Leading Ladies

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This Investigative Journalist and Suffragist Won a Pulitzer Prize for Her Courageous Reporting
by Andrea Leitch August 24, 2020

Who: Ida B. Wells, investigative journalist, civil rights crusader, and women’s rights activist; July 16, 1862–March 25, 1931
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This Outspoken Suffragist Was the First Woman to Run for Congress
by Andrea Leitch August 24, 2020
Who: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, leader in the women’s rights and suffrage movements in the United States, activist, and author; November 12, 1815–October 26, 1902
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This Congresswoman Inspired Generations of Women to Run for Office
by Andrea Leitch February 27, 2020
Who: Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress; first woman to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. president; educator; November 30, 1924–January 1, 2005
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This Writer Produced Her Masterpiece During the Harlem Renaissance
by Andrea Leitch February 27, 2020

Who: Zora Neale Hurston, world-renowned author, folklorist, and anthropologist known for her significant contributions to American literature; January 7, 1891–January 28, 1960
- United States
- writer
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This Newspaper Publisher Became the Most Powerful Woman in Media
by Andrea Leitch February 27, 2020
Who: Katharine “Kay” Graham, publisher and owner of the Washington Post and CEO of the Washington Post Company; catapulted the newspaper to global success; June 16, 1917–July 17, 2001
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This Educator From the North Published "Rare" Stories of Antebellum America
by Andrea Leitch February 27, 2020

Who: Charlotte Forten Grimké, the first Black educator from the North to teach freed slaves in the South; abolitionist, advocate of social justice, and author; August 17, 1837–July 23, 1914
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This Famous Explorer Published Stories About "Unusual" Global Adventures
by Andrea Leitch February 27, 2020
Who: Isabella Bird, an explorer, traveler, and the first woman inducted into the Royal Geographical Society; October 15, 1831–October 7, 1904
- England
- explorer
- photographer
- writer
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This Revolutionary Writer Portrayed Her Heroines Unlike Most Authors of Her Time
by Andrea Leitch February 27, 2020
Who: Charlotte Brontë, a young author who wrote one of the most iconic novels in English literature; she published books under the pseudonym Currer Bell in the 1800s; April 21, 1816–March 31, 1855
- England
- writer
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This Investigative Journalist and Suffragist Won a Pulitzer Prize for Her Courageous Reporting

This Outspoken Suffragist Was the First Woman to Run for Congress

This Congresswoman Inspired Generations of Women to Run for Office

This Writer Produced Her Masterpiece During the Harlem Renaissance

This Newspaper Publisher Became the Most Powerful Woman in Media

This Educator From the North Published "Rare" Stories of Antebellum America

This Famous Explorer Published Stories About "Unusual" Global Adventures

This Revolutionary Writer Portrayed Her Heroines Unlike Most Authors of Her Time