Trailblazers

Carrie A. Nation (1846-1911), Crusader for Prohibition and for the Rights of Women

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  • Her approach was more radical than most, but in some ways she was a forerunner of a future group of women, Mothers Against Drunk Driving
  • She resorted to violence to make her point but also assured her critics that she wouldn’t have had to choose this route if women had the right to vote

Carrie Amelia Moore Nation was born in 1846 in Kentucky to a slave-owning family that was very religious. In 1854 the family moved to Cass County in western Missouri, which turned out to be close to the fighting going on in Kansas over slavery. At various times then and during the Civil War, Carrie Nation was among the women who aided injured soldiers in the area.

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Helen Gahagan Douglas (1900-1980) Actress Turned Congressperson

  • blankElected as Democratic National Committeewoman from California
  • Elected to the House of Representatives in 1944, becoming only one of nine women to serve in the House at that time.

Helen Gahagan Douglas was born in 1900 and was raised in a well-to-do family in Brooklyn, New York. She was not a serious student but loved acting, and by the age of 22 she had been cast in a lead role on Broadway. She never returned to Barnard College where she had been a student.

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Belva Lockwood (1830-1917), American Attorney and Crusader for Equal Rights

blank• She was admitted to what eventually became George Washington University Law School, but after completing the coursework, she was denied a diploma because she was a woman; after waiting a year she petitioned the U.S. President and soon received her diploma
• Had to petition Congress for the right for a woman to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court; she was the first woman to do so
• Ran for president in 1884 and 1888

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Brenda Starr, Reporter

blankIf you read the funnies growing up and were female, it was impossible to resist Brenda Starr. She was beautiful, wore stylish clothing, had a fascinating job as an investigative reporter, and was visited by a mysterious boyfriend who appeared now and then.

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