CATEGORIES

nellie Bly Journalist

nellie Bly's first newspaper articles appeared in print when she was just 20 years old.

Arabella Mansfield -Lawyer

Arabella Mansfield started out life as Belle Babb (1846-1911). She grew up in a Midwest family that valued education. In 1850, her father left to search for gold in California. He died in a tunnel accident a few years later.

Sarah Josepha Hale Editor

Long before Vogue or Glamour caught women's attention, Godey's Lady's Book introduced the latest fashions.

Louise Blanchard Bethune - Architect

Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856-1915) showed early promise in math. Lucky for her, her father was the principal and a mathematics teacher in a school in Waterloo, New York. Instead of going to school, Louise's father taught her at home until she was 11 years old. She also discovered a skill for planning houses. It developed into a lifelong interest in architecture and a place in history as the first professional female architect in the United States.

Sojourner Truth Speaker

There was a time when slavery wastes abolished the institution over a number of decades. New York abolished slavery in 1827. Isabella Baumfree (c. 1797-1883) was born enslaved in Hurley, New York. When she was nine, she was taken from her parents and sold. She then was sold several more times. Some of her owners were cruel and abused her. During that time, she had several children.

Getting Started

In this editorial cartoon, a young 19th-century woman must overcome the obstacle of carrying a heavy burden while climbing a multirung ladder before she can achieve \"Equal Suffrage.\"

Leonora M. Barry - Investigator

When Leonora M. Barry (1849-1923) was a young girl, her family left Ireland to escape a famine. They settled in New York. Barry became a teacher. In 1872, she married a fellow Irish immigrant. At that time, married women were not allowed to work. So, Barry stayed home to raise their three children.

Finding a New Path

For many Americans, this month's mystery hero represents the ultimate modern trailblazer. She is recognized by just her first name.

The Grimké Sisters Abolitionists

Every night, Dinah was supposed to brush the E hair of her mistress, Sarah Moore Grimké (1792-1873). But one night, 12-year-old Sarah stopped Dinah. She wanted to help Dinah instead. They had to be quiet so they wouldn't get caught. It was 1804 in Charleston, South Carolina. The Grimkés were among Charleston's major slaveholding families. Strict laws regulated the behavior of both master and enslaved people.

Frances Willard Leader

During Frances Willard's lifetime (1839-1898), she was the best-known woman in America: She headed the largest women's organization in the worldthe Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). In that role, her abilities shone as a social activist, a dynamic speaker, and a brilliant organizer. She educated women on how to run meetings, write petitions, give speeches, and lobby state and federal legislators.

Lydia E. Pinkham Businesswoman

Women were the first line of defense when it came to the good health of their families in the 1800s.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary - Publisher

In the decades before the Civil War (1861-1865), many Americans joined the abolition movement. The Shadd family was among them. Mary Ann Shadd (1823-1893) grew up in an African American family of 13 children.

Elizabeth Blackwell- Doctor

Born in England, Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) came with her family to settle in Ohio when she was 11 years old.

Mary Church Terrell Organizer

Some women wanted to have a greater voice in American society in the 1800s.

Allies in the Fight

Women hoping for a larger role in the world in which they lived faced a lot of opposition in the 19th century. But they found allies, too. Take a look.

Maria Mitchell - Astronomer

Maria (pronounced Ma-RYE-uh) Mitchell (1818-1889) was born on the island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts. Like many families there, the Mitchells were Quakers.

Sacagawea Explorer

Sacagawea (1788-1812) played a unique role in history. She was a go-between for Indigenous peoples and EuroAmerican explorers.

Putting the Pieces Together

Americans needed to begin to put the past behind them, come together, and plan for the future in the spring of 1865. But Abraham Lincoln, the man best equipped to lead them and who had hoped to restore the country as smoothly and peacefully as possible, had been assassinated.

LAST SHOTS

The last Confederate forces in the Civil War didn’t surrender in the spring of 1865 or on a battlefield.

AND IN OTHER 1865 NEWS

A group of African Americans stop at the White House’s annual public reception on January 1, where they shake hands with President Abraham Lincoln.

A Plot to Kill President the

For several months, actor John Wilkes Booth’s band of conspirators had plotted to capture President Abraham Lincoln and hold him hostage in exchange for Confederate prisoners.

Let the Thing Be Pressed

In June 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began a nearly 10-month campaign in Virginia.

HEALING THE NATION

President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time on March 4, 1865.

A Helping Hand

The spring season is hard in any agricultural society. Plants and animals are too small to eat.

WAR SHERMAN-STYLE

As far as Union Major General William T. Sherman was concerned, the Civil War had gone on long enough.

PEACE TALKS

The fall of Fort Fisher made clear that the Confederacy’s days were numbered. Southerners were tired and hungry.

FORT FISHER'S FALL

Outnumbered Confederate soldiers inside Fort Fisher were unable to withstand the approach of Union troops by land and the constant Union naval bombardment from the sea.

Getting Started

Beginning in April 1861, two armies— both made up of American soldiers—began fighting each other in the Civil War.

Eye in the Sky

An interview with Joe Piotrowski

Airborne Animals

Humans have taken to the skies in balloons, gliders, and airplanes-but we're not alone among the clouds. Animals of all sorts have evolved to harness wind power.