by Shawna Blake

Created on: August 16, 2011

While the praises of many a great man have been recorded in American history, the women, unfortunately have not. Women as a whole aren’t known or appreciated for what they have done for the women of today. Some women don’t even concern themselves with what women of the past have (and in some cases still) endured. The first thing that should be pointed out about women is that they give life. They hold the spark of a human being within their bodies and the endurance to bare that burden with courage and strength. Women were also the very first slaves ever in the world. So, while men have been chivalrous in the past and in some ways remain like gentlemen, great women have been largely overlooked. Since women still don’t get full credit for what they do, let us look to the past for some that we can reward.

~Betsy Ross

Luckily, you may still visit her house to this very day. Betsy Ross is best known as the woman who made the American flag. The American flag represents something significant to every American citizen, and since it was she who made it so (or sew, if you will), we owe her a great debt of gratitude. She was also quite a business-woman, a mother and a wife throughout her life. Chosen to sew the drawn draft of the flag by Congress, Betsy had been a seamstress and had often sewn things previously for George Washington.

~Abigail Adams

One of the very first Presidential wives to attempt to get women noticed. Abigail is known for saying to her husband “Remember the Ladies!” Whether or not he did is still questionable. Abigail Adams was also mother of John Quincy Adams, who later became President, so she had many years to influence the country with her views about women’s rights( she was a huge advocate), slavery (which she was opposed to), and was the very first First Lady to have her picture embodied on a collectible coin.

~Nelly Bly

Or, Elizabeth Jane Cochran, as she was born, was the first woman journalist to put her word…and her life on the line to get a good story. She got herself institutionalized in a mental facility so that she could write about the unfair, illegal and inhumane ways that patients were treated. Nelly Bly also traveled the world in less than 80 days (she made it in 72), so that she could bring Jules Verne wrong (with his permission) about his fictional book. A noted charity worker and devoted journalist, Nelly Bly led a very interesting life.

~Helen Keller

Having contracted either Meningitis

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