Strong Women Through History: A Look at the Women Who Came Before Us (Part 1)

These women in both my lists embody what a strong woman is. This is part 1 of my list of strong women.

1. Cleopatra
(69–30 B.C.)

Cleopatra was the Queen of Egypt, she was only in her late teens when she became Queen. Cleopatra was also the last pharaoh, she spoke nine languages and she was an astute politician who got Egypt to be closely aligned with the Roman Empire during her reign.

2. Joan of Arc
(1412–1431

Joan of Arc led the French troops to victory in the battle of Orleans in 1429. She cut her hair and dressed as a man to accomplish this feat. Joan of arc always had the belief that it was her mission from God to free her country from the English. She was looked at as a national hero for leading the resistance to the English invasion of France in the Hundred Year War.

3. Elizabeth I
(1558–1603)

Elizabeth I was the Queen of England. She was Queen when England became a major European power. During what was defined as the "Elizabethan Age", the country of England went from being poor and isolated to being an important nation in Europe. Along with that, was a powerful navy. Also during her reign she got the loyalty of her people and was able to unit the country against it's enemies.

4. Sacagawea
(1787–1812)

Sacagawea was the person that interpreted for Lewis and Clark, during their exploration of the Northwest. She also had the role of helping to bring a peaceful and safe passage through tribal lands.

5. Susan B. Anthony
(1820–1906)

Susan B. Anthony was part of the 19th century women's movement. She was one of the most influential organizers in it. She fought for a woman's right to vote, as well as fought against slavery and worked on the temperance campaign to have the use of alcohol limited.

6. Harriet Tubman
(1820–1913)

Harriet Tubman was able to lead more than 300 slaves to freedom, as one of the conductors of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad system was created by a secret group of free blacks and sympathetic whites who wanted to help slaves get to free northern states. Harriet Tubman was once a slave herself.

7. Clara Barton
(1821–1912)

Clara Barton was the founder and first president of the American Red Cross. As someone who once treated injured soldiers on the battlefield during the Civil War, she got involved in tending to the needy.

8. Elizabeth Blackwell
(1821–1910)

Elizabeth Blackwell was an attendee at the Geneva college in New York, after much rejection from other colleges due to her gender. She went on to eventually be the first American woman to be awarded a medical degree by a college. She went on to be the founder of a medical college for women to be trained as physicians.

9. Louisa May Alcott
(1832–1888)

Louisa May Alcott was the first Author to produce books that were aimed towards young girls during the 19th century. She published 270 works and her most popular was Little Women.

10 Victoria Woodhull
(1838–1927)

Victoria Woodhull was nominated by the Women's National Equal Rights Party to be the first woman to campaign for the U.S. presidency. She along with her sister were also the first two female stockbrokers on Wall Street.

11. Marie Curie
(1867–1934)

Marie Curie was the first woman to earn a doctorate in Europe. Her studies led to the discovery of radioactivity and the element of radium. As a physicist, she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and she actually won it twice.

12. Helen Keller
(1880–1968)

Helen Keller was left deaf, mute and blind by a childhood disease. Because of this, she was an expert author and lecturer who was able to educate people nationally on the behalf of others with the same or similar disabilities.

13. Eleanor Roosevelt
(1884–1962)

Eleanor Roosevelt was known as a champion for human rights, such as furthering women's causes and the causes of black people, poor people and people who were unemployed.

14. Pearl S. Buck
(1892–1973)

Pearl S. Buck was the first woman to win a Nobel prize for Literature, with the novels she wrote about American and Asian culture.

15. Amelia Earhart
(1897–1937)

Amelia Earhart was able to open the skies to other women after being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Sadly in 1937 as she was attempting to be one of the first to fly around the world, her plane vanished over the Pacific Ocean.

16. Lillian Smith (1897-1966)

Lillian Smith was a co-publisher of the literary magazine South Today, which gave a voice to both progressive black and white southern writers. As a strong European-American , she gave a voice to help expose the horrible ways that racism destroys the human spirit. She also used her wonderful writing talents and class privilege that she had to expose and challenge racism. In 1956 Lillian Smith was honored by the women who created the Montgomery Bus Boycott.