports scientific research and education. The award was for her work on the connection between cancer, nutrition and stress. This led to important discoveries about the nature of cancer.
- In 1981, she began the process of creating the Laserphaco Probe for which she received a patent in 1988. The device created a less painful and more precise treatment of cataracts using laser technology. With the invention, Dr. Bath helped restore the sight of individuals who had been blind for more than 30 years.
- Dr. Bath was a humanitarian too. She was involved in many efforts that went towards bettering the lives of others. For example, when she was in school, she co-founded the Student National Medical Association. It is now the largest independent, student-run organization that focuses on the needs and concerns of Black medical students in the United States.
Lucille Bishop Smith
Lucille Bishop Smith was a successful Black American entrepreneur, educator, culinary inventor, and the founder of her own food corporation.
- Ms. Bishop Smith developed the first college-level “Commercial Foods and Technology Department.” It was a culinary arts program that helped students train to be part of the food and baking industries. Her work as an educator inspired future generations to pursue roles in the field. In fact, her great-grandchildren—Chris and Ben Williams—opened a restaurant in 2012 called “Lucille’s” in her honor.
- She invented “Lucille’s All Purpose Hot Roll Mix” as a fundraiser for church. It was so popular, grocery stores started putting it on their shelves. It revolutionized convenience cooking.
- Throughout her life, giving back to her community was also one of Ms. Bishop Smith’s priorities. She used funds from her catering and other businesses to support community service projects. She also fundraised for various causes to uplift under-resourced communities.
Dr. Kazue Togasaki
Dr. Kazue Togasaki was one of the first Japanese American women to become a doctor in the United States.
- When she was 9 years old, the massive 1906 earthquake happened. It destroyed many of San Francisco’s buildings and ignited several fires that burned for three days. She and her mother helped take care of the wounded and young Kazue went to hospitals with other Japanese American women to act as their translator. These experiences inspired her and many in her family to go into medicine.
- When World War II was declared, Dr. Togasaki, like all Japanese Americans, was forcibly placed into a Japanese American internment camp. She set up medical facilities so her community could receive basic medical care, vaccinations, and support while giving birth.
- After the war, she returned to San Francisco, continuing to lead and provide vital health care to her community. She delivered over 10,000 babies over the course of her career.
Eugenie Clark
Eugenie Clark, popularly and affectionately nicknamed The Shark Lady, was an American ichthyologist known for both her research on shark behavior and her study of fish.
- At nine years old, she went to the New York Aquarium every Saturday while her mom worked at a nearby magazine stand. She dreamed of swimming with the fish in the aquarium. It’s where she developed her love for the ocean and every creature in it –including sharks.
- Throughout her career, she conducted 72 submersible dives. Submersibles are small water vehicles that can go to great water depths. She also pioneered a new way of conducting underwater research through scuba diving to swim right next to sharks and observe their behaviors.
- She led more than 200 field research expeditions around the world and completed her very last dive at 92 years old. She even rode on the back of a 50-foot whale shark (the largest shark in the world) because she felt it was the best way to learn and observe.
Ida Lewis
Ida Lewis was an American lighthouse keeper who was known as a hero after rescuing many people from the seas.
- Ms. Lewis’ father was a lighthouse keeper on Lime Rock Light, a small island off of Newport, Rhode Island. When he became very ill, she began assisting with a lighthouse keeper’s duties while also helping take care of her siblings.
- She made her first rescue at 16 and continued to brave the rough seas in her skiff to save many others throughout her life. She pulled people out of ice, gave out dry clothes, treated folks for hypothermia, saved livestock, and did these things in a heavy dress with multiple layers of fabric.
- Her most famous rescue was during a snowstorm. She was sick with a cold and fever but that didn’t stop her from rowing out and saving two soldiers who were in danger of drowning. This earned her the title, “the bravest woman in America.” The lighthouse and its island were renamed Ida Lewis Rock and Ida Lewis Lighthouse in her honor. She is the only lighthouse keeper to have ever been honored this way.
Pura Belpré
Pura Belpré was a magnificent librarian, storyteller, writer, and puppeteer, and the very first Puerto Rican librarian hired by the New York Public Library.
- Ms. Belpré traveled all over the city, from the Bronx to the Lower East Side, telling stories using handmade puppets, and speaking in Spanish and in English. Nobody else was doing bilingual storytelling at the time.
- She became an advocate for the Spanish-speaking community by establishing more bilingual story hours; buying Spanish language books for the library; and, putting together programs that allowed her community to celebrate their traditional holidays.
- She used her role in the library to show her community that their stories matter
Helen Liu Fong and Norma Merrick Sklarek
Helen Liu Fong and Norma Merrick Sklarek were two architects who broke through gender and racial barriers to become influential leaders in architectural design.
Helen Liu Fong:
- Ms. Liu Fong was a leading figure in the Googie architecture style, which was inspired by jets, cars and the space age. The space age was a period of time when space exploration and technology were brand new and in the forefront of people’s minds.
- She really cared about how people moved through space and was known for making restaurants, cafes, and other buildings eye-catching.
- Ms. Liu Fong innovated new angles, shapes, and even neon lights through her designs. These were all things that became part of her signature style and influenced a lot of other architects and designers.
Norma Merrick Sklarek:
- When looking for her first job as an architect, Ms. Skalrek went to 19 different offices and was turned down for work before she got her first job in New York. She never gave up! Her career excelled and she became the first Black woman to own her own firm.
- Ms. Sklarek was part of a number of significant projects throughout her career. She is most recognized for designing two buildings—the United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan and the Terminal One station at the Los Angeles International Airport.
- Ms. Sklarek mentored aspiring architects, lectured at prestigious universities, and coached architecture students for their state licensing exam to help them pass and become architects.
The Six Triple Eight
The Six Triple Eight was the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the United States Army. Serving during World War II, the Six Triple Eight included 855 Black female soldiers, and was led by Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams.
- The Six Triple Eight held themselves to very high standards and were determined to exceed expectations. When they arrived in Europe, they faced a huge challenge. It would be their job to sort and deliver over 17 million letters and packages addressed to military personnel scattered across the continent.
- The groups of women worked all day, seven days a week, in rotating eight-hour shifts. Each group sorted and processed approximately 65,000 pieces of mail per shift, or 135 pieces of mail per minute!
- Most in the military thought the project was a lost cause, but gave them six months to try. They worked day and night as a dedicated team and completed their assignment in just three months!
Ángela Peralta
Ángela Peralta was an opera singer, composer, harpist, and pianist who was called “The Mexican Nightingale” by the audiences who adored her from around the world.
- She studied music at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música and, at 15, made her opera debut at the Teatro Nacional, or National Theater of Mexico City.
- Ms. Peralta was a very versatile performer, known for singing in the Bel Canto—or “beautiful singing”—style popularized in Italy. It is a form of singing that emphasizes the beauty of sound, rather than dramatic performance.
- She performed in opera houses all over the world—in Rome, Florence, Bologna, Madrid, Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Alexandria, Cairo, Havana, and New York City. One highlight of her tour was singing before King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, where she received 32 curtain calls. She was very beloved!
Evelyn Cheesman
Evelyn Cheesman was an entomologist—a scientist who studies insects—who went on solo-expeditions to discover new species of insects, reptiles, amphibians and plants.
- Ms. Cheesman started collecting species, designing displays, and even invited children in the community to collect as well, spreading her passion for entomology. Eventually, she built up a buzzing insect house.
- After her time as a curator, Ms. Cheesman started traveling, kicking off nearly twelve years of expeditions across the world to collect species of insects, reptiles, amphibians, and plants. She traveled on her own which was unheard of for a woman at that time.
- Evelyn Cheesman knew how to observe the world around her! Thanks to her, scientists are still identifying new species and making discoveries from the specimens she collected over 40+ years ago.
Four Female Pioneers of Aviation
Welcome to Brave Aviator Airlines, where stories take flight! In this episode we take off on an adventure through time to meet four pioneers of aviation: Bessie Coleman, Hazel Ying Lee, Maggie Gee and Mae Jemison.
- Bessie Coleman, also known as “Queen Bess” and “Brave Bessie,” paved the way for future generations to follow their flight dreams. Born in 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, she was the first Black woman and the first Native American to hold a pilot’s license.
- Though they never met, Hazel Ying Lee and Maggie Gee both followed their love of aviation to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during WWII. More than 25,000 women applied for WASP, and Ms. Gee and Ms. Lee were two of the 1,074 women who were accepted – successfully completing the difficult training at Avenger Field.
- Out of over 2,000 applicants, Mae Jemison was one of 15 people chosen to join the crew of NASA’s space shuttle Endeavor which blasted off September 12, 1992. Ms. Jemison brought a photo of Bessie Coleman with her on the shuttle where she was designated as a Science Mission Specialist, a new astronaut role being tested by NASA to focus on scientific experiments.
Ruth Asawa
Ruth Asawa is one of California’s most beloved sculptors and was an influential advocate for arts education.
- During WWII, Ruth Asawa spent eighteen months in the internment camps, where she attended and graduated from high school. She also continued to learn about drawing and painting from other artists who were living alongside her—including animators from Walt Disney Studios.
- Throughout her adult life, Ms. Asawa created a large body of work. Today, her art resides in very famous museums like the Guggenheim and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Some of her wire sculptures are on permanent display in San Francisco’s de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.
- Throughout her life, Ms. Asawa spoke to politicians and organizations about supporting arts programs in San Francisco. As part of this work, she contributed to the creation of a public arts high school that was eventually named the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts in her honor.
Maria Tallchief
Maria Tallchief became America’s first Prima Ballerina, and she did it without giving into the pressure of changing her last name or distancing herself from her heritage.
- She danced for George Balanchine, an extremely important figure in American ballet and founder of the New York City Ballet, and together they changed the world of ballet, putting American ballet on the map and popularizing many ballets that are cherished to this day.
- Ms. Tallchief was the highest paid ballerina of her time and she paved the way for dancers who didn’t seem to fit the mold or expectations of what a dancer should be.
- Ms. Tallchief always remembered her roots, remaining closely tied to her Osage history and speaking out against stereotypes and misconceptions about Native Americans.
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was a famous MGM Hollywood film actress, producer and, off screen, a brilliant inventor.
- Ms. Lamarr was known by the public as the “most beautiful woman in the world” and was adored for her performances on screen. But in between takes, she could be found in her trailer conducting scientific experiments.
- She befriended famous inventor and film producer, Howard Hughes, who was known, in part, for his legacy in aviation. He built planes and flew them at great speeds. Ms. Lamarr noticed that his wing design was slowing his planes down. She studied books on birds and fish to create a new design using nature as her guide. He called her “a genius” and readily adopted her new innovation for his aircraft.
- We can thank Ms. Lamarr’s frequency-hopping technology she developed in the 1940’s for making our modern communications—like cell phones, Bluetooth devices, GPS, and wi-fi networks—possible.
Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Rudolph was an Olympic Gold Medal winning track and field athlete and civil rights and woman rights pioneer.
- Wilma Rudolph’s childhood illnesses were so severe, she was told by doctors she would never walk again. But her family believed that she WOULD walk again. But with her family’s support and all of her determination, she was able to walk by the age of 12.
- When she was only 16 years old, she went to the 1956 Olympics and won her first medal—a bronze in an event called the 4X100 relay. She returned to the Olympics four years later to win three gold medals in track and field, and was named, “the fastest woman in the world.”
- Ms. Rudolph was one of the most visible Black women and athletes in America after her performance in the 1960s Olympics. She used that platform to inspire other athletes and make a difference.
Mary Golda Ross
Mary Ross was not only one of the first women to rise in the ranks of engineering, she was also one of the first Native Americans in the field.
- Ross was so ambitious and passionate, she completed high school at the young age of 16! She went on to get two college degrees in mathematics, a very significant accomplishment since women in 1928 were rarely even allowed to go to college.
- After she graduated, she taught for nine years before she was hired by Lockheed Martin, the aerospace company that specializes in making advance airplanes. Ross was hired during the height of World War II, and her first projects were focused on the P-38 Lightning, the first fighter plane to come close to breaking the sound barrier.
- She was one of the only female engineers of 40 employees selected to be part of a new top-secret division of Lockheed called Skunk Works. She used her talents to develop and design satellites that ultimately led to humans in space. She even worked on early designs for flyby missions to VENUS and MARS.
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