Important women for those of us living in the 21st century.

It would be easy for me to highlight the virtues of some very well known and outstanding women in American history: women who have made incalculable contributions not only to women but to society as a whole. Of course, Rosa Parks, Mother Theresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Oprah Winfrey, to name a few, come immediately to mind whenever a discussion of incomparable women begins.

As instrumental as these women's accomplishments are, I have chosen to highlight some, perhaps lesser publicized, women whose contributions are equally important and equally as undeniable.

The fact that we are who we are today, free to do what we want and live the lives we deserve to live is a direct result of the actions of these women. We owe each and every one of them a debt of gratitude. I thank them all.

* LUCY STONE (8/13/1818 10/18/1893)
Suffragette, abolitionist and women's rights advocate. She was the first woman in Massachusetts to earn a college degree. Lucy Stone was committed to the advancement of women; not just as women but as valued human beings in their own right. Ms. Stone is perhaps best known for being the first woman who did not take her husband's last name when she married Henry Blackwell in 1855. She, along with her husband, co-authored and signed The Marriage Protest declaring that her position as a wife should not, and in fact would not, reduce her standing in society to mere chattel. She was an equal partner with her husband in every regard including property ownership. To read more about Lucy Stone, I refer you 'A Soul as Free as the Air'.

* HELEN KELLER (6/27/1880 6/1/1968)
Born a normally healthy child, Helen Keller changed our views and perceptions of what it means, and does not mean, to be disabled. In February 1882, at 18 months old, Helen developed an unknown illness. Doctors, at the time, referred to her condition as "brain fever". For about a week, her chances of survival were slim. The fever eventually passed but the child was left blind and deaf.

On March 3, 1887, after 5 years of not being able to communicate with anyone at all, Ann Sullivan came into her life. Ann Sullivan, and the word water', saved Helen Keller's life. Ms. Keller went on graduate from Radcliffe College on June 28, 1904, becoming the first deaf/blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.

In Helen Keller's own words, she teaches us all: "The public must learn that the blind

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