March is Women’s History Month and I want to use this as a chance to recognize some of the greatest women in history.
The first woman lawyer in history is one of my biggest inspirations. Arabella Mansfield was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1896. When Mansfield took the bar exam, it was restricted to only men. However, she earned incredibly high scores that could not be ignored.
Mansfield spent her entire life advocating for women to be equal in all aspects, she was a huge part of the 19th century movement to give women the right to vote. She is how I model my own character and I look up to how she held herself through every hardship. If Mansfield was still alive, I am certain she would still be fighting.
Marie Curie was a French physicist who discovered radium and polonium. She was also the first woman to win a Nobel prize, the first person to win two Nobel prizes, and the only person to win them in two separate fields. Curie’s ashes were enshrined in the Pantheon in Paris in 1955, she was the first woman to receive that honor.
Curie’s research helped cancer patients and opened hospitals for them. Her studies did cost her her life and her body remains radioactive to this day. As one of the very first women in STEM, Curie inspired entire generations of women to join the field because she proved that hard work will pay off in the end, even when societal norms do not encourage women to further their education in the scientific field.
Kamala Harris is the first female Vice President of the United States. Running with President Joe Biden, she did give up her own presidential race. Harris is also the first African American and Asian American Vice President. While Harris has seen controversy with her policies, she is holding Biden accountable for his actions in office. As we saw during the debates, they fundamentally disagree, but that is important in a public office because it does keep a check on their power. Harris is an accomplished woman, she has spent the majority of her life in public service and held numerous political positions. She is breaking barriers for women in politics and will give more women the chance to break the glass ceiling.
Abigail Adams, wife of the second president, wrote “remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
Adams is an early example of women fighting for their voices to be heard. We have been fighting since the 1700s and the fight is still going. Many milestones have occurred, but inequality still persists.
In 1917, Loretta Walsh became the first woman to be enlisted in the military. Since then, many women have made outstanding accomplishments in our armed forces, but that is often shadowed by the violence and sexism still experience in the military. Vanessa Gullien was a 20 year old in the Army who was murdered by a fellow soldier. Her remains were found in June when her death occured in April. This was because her death was brushed off and she was considered “missing”, with many theories that she fled because life in the military was too hard.
While women have reached many milestones, there is still a long way to go. If we remember and honor the women who have done incredible things for society, that is one step closer to realizing their dreams of equality.
