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Things I like: suffragettes, war workers, factory girls, socialites who got stuff done, ladies who ruled countries, and women who changed the world, even if it was just a little bit. Click on photos for sources.

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Elizabeth Glaser speaking at the 1992 Democratic Convention.  

Elizabeth Glaser contracted HIV when she received a contaminated blood transfusion after giving birth to her daughter Ariel in 1981.  Ariel contracted HIV from her mother’s breast milk.  Ariel and Elizabeth were not diagnosed until 1985 and Elizabeth was unaware of her HIV status when she gave birth to her son Jake in 1984.  Jake contracted HIV in utero.  

Ariel passed away in 1988 and Elizabeth, fearing for her son’s life, co-founded the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.  Today the foundation works to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and increase access to care for children infected with HIV.  

Elizabeth died in 1994.  Jake continues to work with his mother’s foundation.

December 1 is World AIDS Day

Rosalynn Carter chairs mental health hearings, 01/17/1978

Rosalynn Carter chairs mental health hearings, 01/17/1978

Cora Dow (1868-1915) was a pioneering pharmacist who created a chain of successful drugstores.  The second woman to qualify as a pharmacist in the US, Cora transformed her father’s run down shop into a successful chain by implementing cut rate prices, developing quality store brands and maintaining a high level of customer service.   Despite her successful career, Cora was anti-suffrage and claimed that she would have been happier as a housewife.  Yet Cora was such a well known business woman during her lifetime that former president William Howard Taft eulogized her. A detailed article describing Cora’s life and her business practices can be found here.   

Cora Dow (1868-1915) was a pioneering pharmacist who created a chain of successful drugstores.  The second woman to qualify as a pharmacist in the US, Cora transformed her father’s run down shop into a successful chain by implementing cut rate prices, developing quality store brands and maintaining a high level of customer service.  

Despite her successful career, Cora was anti-suffrage and claimed that she would have been happier as a housewife.  Yet Cora was such a well known business woman during her lifetime that former president William Howard Taft eulogized her.

A detailed article describing Cora’s life and her business practices can be found here.   

Emily Pierson handing out leaflets in New York State suffrage campaign, circa 1915. Emily Pierson (1881-1971) was a Connecticut suffragette.  The daughter of a wealthy family, she began her professional career as a teacher and later became vice-president of her family’s rose growing business.  But her deepest commitment was the campaign for women’s suffrage, a cause she advocated through public speeches, community organizing and financial contributions.  Katharine Houghton Hepburn, mother of the actress, was one of Emily’s close colleagues in the Connecticut suffrage movement.  Following the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Emily helped reorganized the National Woman’s Party in Connecticut before deciding on a significant career change.  Already a graduate of Vassar and Columbia, Emily began medical school at Yale at the age of 40.  She graduated from medical school in 1924, the only woman in her class. For over 30 years she served as the director of health and school physician in Cromwell, CT and ran a private practice out of her home.   Emily’s interest in progressive causes and her travels to communist countries led her to advocate socialism, a highly controversial political position.  In 1955, the board of selectmen forced her to resign as health director because she refused to approve a multifamily development in town.  Emily died in 1971.

Emily Pierson handing out leaflets in New York State suffrage campaign, circa 1915.

Emily Pierson (1881-1971) was a Connecticut suffragette.  The daughter of a wealthy family, she began her professional career as a teacher and later became vice-president of her family’s rose growing business.  But her deepest commitment was the campaign for women’s suffrage, a cause she advocated through public speeches, community organizing and financial contributions.  Katharine Houghton Hepburn, mother of the actress, was one of Emily’s close colleagues in the Connecticut suffrage movement. 

Following the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Emily helped reorganized the National Woman’s Party in Connecticut before deciding on a significant career change.  Already a graduate of Vassar and Columbia, Emily began medical school at Yale at the age of 40.  She graduated from medical school in 1924, the only woman in her class. For over 30 years she served as the director of health and school physician in Cromwell, CT and ran a private practice out of her home.  

Emily’s interest in progressive causes and her travels to communist countries led her to advocate socialism, a highly controversial political position.  In 1955, the board of selectmen forced her to resign as health director because she refused to approve a multifamily development in town. 

Emily died in 1971.

Helen Octavia Dickens (1909-2001) in tweed circa 1975. Helen was an reproductive health advocate and founder of a Philadelphia clinic for teenage mothers.  Her mentor was Virginia Alexander.

Helen Octavia Dickens (1909-2001) in tweed circa 1975.

Helen was an reproductive health advocate and founder of a Philadelphia clinic for teenage mothers.  Her mentor was Virginia Alexander.

Jeanne Mance (1606-1673) Early Montreal settler and the founder and head of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal

Jeanne Mance (1606-1673)

Early Montreal settler and the founder and head of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal