Mother Teresa: Minister to the Poor

Mother Teresa devoted her life to helping the poor in the worst slums of Calcutta.

This dedicated woman knew this was the path she wanted her life to take early on.  As a girl of twelve, Mother Teresa, a devout Catholic,…

Captain Kathryn Janeway: At the Helm of Star Trek’s “Voyager”

Captain Kathryn Janeway, played by actress Kate Mulgrew, is the female captain of television’s USS Voyager.

Tough as nails, yet compassionate and approachable, she leads her 24th century crew through the unexplored “Delta Quadrant” in search of home (which, by the…

Margaret Sanger: Proponent of Voluntary Motherhood

Margaret Sanger fought most of her life for women’s rights to control their own fertility.

This pioneering activist was inspired by a personal tragedy.  Her mother, who gave birth eighteen times (eleven children lived) died at the young age of forty-nine. …

Miss Fury: Comic Book Heroine

Miss Fury, a.k.a.  socialite Marla Drake, was a heroine of the comics in the 1940s and 1950s.

Clad in black tights and a cat-eared cowl, she bravely fought espionage and crime.

Her superpowers?  None.

Miss Fury simply drew upon her extreme courage and…

Marie Curie and Irene Joliot-Curie: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Marie Curie you’ve probably heard of.  She and her husband Pierre shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity.

(For Marie, it was a special honor as she was the first woman EVER to win a Nobel…

SPARs: “Semper Paratus/ Always Ready”

More than 11,000 American women were SPARs — Semper Paratus/ Always Ready — freeing up men for World War II military duty.

The SPAR division was created in 1942 when the Coast Guard, like other military branches, found itself in need…

Dian Fossey: “Old Lady Who Lives in the Forest Without a Man”

Dian Fossey, an occupational therapist, was interested in animals from childhood.

In 1963, fulfilling a long-standing dream to visit Africa, she took out a personal loan to pay her way and headed to the southern hemisphere, meeting paleontologists Mary and Louis…

Belle Starr: Gunslinger With a Bad Rap

Belle Starr, born Myra Belle Shirley in Missouri, grew up to become a cattle rustler and bandit.

But her bad rap was partly the fault of an unfair situation.  Belle was originally a guerrilla fighter in the Civil War.

But after the…

Elena Haas: Czech Resistance Fighter

Elena Haas was well known to the Gestapo during World War II.

In 1944, armed with a submachine gun, she led a raid that destroyed a vital and heavily guarded bridge.

In several other raids, she destroyed Nazi supplies and ammunition and…

Red Tornado: First Female Superhero

Mathilda “Ma” Hunkel, a.k.a.  The Red Tornado, was one of the first female superheroes and the very first female to become a member of the famous “Justice Society of America.”

Appearing in “All-American Comics” in 1939, Ma was the mother of…

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