Famous American Women's Rights Activists
Turn the pages of history and you may be shocked to know the appalled state of women in society back then. Unlike the present times, women of the yesteryears were mere objects of home, untitled, bereft of civil and constitutional rights and deprived of any freedom. Had it not been for the women’s rights activist, we would not have Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Indra Nooyi, Melinda Gates, Anna Patricia Botin or Taylor Swift at their top spots today! Talking of women’s rights activists, American women’s rights activist have played a pivotal role in the women suffragist movement. Be it 19th century civil rights leader Susan B Anthony or Amelia Bloomer, leader and strategist Alice Paul or first American woman Nobel laureate, Jane Addams, each of them committedly fought for social equality to give women an equal status in the society. It was for the efforts of these valiant women that the society turned to the issues concerning women. Basic amenities like freedom of speech, right to vote, gender discrimination, sexual and reproductive health rights, gender-based violence were unheard of concepts that women activists not just brought to the forefront but successfully conquered them to help uplift the status of women in society. Browse through this section to get details about the life and works of American women’s rights activists.
This ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.
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Birthdate: February 15, 1820
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Adams, Massachusetts, United States
Died: March 13, 1906
Susan B. Anthony's vital role in the women's suffrage movement changed the course of history. She led one of the two national suffrage organizations, which later became the National American Woman Suffrage Association, with Susan as its leading force. She also played an instrumental role in publishing The Revolution, a women's rights newspaper.
Birthdate: 1797 AD
Birthplace: Rifton, New York, United States
Died: November 26, 1883
Sojourner Truth was an American women's rights activist and abolitionist. Born into slavery, Truth escaped to freedom in 1826. She then approached the court to recover her son, subsequently becoming the first black woman to emerge successful against a white man in such a case. In 2014, she was named in Smithsonian's 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time list.
Birthdate: November 12, 1815
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Johnstown
Died: October 26, 1902
Celebrities Born On My Birthday?
Birthdate: November 8, 1897
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: November 29, 1980
Birthdate: January 11, 1885
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, United States
Died: July 9, 1977
Birthdate: November 13, 1969
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Mogadishu, Somalia
Somali-born Dutch-American activist, feminist, and scholar Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the founder of an organization for the defense of women's rights, the AHA Foundation. She actively opposes forced marriage, honor violence, and child marriage. A former Muslim, she now identifies as an atheist and is a vocal critic of Islam. She is a recipient of the Lantos Human Rights Prize.
7
Betty Ford(Former First Lady of the United States)
Birthdate: April 8, 1918
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: July 8, 2011
Betty Ford served as the First Lady of the US from 1974 to 1977. One of the most popular First Ladies in history, Ford was a passionate supporter of abortion rights and worked towards raising breast cancer awareness. She commented on topics like sex, drugs, abortion, and equal pay. In 1991, she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Mary Edwards Walker, or Dr. Mary Walker, was the only female surgeon who served injured soldiers during the American Civil War. A dress reform supporter, she believed women should value comfort more than tradition when it came to clothes. She was also the first and only Medal of Honor winner.
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Rachel Dolezal(Controversial Activist Known for Presenting Herself as a Black Woman Despite Having Been Born to White Parents)
Birthdate: November 12, 1977
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Lincoln County, Montana, United States
While she claimed she was a transracial Black woman, former NAACP branch president Rachel Dolezal was revealed to be a white woman passing off as Black when her parents spoke to the media. Following the mass protests after the revelation, she was fired from Eastern Washington University, her workplace.
19
Lucretia Mott(Abolitionist, Women's Rights Activist, Social Reformer)
Birthdate: January 3, 1793
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died: November 11, 1880
Lucretia Mott was an American women's rights activist, abolitionist, and social reformer. Mott played a major role in the events leading up to the Seneca Falls Convention, the first gathering supporting women's rights in the USA. Lucretia Mott's work influenced Elizabeth Cady Stanton whom she mentored. In 1983, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Birthdate: July 15, 1957
Sun Sign: Cancer
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Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: West Brookfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died: October 19, 1893
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Tammy Bruce is a radio host and political commentator. During the early-1990s, she led a campaign to criticize the violence in the book American Psycho, and her efforts resulted in the boycott of the novel's publisher for a year. Over the years, she has been an important contributor to Fox News and also hosts Get Tammy Bruce on Fox Nation.
Birthdate: September 16, 1931
Sun Sign: Virgo
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Birthplace: Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Died: October 26, 1879
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Victoria Woodhull was an American politician, suffragist, and writer who played an important role in the women's suffrage movement. She is credited with founding Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, America's first newspaper to be founded by a woman. Her life and career inspired the Broadway musical Onward Victoria. In 2001, she was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Birthdate: September 23, 1863
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Mary White Ovington was an American journalist and suffragist. She is best remembered as one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Throughout her life, Mary White Ovington remained active in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States of America. She also wrote several articles and books including an autobiography.
Birthdate: July 14, 1923
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Hudson, New York, United States
Died: September 30, 1996
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Clar Weah(First Lady, Women's rights activist)
Birthdate: March 11, 1965
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica
Birthdate: August 3, 1905
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, United States
Died: April 22, 1995
Birthdate: November 4, 1894
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: La Digue, Saint Andrew Parish, Grenada
Died: December 18, 1991
Birthdate: October 25, 1923
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: December 30, 2012