This section began as a celebration of March and Women’s History Month; it continues as a regular feature because there are so many unrecognized women who have made major contributions to history.
Welcome to America Comes Alive!, a site I created to share little-known stories of America’s past.
These stories are about Americans—people just like you—who have made a difference and changed the course of history. Look around the site and find what inspires you.
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Susie King Taylor (1848-1912), Educator, Author, Activist
- First woman to openly teach former slaves at a school in Georgia.
- Only African-American woman to publish a memoir of her work during the Civil War: Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers.
Susie King was born in August 1848 to a slave family in rural Georgia. When she was seven years old, her owners permitted her to move to Savannah to live with her grandmother who had been given her freedom. Dolly Reed believed strongly in education and sent her granddaughter to a secret school for African-Americans. Taylor describes what it was like to have to pretend to not be going to school: “We went every day about 9 o’clock, with our books wrapped in paper to prevent the police or white persons from seeing them. …After school we left the same way we entered, one by one. The neighbors would see us going in sometimes, but they supposed we were learning trades, as it was the custom to give children a trade of some kind.”
Shortly after the war began, Taylor had to return to the plantation where she had been born…her grandmother had been arrested for singing hymns. A little later, Taylor and her uncle’s family along with other former slaves took refuge on St. Simons Island, off the coast of Georgia, where the Union Army was encamped. CONTINUE READING…
Jessie Field Shambaugh (1881-1971)
Implemented program for young people that became 4-H
Though most of us currently live in urban or suburban areas, our country’s roots are rural.
Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998)
African-American artist who broke racial barriers
Building a successful career as an artist is a difficult challenge for anyone.
Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927)
Founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA
Juliette Gordon was born into a well-off family in Savannah, Georgia.
Katy Payne (1937- )
American Acoustical Biologist
A week’s observation of baby elephants at the Washington Park Zoo in Portland, Oregon led scientist Katy Payne to leave her 15-year study of the sounds of humpback whales to begin studying elephants.
Louise A. Boyd (1887-1972)
Arctic Explorer
Louise Boyd was born into a wealthy California family but instead of using her inherited wealth to live grandly in a stately home, she used it to explore the Arctic.
Triangle Shirtwaist Women, 1911
Remembering the immigrant women who died in the fire
One hundred years ago today, a fire broke out on one floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City at about 4:45 p.m.
