Juana Galan

The cast-iron skillet is a popular weapon in cartoons and humorous stories (hello there, Rapunzel), but legend has it the old frying pan was the weapon of choice for guerrilla fighter Juana Galan. Whether Juana actually used a skillet to bludgeon heads is uncertain, but she did do the important job of defending her town and her people during the Peninsula War. When Napoleon’s French troops tried to come through her village of Valdepenas, there weren’t enough men to defend the town, so Juana, widely regarded as the most informed woman in the village, gathered together the women to help out. Under her direction, they poured boiling oil and water onto the invading soldiers and fought for their town, despite being largely unarmed against trained soldiers with rifles. The French soldiers were deterred and left not only Valdepenas but the entire region, considering the feisty townspeople too much trouble to deal with. Juana Galan was only twenty years old at the time and as a woman had no military or leadership experience, but she had plenty of guts and bravery, and she knew how to take charge of a situation and compel others to act. Her quick thinking and courage saved her village and the lives of those within, one small battle won by a young girl against the army of a leader as powerful as Napoleon.

Today, be inspired to…Be a leader. If you have those leadership skills, don’t be afraid to use them because you think it isn’t your place or you’re afraid people won’t like you. You can’t always get where you need to go by following others. And apply frying pan as needed.

Photo credit: ellisjones.com.au

Mary Somerville

Mary Somerville was a female scientist and mathematician long before women were supposed to be interested in math and science. She wasn’t intentionally highly educated by her parents because she was a girl, but she found she had a talent for mathematics and studied geometry in secret after her parents forbade her to do so. As an adult, Mary was commissioned to translate the algebra of the Mecanique Celeste into a more easily understood form and wrote several books herself on scientific subjects, including On the Connexion of Physical Science and Physical Geography. She was admired for both her excellent and understandable writing style and her keen observations and hypotheses about astronomy and mathematics, and her work led the discoveries of many other scientists. Mary was the co-first woman (along with Caroline Herschel) to be admitted to the Royal Astronomical Society, and she was awarded the Victoria Medal by the Royal Geographical Society for her work. As an intelligent woman who had experienced the gender discrimination of education from her own parents, Mary was also a supporter of women’s rights and supported the women’s suffrage movement in England though the vote was still some distance away for women. Mary Somerville was a brilliant and talented mathematician, scientist, and writer who earned the respect of her peers and contemporaries and proved just how intelligent and thoughtful a woman could be when given a chance. And they say girls aren’t good at math.

Today, be inspired to…Support math and science education for girls. That stereotype of boys being better at math than girls needs to end.

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Ella Baker

Ella Baker was a long-time Civil Rights activist who worked with Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and Marshall Thurgood and was instrumental in the organizational efforts of the movement. Always opinionated even from a young age, Ella soon became politically involved, first by joining the Young Negroes’ Cooperative League, of which she became national director. She also taught consumer education and history for the Workers’ Education Project and founded the Negro History Club at the Harlem Library. She was an active protester against any offense, such as the Italian invasion of Ethiopia and apartheid in South Africa, and a defender of all who were wrongly accused, like the boys from Scottsboro. Ella did work for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was involved with every major organization, influential leader, and important event—from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to freedom rides to every conference existing during the Civil Rights Era, Ella was there. She encouraged voter registration, promoted participatory democracy, denounced police violence, preached acceptance instead of exclusion, and cooperated with others to achieve the mutual goal of racial equality and harmony. She supported the participation of women and young people, education as a way to end hate, and individuality and personal choice instead of masses following one charismatic leader. Ella Baker was a woman who shunned the spotlight, preferring to work quietly but whole-heartedly, but she was the fulcrum the Civil Rights Movement revolved around and the driving force that kept organizations like SNCC and the NAACP going strong. The Civil Rights Movement owes a great deal to Ella for working so hard to make the world a more accepting and harmonious place.

Today, be inspired to…Don’t think work behind the scenes doesn’t count as much. Sometimes the people you don’t see are the ones that work the hardest and make the most difference.

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Julia Ward Howe

Well-education as a child partly through parental indulgence and partly through luck, Julia Ward Howe was a well-read and intelligent woman whose early taste of learning would propel her toward many social activism and literary endeavors. Bored during the early years of her marriage, Julia attended lectures, learned new languages, and took up writing. Her writing often discussed the particular troubles and worries of women, and she began to become more interested in women’s issues like suffrage and legal rights. She became politically active and helped found the New England Women’s Club and the New England Woman Suffrage Association. She presided over both groups at different times and was also president of the American Woman Suffrage Association. Julia worked with several different organizations throughout her life and traveled to give lectures in many places. She also wrote the weekly magazine Woman’s Journal to promote feminist views and continued to write and publish works on various subjects related to women and their needs and rights. The work Julia did started even before the 1900s began and continued after the turn of the century until her death in 1910. All of the campaigning, writing, and organizing she did laid the ground work for the women’s suffrage movement in America—Julia didn’t jump onto the bandwagon, she got behind it and started pushing. The suffrage women would receive ten years later was a result of the hard work and dedication given by feminist and leader Julia Ward Howe.

Today, be inspired to…Don’t let boredom get you down—get out and do something.

Photo credit: juliawardhowe.org

Gail Laughlin

Gail Laughlin was a highly educated, compassionate woman who advocated for the rights of workers, women, and traditionally disadvantaged people. Inspired by her own mother’s struggle to provide for her family as a widowed woman, Gail was careful to obtain a good education and ambitious when it came to building a career. By the time she was thirty she had her own law office, and soon she was appointed to the US Industrial Commission investigating the working conditions of domestic workers, immigrants, and those who lived in rural areas. Gail was also a feminist, using her political position and connections to lobby for the right of women to serve on juries and the ever important right to vote. She was part of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women and was a leading member of the National Women’s Party. She participated in campaigns like a motorcade to support the Equal Rights Amendment because she felt women shouldn’t settle for simply achieving the basic right to vote and should continue to push for equality and fair treatment. When she became a Congresswoman and Senator, she continued to champion women’s rights causes, succeeding in raising the legal age for girls to marry from thirteen to sixteen and preventing husbands from sending their wives to mental institutions without compelling medical proof. Gail Laughlin devoted her career, both as a professional woman and a politician, to helping women gain and defend their rights and to establishing more equal footing for women in America.

Today, be inspired to…Don’t settle too soon.

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Sandra Day O’Connor

Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Sandra’s career didn’t start out as stellar as it ended—she had trouble finding a job as a female lawyer in the fifties, but she didn’t give up. In the sixties, she became the Assistant Attorney General of Arizona before going on to hold a position on the Arizona State Senate. She continued to move up and became the first woman to serve as Majority Leader in the Arizona senate. By the seventies she was serving as a judge on first the Maricopa County Superior Court, then the Arizona State Court of Appeals. The woman who once had trouble finding a position in her chosen career was now climbing the ladder in great leaps. But of course her highest career moment happened when President Ronald Reagan appointed her an Associate Supreme Court Justice in 1981. She had a long and notable career as a justice, with plenty of controversy surrounding her decisions and unswaying beliefs. After her retirement in 2006, Sandra continues to be politically vocal, though much of her time until recently was devoted to caring for her sick husband. She is the founder of the Arizona Women Lawyers Association and the National Association of Women Judges and worked during her career to end gender discrimination in the law field. Sandra has also been a vocal advocate for Alzheimer research, the condition her husband suffered from, and brought much attention to the disease and its treatments. Sandra Day O’Connor broke down yet another barrier for women when she became the first female Supreme Court Justice, and she supported other women seeking to enter the profession after remembering the discrimination she had faced early in her career. She also had that key characteristic vital to a judge—the ability to stick to one’s guns no matter the criticism or adversity, something we could all probably do with a little more of.

Today, be inspired to…Stick to your guns. You may not agree with Sandra’s political views personally, but her ability to hold fast to what she believed is respectable and worth imitating.

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Sally Ride

Sally Ride was an American astronaut and the first American woman in space. After studying physics in college and grad school, Sally was one of 8,000 people to apply to be part of the space program, and she became part of NASA in 1978. She worked as a ground-based capsule communicator for two different shuttle flights and was part of the team that engineered a robotic arm for the space shuttle. In 1983, Sally launched into the air aboard the Challenger and became the first American woman to make it into space. As part of the mission, her flight crew conducted pharmaceutical experiments and launched two communication satellites into orbit. While in space Sally operated the robotic arm she had helped construct for the first time and became the first person to retrieve a satellite. Sally made a second trip on the Challenger the next year, but the explosion of the space shuttle shifted her attention from launching back into space for a third trip. She was put in charge of investigating the accident, then went on to lead the first strategic planning efforts for NASA. She also founded NASA’s Office of Exploration, and later, after her official time with NASA was over, led the outreach programs ISS EarthKAM and GRAIL MoonKAM to encourage students to take an interest in astronomy. To encourage more girls to take an interest in science, she started the Sally Ride Science company and wrote seven books intended to spark an interest in science for children. Sally was subjected to a lot of criticism and speculation when she became a female astronaut, but she was entirely uninterested in the drama that surrounded her—she simply did the job she loved and let her excellent work prove all the critics wrong. By becoming the first American woman in space, Sally Ride proved to girls everywhere that they can do anything they can dream of, and she continued to support that idea through her programs and encouragement for girls long after her days as an astronaut were over.

Today, be inspired to…Have no limits on your dreams, not even the sky.

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LaDonna Harris

LaDonna Harris is the founder of Americans for Indian Opportunity and an advocate for the rights and fair treatment of native Americans peoples like her own people the Comanche. Over the years, LaDonna has worked to defend the rights of tribal people, helped to have the Taos Blue Lake returned to the people living in the Taos Pueblo and assisted the Menominee Tribe in gaining federal recognition. To make her work possible, she founded Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity way back in 1960 to join together people who wanted to promote and protect native cultures, defend the property rights of tribal groups, and address the social and economic problems faced by Indians in America. LaDonna was president of the AIO, worked on several Presidential Commissions, and has been part of several advisory boards. She was instrumental in the founding of the National Indian Housing Council, the National Tribal Environmental Council, and the National Indian Business Association. In addition to her advocacy for tribal rights, LaDonna has also supported several others causes and issues that are meaningful to her. She supports the National Organization for Women, the Girl Scouts, the Save the Children Federation, and many other feminist, human rights, and environmental groups and organizations. LaDonna Harris has been one of the most outspoken and successful champions of the rights of the native tribe members in the United States, helping them to find respect and consideration from the government and the nation as a whole.

Today, be inspired to…Demand the respect you deserve. Demand it with courtesy, dignity, and returned respect, but insist upon it just the same.

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Graca Machel

Graca Machel is known as the widow of former South African president Nelson Mandela and as a humanitarian and political activist in her own right. Much of her work has centered around children and their education and well-being in war-torn areas. Early in her life, Graca was the Minister for Education and Culture in Mozambique for ten years and worked for the United Nations reporting on the impact armed conflict had on children. Her other work with children includes being chairman of the National Organization of Children in Mozambique, helping to find homes for orphaned children, and acting as a delegate for UNICEF. She has supported education through the School of Oriental and African Studies and the World Conference on Education for All. Graca currently serves as the chair of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa and is a member of The Elders, a group of world leaders that her husband was also a part of. Together The Elders try to combine their wisdom and experience to solve some of the world’s greatest problems. Graca’s particular topic of interest in the group is child marriage, and she founded Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage as a part of her work. In addition to The Elders, she also is privileged to be one of the ten members of the African Progress Panel and to contribute to its African Progress Report. For her humanitarian efforts, Graca has been awarded the Nansen Refugee Award, the InterAction humanitarian award, and the North-South Prize. At sixty-eight years old, Graca Machel has already put in a lifetime of humanitarian work, but she isn’t slowing down any time soon. She works to help children affected by war, promote healthy relationships between Africa and the rest of the world, and to make the continent of Africa a better and more vibrant place, and it’s unlikely that she’ll stop until she’s done.

Today, be inspired to…Don’t stop until you’re done. Even though you want to collapse at lunchtime. Or is it just me that does that?

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Nancy Reagan

Best known as the wife of President Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan has also done quite a bit of charity work during her lifetime, both as first lady and afterward. Of course she did all of the usual appearances and visits as a politician’s wife, but she particularly supported the Foster Grandparents Program, which connects senior adults with young children needing a positive older influence in their lives, and was instrumental in encouraging its growth in both the United States and Australia. Nancy is also especially known for her participation in the Just Say No drug awareness program which sought to education young people on the dangers of drug use and to encourage them to simply say no to using drugs. She traveled more than 250,000 miles as part of the program, visited drug rehabilitation centers, and appeared on talk shows, television shows, and even a music video to promote awareness of drug abuse. Nancy also invited the first ladies of other nations to join her for a conference on drug abuse and spoke in front of the United Nationals General Assembly on the subject. And of course, we love Nancy simply for being her opinionated but polite, outspoken but genuine, and spunky but kind self. Like all the best first ladies, she wasn’t there just to smile and look pretty, she was a strong right hand to the man in charge and occasionally a nudging conscious too. She captured a lot of attention and gave a lot of attention to some worthy causes. Who knows–maybe Nancy even stopped a few teenagers from doing drugs.

Today, be inspired to…Just say no…to drugs, drinking and driving, overtime, road rage, drama, and uncomfortable shoes.

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