Movers & Shakers
Greta Thunberg launched her campaign for urgent action on the climate crisis by protesting outside this country's parliament building
Sweden
(Greta's strike inspired the "Fridays for Future" movement, which mobilized millions of young people to advocate for climate action.)
In 1975, Junko Tabei became the first woman to summit this infamous mountain
Mount Everest
(Junko was also the first woman to complete the Seven Summits. She accomplished this in 1992 at age 53.)
This musician, artist, and activist launched Artists Against Fracking with her son, Sean Lennon, in 2012
Yoko Ono
(Yoko's artwork has graced the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Modern in London.)
Anne Frank was this age when she began writing her diary
Age 13
(Anne received the diary on her thirteenth birthday and began writing in it that same day. In her first entry, she wrote, “I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.")
This renowned gymnast sparked important conversations about mental health when she withdrew from the team competition at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo
Simone Biles
(Simone is the most decorated gymnast in history, with a total of 41 medals from World Championships and Olympic Games.)
This autobiography by Malala Yousafzai recounts her life in Pakistan, her advocacy for girls’ education, and the Taliban attack she survived
I Am Malala
(Malala became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to her in 2014 when she was 17)
In 2009, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for this war drama
The Hurt Locker
(As of now, only two other have won the Oscar for Best Director: Chloé Zhao and Jane Campion.)
This singer, known as The First Lady of Song, was the first woman to woman to win a Grammy Award
Ella Fitzgerald
(Ella won 14 Grammy Awards over her lifetime. She also received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement and the National Medal of Arts.)
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is the first of seven autobiographical works written by this author
Maya Angelou
(Maya was not only a writer: she was also an activist, singer, dancer, actor, playwright, director, composer. She became the first Black woman to have a screenplay produced in Hollywood.)
Kathrine Switzer made history in 1967 by being the first woman to complete this iconic race
The Boston Marathon
(Kathrine registered as ‘K. V. Switzer’. After the race began, the race director realized Switzer was a woman and attempted to forcibly remove her. Photos of this “Boston Incident” ignited the women’s running revolution.)
In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat on a public bus in this Alabama city, triggering a bus boycott that helped ignite the civil rights movement
Montgomery
(Rosa was a longtime civil rights organizer before her 1955 arrest, not just a spontaneous protester. She joined the Montgomery NAACP in 1943 and served as its secretary until 1956.)
Alaska P. Davidson became the FBI's first female Special Agent in this decade
The 1920s
(Alaska served for two years before being asked to resign by newly-appointed Director J. Edgar Hoover. Women did not rejoin the FBI until 1972.)
It is often said that this famous dancer did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels
Ginger Rogers
(Though best known for her dancing, Ginger preferred dramatic acting. In 1940 she won an Academy Award for her leading role in Kitty Foyle.)
This author is the biggest selling fiction-writer of all time, selling an estimated 2 billion copies in 44 languages
Agatha Christie
(No stranger to mystery: Agatha disappeared for 11 days in 1926. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle consulted a medium to try to solve her disappearance, providing her with one of Christie’s gloves.)
This tennis star beat Bobby Riggs in the much-publicized “Battle of the Sexes” match
Billie Jean King
(In addition to being a tennis star, Billie Jean became a leading advocate for gay rights after coming out in 1981: a decision that cost her all of her endorsement contracts.)
In 2019, New York City announced that these two LGBTQ+ activists would be honored in the first NYC monument dedicated to transgender women
(Note: We will accept either name.)
Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera
(Marsha and Sylvia were central figures in the Stonewall uprising. In its aftermath, they co‑founded an organization to provide housing and support for transgender and gender‑nonconforming youth.)
Dr. Mae Jemison boarded this space shuttle in 1992, becoming the first Black woman to go to space
Endeavour
(Mae served as a mission specialist and logged over 190 hours in space, orbiting the Earth 127 times)
This famous artist once said, "They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality".
Frida Kahlo
(Frida was a central figure in the Neomexicanismo Art Movement in Mexico. She created 143 paintings during her career, including 55 self-portraits)
This author is widely regarded as the “mother of science fiction” for pioneering the integration of contemporary scientific ideas into imaginative storytelling
Mary Shelley
(Mary started Frankenstein when she was 18. The themes of creation, life, and death in the novel were influenced, in part, by the loss of her mother shortly after birth.)
Nicola Adams became the first female athlete to win Olympic gold for this event in 2012, after it became an official Olympic sport
Boxing
(The inclusion of women’s boxing in the Olympics followed decades of progress in the sport. Women had participated in amateur boxing since 1988, and the first women’s world amateur championships were held in 2001.)
This labor activist helped found the United Farm Workers and advocated for better wages and conditions for farmworkers
Dolores Huerta
(Dolores coined the slogan “Sí, se puede,” which later became a rallying cry for social justice movements.)
In 1849, this aspiring physician became the first woman to graduate from medical school
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
(Geneva Medical College asked its students to vote on Elizabeth's admission. They approved it, believing her application to be a joke. Elizabeth ultimately graduated first in her class.)
Beyoncé has won this many Grammys to date
35
(Beyoncé has received 99 Grammy nominations. She broke the record for most Grammy Awards won by an artist with 32 wins in 2023 and has since added three more.)
This writer and activist wrote The Cancer Journals about her struggle to overcome breast cancer
Audre Lorde
(Audre was central to second-wave feminism, civil rights and Black cultural movements, and struggles for LGBTQ equality.)
Sports Illustrated for Women named this track and field star "The Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century"
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
(Jackie competed in the long jump and the heptathlon: a seven-event competition. By the conclusion of her career she has won six Olympic medals and four World Champion titles.)