Susan Bromwell Anthony was born February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts, to a Hicksite Quaker family with long activist traditions... the second of seven children. Her activism began with abolitionism in the 1840s. She later opposed the 15th Amendment, which granted suffrage to African American men. Her frustration with the dominant male chauvinist culture of the 19th century United States moved her to adopt racist positions.
Florence Kelley, the first woman factory inspector in the United States, was born September 12, 1859 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to William Kelley and Caroline Bonsall. She led the struggle for the passage for labor and social legislation, including eight and ten-hour day and minimum wage legislation for women as part of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards.
Frances Perkins was secretary of labor for the 12 years of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency and the first woman to hold a Cabinet post. She helped forge the blueprint of legislation finally enacted as the Social Security Act.
Emily Greene Balch was a social worker, reformer, peace activist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize of 1946. She founded the Women’s International Committee for Permanent Peace, later known as the Women’s International League for Peace of Freedom (WILPF), and was better known for her involvement in activist movements for racial justice, women’s suffrage, child labor, working conditions, fair wages, and, in particular, the pursuance of peace.
Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree around 1797 in New York to Dutch slaveowners, the Hardenberghs. During her lifetime, she supported the cause of the Underground Railroad, she provided needed clothing, blankets, food, and recruited African American soldiers for the Union’s only Black regiment during the Civil War.
