Became a symbol of the civil rights movement Parks is best known for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus in segregated Alabama. Prior to this moment, Parks worked as a seamstress while joining her local chapter of the NAACP. On December 1, 1955, Parks became the face of the modern civil …
Dedicated her life to fighting for women’s suffrage. Suffragist Anthony dedicated her life’s work to getting women the right to vote. After spending 15 years as a teacher, she joined the abolishment movement and temperance rallies. She wasn’t allowed to speak at the rallies because of her gender, so she ultimately joined the women’s rights …
The first woman to complete the Boston Marathon as a registered runner. In 1967, Kathy Switzer became the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon as a registered runner. The year prior, another woman finished the race, but she ran without an official number. So Switzer became determined to enter and complete the Boston Marathon, …
The first African American female pilot Despite facing poverty and discrimination, Bessie Coleman became the first African American female pilot. After hearing the exciting stories from pilots returning from World War I, Coleman decided she was going to learn to fly. It was nearly impossible for a woman to earn her pilot’s license in the …
The first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She paved the way for women in business as the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. After her husband died in 1963, Graham took over as president of the Washington Post Company and ultimately led the newspaper to success. Because of Graham’s courage and …
The first female self-made millionaire in the United States. Madam C.J. Walker created her own line of hair-care products in 1905, which led to her becoming the first female self-made millionaire in the United States. Her business started after she invented a treatment for her own hair loss, and she began selling it as the …
