40 Famous American Women For Women’s History Month

Different awareness months give homeschoolers the opportunity to take a break from their usual curriculum and explore new topics or people they might have otherwise missed. While I think it’s important to highlight the historical accomplishments and contributions of minority groups throughout the school year, if you’re following a set lesson plan that’s lacking in diversity, it can help to set aside a week or two to explore some lesser known historical figures. March is Women’s History Month and so I wanted to highlight some famous American women (some more well known than others!) that your children will enjoy learning about, as well as share some resources and project ideas for homeschoolers.

Famous American Women – 17th Century

• Lady Moody (born Deborah Dunch), 1586 – 1659 
  • First known female landowner in the New World and the founder of Gravesend, Brooklyn.
• Pocahontas, 1596 – 1617
  • A member of the Powhatan tribe who assisted the settlers in Jamestown, VA.
• Anne Bradstreet, 1612 – 1672
  • One of the first poets of the New World.
  • Her book of poetry, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, published 1650, London.
• Women of the Mayflower, 1621
  • Eighteen women were aboard the Mayflower when it left England in 1620.
  • The Mayflower landed in December 1620, but by the spring of 1621, only five women had survived.
• Elizabeth Key Grinstead, 1630 – 1665
  • One of the first black people in the New World to sue for freedom from slavery and win.
• Mary Rowlandson, 1637 – 1711
  • An American colonist who was taken prisoner by Native American’s during King Phillip’s War. Once freed, she wrote a book about her experiences that became what’s considered American’s first “best seller”.
  • Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, published 1682, Boston.
• Zipporah Potter Atkins, 1645 – 1705
  • The first African American women to own land in Boston, and one of the first African American landowners in the American colonies.
• St. Kateri Tekawitha, 1656 – 1680
  • First Native American saint.
• Henrietta de Beaulieu Dering Johnston, 1674 – 1729
  • First female portrait artist in the New World, specializing in the use of pastels.
  • Detailed article and copies of her work.
• Cockacoeske(also spelled Cockacoeskie) (1640 –1686 – dates are estimates)
  • Pamunkey chief who helped maintain peace between her tribe and English settlers in early Virginia.
    

Famous American Women – 18th Century

• Elizabeth Gooking Greenleaf, 1681 – 1762
  • The first female apothecary in the American colonies.
• Patience Wright, 1725 – 1786
  • First American sculptor, and after she later moved to London, she served as a spy for the Revolutionary cause by shipping secrets to the colonies hidden in sculpted wax figures.
• Martha Washington, 1731 – 1802
  • Wife of George Washington and the first, first lady of the United States of America.
• Mother Ann Teresa Mathews, 1732-1800
  • An African American nun who, in 1790, founded the first religious order for women in the United States.
• Clementina Rind, 1740 – 1774
  • The first female printer and newspaper publisher in Virginia.
  • Other early female printers and publishers.
• Abigail Adams, 1744 – 1818
  • Wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States and mother to John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.
  • Her letters to her husband are available to read online.
• Elizabeth Freeman, 1744 – 1829
  • The first enslaved African American woman to successful sue for her freedom.
• Phillis Wheatley, 1753 – 1784
  • The first African American poet published in the American Colonies.
  • Some of her poetry.
• Deborah Sampson Gannett, 1760 – 1827
  • Disguised herself as a man and fought during the American Revolution. She was the first woman to receive a pension for her service.
• Sacagawea, 1788 – 1812
  • Native American guide and mediator for the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Famous American Women – 19th Century

• St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, 1769 -1852
  • Founder of the first Catholic school for Native Americans west of the Mississippi.
• St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774 – 1821
  • The first American born saint.
  • She opened the first American parish school, established the first American Catholic orphanage as well as founded the first American religious order for women. (Mother Mathew’s order mentioned above was started in Belgium and brought to the New World.)
• Emma Willard, 1787 – 1870
  • Founded the first school for women’s higher education in 1814 in the United States. It’s still in operation today.
  • List of her books.
• Sojourner Truth, 1797 – 1883
  • Formerly enslaved, Sojourner was an advocate for the rights of African Americans and women. She was the first to successfully win a court case gaining the freedom of her wrongly enslaved son.
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815 – 1902
  • Suffragist and women’s rights activist. (See a list of her speeches at the link above.)
• Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, 1821 – 1910
  • The first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.
• Harriet Tubman, 1822-1913
  • A conductor on the Underground Railroad, Tubman escorted more than 300 slaves to freedom.
• Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman, 1829 – 1889 
  • The first deaf-blind child in the United States to receive an education in the English language, 45 years before Helen Keller.
• Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, 1831 – 1895
  • The first African American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree.
• Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, 1832 – 1919
  • She became the first female U.S. Army surgeon during the Civil War and is the only woman to be awarded a Medal of Honor.

Famous American Women – 20th Century

• St. Katharine Drexel, 1858-1955
  • Founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
  • Opened schools for Native Americans and African Americans, including Xavier University, the first university for African Americans in the United States.
• St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, 1850-1917
  • A missionary from Italy sent to care for the Italian immigrants in the United States, Cabrini would ultimately set up 67 school, hospitals, and orphanages.
• Jeannette Pickering Rankin, 1880 – 1972
  • The first woman to hold federal office in the United States as a member of the House of Representatives.
• Amelia Earhart, 1897 – 1937
  • The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932.
• Rosa Parks, 1913 – 2005
  • A civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man led to the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.
• Toni Morrison, 1931 – 2019
  • In 1993, she became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
• Madeleine Albright, 1937 – 2022
  • The first woman to serve as the Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton.
• Judith Heumann, 1947 – 2023
  • Considered the mother of the disability rights movement in the United States, she organized the 26 day 504 Sit In which led to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act being signed into law.
• Dr. Sally K. Ride, 1951 – 2012
  • The first American woman to be sent into space.
• Dr. Mae Jemison, 1956
  • The first African American female astronaut.

Project Ideas for Women’s History Month

Besides just reading about these amazing women online (or watching a few YouTube videos) here are a few other ideas for studying their accomplishments.

• Check your local library for picture books about great women in history.
• Visit a museum, or historic marker, in person or online.
• Read the work, or view the art, of these women. Or search for art depicting them.
• Create a timeline of an individual’s life, or incorporate these women into whatever timeline you’re already working on. You can get more ideas about using timelines in your homeschool from my recent post.
• Watch a movie together as a family or with a group of homeschoolers.
• Select quotes from these women and use them for handwriting or copywork practice.
• Give an oral presentation about one of these women and allow your child to dress up from the same time period, or as the women she’s presenting.
• Search on Teachers Pay Teachers for other creative games and activities for Women’s History Month.

I hope I’ve inspired you to learn about a few new interesting and inspiring women this Women’s History Month!