One-hundred forty-four years ago today on May 10, 1872, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
Happy birthday, Alice Paul!
The best way to honor her legacy? Register to vote.
Happy birthday to Zora Neale Hurston!
When Hurston was born on January 7, 1891, African Americans, particularly African American women, faced restrictions and unfair treatment that limited their opportunities. But Hurston was too driven, intelligent and resourceful to be held back — she took the few opportunities she had, and made others appear when needed. Today she is acclaimed for books that include Their Eyes Were Watching God and Mules and Men; however, there are other aspects of her story that are less well-known, but just as interesting.
🎉 #HBD, Ellen Swallows Richards!
Not only did she co-found the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 1881, but Richards was also the first U.S. women to earn a chemistry degree when she graduated from Vassar College in 1870, a time when women were largely barred from higher education.…Kinda amazing, right?
Richards researched causes of water pollution, and her work resulted in the establishment of the first modern sewage treatment plant. She’s also credited with creating the field of home economics.
A graduate of Vassar College, Richards went on to teach chemistry at MIT, where she established its Woman’s Laboratory in 1876. Knowing firsthand the barriers facing women in science, her women-only lab provided much-needed opportunities for women to study and gain entry into science.
Read Richards’ full, totally badass story.
Read about other amazing, historic women in STEM.
🎂🎉 Happy Birthday to Us!🎉🎂
On November 28, 1881, Marion Talbot, then a recent graduate from Boston University, and Ellen Swallow Richards, the first woman professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, invited 15 alumnae from eight colleges to a meeting in Boston.
Discouraged by the lack of opportunities available to them, the women discussed how they would join together to help other women attend college and to assist those who had already graduated. And that’s how AAUW was born! 💪
We’re thankful for the women who founded AAUW and helped start a movement for gender equity. Here’s to another 134 years of empowering women and girls!
Great Scott! It's #BacktotheFutureDay, and women are still paid less than men!
When you account for all factors known to affect pay, women are still paid about 7 percent less than men just one year after graduating college — and the gap only grows from there, costing the average woman about $400,000 over the course of her career.