March marks Women's History Month, an annual observance to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It’s also celebrated this month in Germany and Australia, corresponding with International Women's Day on March 8.
In celebration of Women's History Month, we present an alphabetical listing of just a dozen of the many thousands of American women who have broken glass ceilings, and worked to make life better in the United States.
Susan B. Anthony (Feb. 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906):
Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformer and women's rights activist, who played a crucial role in the women's suffrage movement. She is best known for her efforts to secure women's right to vote and for co-founding the National Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
One hundred years after her birth, a bill was introduced in Congress, which was later ratified as the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote.
Clara Barton (Dec. 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912):
Clara Barton was an American nurse and humanitarian, known for her work as a hospital nurse during the American Civil War working for the Union Army.
But she’s primarily known for her efforts in disaster relief and as the founder of the American Red Cross.
Amelia Earhart (July 24, 1897 – July 2, 1937?):
Amelia Earhart received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for her accomplishments, including for being the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
In her attempt to fly around the globe, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared in 1937 over the central Pacific Ocean.
Helen Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968):
Helen Keller was an author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. When she was 19 months old a disease left her both deaf and blind. With the help of Anne Sullivan, Keller began to communicate with the world.
In 1904, she graduated from Radcliffe College. Keller's work broadened public understanding of disability and made her one of the most famous women in the United States.
Jeane Kirkpatrick (Nov. 19, 1926 – Dec. 7, 2006):
Kirkpatrick gained national attention with her 1979 article "Dictatorships and Double Standards," published in Commentary magazine. In it she criticized the Carter administration's foreign policy for pressuring friendly authoritarian regimes while being softer on communist dictatorships.
President Ronald Reagan appointed her as his Ambassador to the United Nations despite the fact that she was a Democrat, for her tough, uncompromising anti-communist stance. That appointment made her the first woman to hold that position.
She would later join the Republican Party.
Sandra Day O’Connor (March 26, 1930 – Dec. 1, 2023):
O’Connor made history as the first woman to serve as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, a position she held until her retirement on Jan. 31, 2006. Like Kirkpatrick, shew was a Reagan appointee.
Despite stellar credentials from Stanford Law School, she found it difficult as a woman to find a position in a private law firm, so she worked as a civilian attorney for the U.S. Army in Germany. Entering politics later as a Republican, she served in the Arizona State Senate and became the first woman to serve as Majority Leader of a state senate. She later became a judge on the Maricopa County Superior Court and then the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Rosa Parks (Feb. 4, 1913 – Oct. 24, 2005):
Parks was an American civil rights activist widely regarded as the "mother of the modern civil rights movement."
She’s best known for her refusal to give up her seat in the "colored section" of a city bus to a white passenger. Under Jim Crow laws at the time, Black passengers were required to sit in the back or yield seats in the middle section if the "white" section filled up. Her arrest for violating segregation ordinances sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott — a 381-day mass protest led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. that ultimately led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation unconstitutional.
Parks received numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1996) and the Congressional Gold Medal (1999).
Sally Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012):
Sally Ride was a physicist, astronaut, and educator who became the first American woman to travel in space. Her historic flight aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger as a mission specialist during the six-day mission in 1983, inspired other young women to pursue careers in science and engineering.
In 1978, she responded to a NASA ad seeking scientists for the Space Shuttle program and was selected as one of the first six female astronauts. After rigorous training, she became the first American woman assigned to a spaceflight.
She flew a second mission on Challenger in October 1984, again as a mission specialist, logging over 14-days in space total.
Phyllis Schlafly (Aug. 15, 1924 – Sept. 5, 2016):
Schlafly was a prominent conservative activist, attorney, author, and political activist. She became one of the most influential figures in modern U.S. conservatism, especially for her successful grassroots campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.
Schlafly argued it would eliminate protections for women (like military draft exemptions, alimony preferences, and Social Security benefits for dependent wives) and force unwanted changes. The ERA fell short of the required state ratifications by 1982, largely due to her efforts.
Schlafly founded the Eagle Forum in 1972, a conservative organization focused on "pro-family" issues. She opposed feminism, abortion, gay rights, and comprehensive sex education, arguing for traditional gender roles and "family values."
Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896):
Stowe was an author, abolitionist, and one of the most influential writers of the 19th century. She's best known for her groundbreaking anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852), which dramatically shaped public opinion against slavery in the United States and contributed to the momentum leading up to the Civil War.
Legend has it that when Abraham Lincoln met her, he remarked "so you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." Whether the story is true or not, there’s no doubt that Stowe and her novel had an impact.
Sojourner Truth (c. 1797 – Nov. 26, 1883):
Born Isabella Baumfree, Truth was an abolitionist, women's rights activist, evangelist, and orator. Born into slavery in rural New York state, she escaped to freedom, became a powerful voice against slavery and for sex equality. She's best remembered for her iconic "Ain't I a Woman?" speech that highlighted the intersection of race and sex oppression.
Harriet Tubman (c. March 1822 – March 10, 1913):
Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was an abolitionist, political activist, and humanitarian. She became one of the most famous "conductors" on the Underground Railroad, making about 13 rescue missions to lead approximately 70 slaves to freedom in the North and Canada.
During the Civil War, she served as a nurse, scout, spy, and the first woman to lead an armed military raid in U.S. history — an assault that would rescue 750 slaves.
Tubman became active in the suffrage movement in her later years despite poor health.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read more Michael Dorstewitz Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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