The Women Who Came Before Us

by the National Women’s Law Center Staff

March is Women’s History Month. To celebrate, the staff here at the National Women’s Law Center have been thinking about a few of the women who inspired us to become the people we are today.

Almost 110 years ago, Susan B. Anthony sent a letter asking for support for the cause of women’s suffrage. She wrote, “With these dollars, we can push the work still further ‘till all women inside the home, as well as outside, shall be free to do as their consciences dictate, rather than as custom demands.” Her tenacity, and those words, have inspired me for many years. — Marcia Greenberger, NWLC Co-President

Hands down, no one inspires me like Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, who made a run for President in 1972. She energized and galvanized people who felt completely left out of the political process. How can you not adore a woman who titled her autobiography Unbought and Unbossed? — Jill Morrison, NWLC Senior Counsel

Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) believed that everyone (including women) should be in control of their own bodies. Her column, started in 1912, entitled “What Every Girl Should Know”; her establishment of the first birth control clinic in the country in 1916; and her establishment of the America Birth Control League (later renamed Planned Parenthood) gave women the power to be whoever they wanted to be. Although we still question some of her positions, such as her support for eugenics (even though she claimed this support was intended to counter a popular view that only rich women would use birth control), her bravery and tenacity started a revolution that echoes today for each and every one of us. — Judy Waxman, NWLC Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights

At a time when female journalists were rare, Helen Thomas broke ground in journalism and showed that women too can ask the tough questions. Thomas served as a White House bureau chief for United Press International for 57 years and became the first woman officer for the National Press Club. She was famous for asking at times “too many questions,” and she never backed down for anyone, not even the President of the United States. — Mary Robbins, NWLC Program Assistant

My Rabbi, Rabbi Sally Priesand, inspires me. As America’s first ordained female rabbi, she paved the way for hundreds of women in Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist Judaism to join the rabbinate. After growing up with Rabbi Sally, my younger sister once asked me, “Can men become Rabbis too?” — Melanie Ross Levin, NWLC Outreach Manager

I am inspired by Madalyn Murray O’Hair. She was a fierce defender of the First Amendment, a founding member of the modern atheist movement, and the winner of a landmark Supreme Court case which prevented public schools from forcing students to participate in Bible readings. She was a critic, a dissenter, a rebel, and a heretic, and she spoke out against religious tyranny at great personal cost to herself. She made the world a slightly more tolerant place for me to live in, and she inspires me to stand up for my convictions in the face of overwhelming opprobrium. — Kristina Gupta, NWLC Policy Fellow

Maude Callen was just one African-American woman, but she served as an entire health care system for generations of families living in extreme poverty. For nearly half a century Callen worked as a nurse-midwife in the rural pre-Civil Rights-era South, where she provided essential health and social services to the most vulnerable Americans despite the marginalizing forces of racism and sexism that worked against her. When W. Eugene Smith created a photo essay on Maude Callen for Life magazine in 1951, he described her as “a remarkable woman doing a remarkable job in an impossible situation.” As a health care advocate, I am truly inspired by this remarkable woman, who dedicated her entire life to improving the health of women and their families. — Brigette Courtot, NWLC Policy Analyst

For me, Marion Wright Edelman portrays what it means to follow compassion and justice toward your true vocation. Her passions for service, activism, and the rights of children makes her more than just the President and Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, more than the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, and more than the recipient of numerous awards and honors; Marion Wright Edelman is above all a sincere humanitarian. She inspires me to continually seek to serve as a requirement for living. — Princess Bethea, NWLC Program Assistant

I'm in a nostalgic mood so my Women's History Month shout outs start with the daily bread while I was a child... First: my mom, Cheryl Ann Oxendine. She was the Goddess in my world. She headed off to work in her snappy pink and gray plaid wool suit and I was very proud, and convinced that she was headed out to rule the world. Second: Marlo Thomas. Every day was a good day to be Free to Be You and Me! Very powerful preschool propaganda! A tie for third between Gloria Steinem and Susan B. Anthony. Whatever wave, they were rock stars. They fought for women and won. (I thought this was a great combination.) And then I left home and went to NYC, and along came bell hooks. She grabbed my Sophomore soul and threw me right into the thick of it. We're all indicted. What are we going to do about it? And things have never been the same. — Nicole Oxendine, NWLC Outreach Director

I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know much about Alice Paul until four years ago. That’s when I saw the movie Iron-Jawed Angels, about the successful crusade of the National Woman’s Party to pass a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. Hearing Paul’s story played a substantial role in my own decision to pursue a career in social advocacy — since unfortunately, we still have a lot of work to do to gain full equality. — Robin Reed, NWLC Online Outreach Manager

When I think about strong, inspirational women, one woman in particular comes to mind: my chachi (grand aunt), Begum Asghari Rahim. I have read and heard stories of her activism for women’s rights in a new Pakistan (Pakistan was founded in 1947). She led rallies in the early 1950s and helped create a platform for a women’s movement in Pakistan. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with my chachi before her passing and experience her energy and absolute zeal toward women’s rights. To this day, the stories are abundant and memories adoring. I hope her strength, will, and passion survive generations to come. — Dina Morad, NWLC Outreach Manager

Daring to lead is a dangerous task. While many women throughout history have contributed greatly to the development of societies, kingdoms, and governments, few have reached the top. Of these few, we find one of the most powerful in ancient Egypt: Hatshepsut, who ruled as one of the first female pharaohs during Egypt's 18th dynasty. Though her fate after 20 years of rule is unknown, women continue to preserve her memory through their own daring assertions for change. — Megan Tackney, NWLC Program Assistant

Last year, I had the honor of clerking for Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, a truly inspirational woman whose trailblazing career and ongoing efforts have opened doors for women in the legal profession. In addition to her career full of “firsts” — the first female prosecutor in Tennessee, the first female tenure-track professor at Vanderbilt Law School, and the first woman to serve as a state court judge in Tennessee — Judge Daughtrey has been actively involved in promoting women and minorities in the judiciary and in the legal profession generally. During my clerkship, Judge Daughtrey taught me a great deal about the legal process, and I feel extremely privileged to have started my law career under her tutelage. — Jen Swedish, NWLC Law Fellow

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