The Greatest Women in History?

dolores haze · Mar 5, 2008

I'm making 20-30 posters for Women's History Month. It's for the residential school my husband works at. The posters consist of a picture, a brief bio, and a great, inspirational quote. The school then sponsors an essay contest in which the students write a personal essay on one of the people in the posters. The kids at the school are mostly black and hispanic - it's very important that women of color are well represented. I read and judge the essays.

I'd like to have many different time periods and cultures represented. Politicians, scientists, writers, warriors - not just queens and/or symbols. Any great quotes you know of would be appreciated, too!

So - who do you think are the greatest women in history? Thanks so much for your help.

girlyswot · Mar 5, 2008

Benazir Bhutto
Marie Curie
Eleanor of Aquitaine
George Eliot
Elizabeth I
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Hope that helps. If I have any more ideas I'll let you know.

III · Mar 5, 2008

Harriet Tubman
Corrie ten Boom
Esther

Sarita · Mar 5, 2008

Amelia Earhart

Perks · Mar 5, 2008

Helen Keller
Eleanor Roosevelt
Emily Dickinson
Jane Austen

DWSTXS · Mar 5, 2008

Amelia Earhart
Hilary Clinton (seriously, as the first female presidential candidate)

Zelenka · Mar 5, 2008

My favourite - Hildegard of Bingen

Claudia Gray · Mar 5, 2008

A few names that might be interesting for the kids:

Sojourner Truth
Hatshepsut
Joan of Arc
Frida Kahlo
Queen Isabella of Aragon
Jane Goodall

Sarita · Mar 5, 2008

OH! Hatshepsut is a great one! Good thinking, Claudia

Little Red Barn · Mar 5, 2008

Anne Frank
Sally Ride
Oprah Winfrey
Mother Theresa
Cleopatra

DeleyanLee · Mar 5, 2008

Aspasia
Hypatia (last librarian at the famed Library of Alexandria)
Martha Washington
Maya Angelou

paprikapink · Mar 5, 2008

DWSTXS said:
Amelia Earhart
Hilary Clinton (seriously, as the first female presidential candidate)

(Two ells in Hillary) Wasn't Shirley Chisolm the first woman to run for president?

aliajohnson · Mar 5, 2008

Some other possibilities--

Sacajawea
Boudicca
Susan B Anthony

Zelenka · Mar 5, 2008

Oh, no one's mentioned Florence Nightingale yet have they? If not, then her.

Haggis · Mar 5, 2008

Queen Elizabeth I

C.bronco · Mar 5, 2008

Gwendolyn Brooks

Margaret Thatcher
Ella Grasso

tallus83 · Mar 5, 2008

Bessie Coleman.

donroc · Mar 5, 2008

La Belle Otero -- I read somewhere that as a courtesan she made 25 million 19th century dollars and spent them all.

C.bronco · Mar 5, 2008

cool link to women in warfare: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Women_in_Medieval_warfare

Autodidact · Mar 5, 2008

Zora Neale Hurston
Corazon Aquino
Phyllis Wheatley
Babe Dedrickson
Wilma Rudolph
Golda Meir
Joan of Arc

oneblindmouse · Mar 5, 2008

Caroline Norton, Mary Wollstonecraft, Annie Besant, Isabelle Pankhurst, to name but a few.

oneblindmouse · Mar 5, 2008

Federica Montseny (Spanish anarchist, Minister of Health before the Civil War)

DWSTXS · Mar 5, 2008

paprikapink said:
(Two ells in Hillary) Wasn't Shirley Chisolm the first woman to run for president?

You are correct Paprika -
Shirley Chisolm was the first.
In 1968, she became the first African American woman elected to Congress. On January 23, 1972, she became the first major party African American candidate for President of the United States. She won 152 delegates.[2], [3] Other women who ran for President of the United States in 1972 include Linda Jenness and Evelyn Reed.

I didn't realize that any women had actually run, and Hillary is the 4th woman to give it a go.

Oh well, you live long enough and pay attention, you'll eventually learn something.

DWSTXS · Mar 5, 2008

Okay. I'd like to formally withdraw my HiLLary nomination, based on my incomplete knowledge of women in political history.

I'll stick with Amelia Earhart and I'll slot in Cleopatra into Hillary's vacant spot.

Oh, and Janis Joplin

mscelina · Mar 5, 2008

Anne Boleyn--takes one hell of a gal to completely change the course of a country

Elizabeth I--ditto. apple doesn't fall far from the tree

Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte--making it in a man's profession

Madame Curie--brilliant and brave; where would we be without her?

Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) a 16 year old military leader? in medieval France? are you serious?

The Greatest Women in History?

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