WOMEN'S HISTORY QUIZ
In Honor of Women's History Month
Which mother led a 125-mile march of child workers from the mills of Pennsylvania to President Theodore Roosevelt's vacation home on Long Island?
The feisty labor organizer, Mary Harris Jones (1830-1930), did in 1903. Called "Mother" Jones by everyone, her goal for the march was to bring the evils of child labor to the attention of the president and the press.
The line of beauty products she created for African-American people made her the first Black woman millionaire in the United States. Who was she, and when did she do this?
In 1905 Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919) began developing an effective hair lotion, and then a special comb to straighten curly hair. She eventually employed 3,000 people, mostly Black women, to work in her factories and sell her line of products.
She took her job as "First Lady" seriously, traveling the country and the world to gather information about the problems and concerns of workers, children, minorities, and the poor. She wrote a daily newspaper column and made frequent radio broadcasts. Who was this active wife of a president?
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) was America's First Lady for 12 years. Later, she served as U.S. delegate to the United Nations where she was instrumental in securing passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
When the Mexican Revolution of 1910 reached the Texas border, she and her friends organized La Cruz Blanca, The White Cross, to take care of the wounded. They nursed people from both sides of the fighting. She was also known as a journalist and community activist. Who was she and where did she live?
Jovita Idar (1885-1946) lived in Laredo, Texas. As a journalist, she wrote articles for Spanish-language newspapers, like El Progreso and El Heraldo Cristiano, which argued for Mexican-Americans' equal rights.
Her 1939 Easter Sunday concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial drew a crowd of 75,000. Who was she, and why was she singing there?
Marian Anderson (b. 1902), who had earlier been barred from the singing in the Washington's Constitution Hall because she was black. Her open-air concert was a triumph over bigotry for this international star.
Why is Rachel Carson considered the mother of the environmental movement?
Rachel Carson (1907-1964), a writer and biologist, touched off an international controversy about the environmental effects of pesticides with her 1962 book, The Silent Spring. The book became a best seller and the foundation of modern ecological awareness.
She came to the U.S. when she was a teenager to study science and stayed to become "the world's foremost female experimental physicist." Her most famous experiment disproved what had been thought to be a fundamental scientific law. Who is this outstanding Asian-American scientist?
Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) received both the National Science Medal and the inter-nationally respected Wolf prize for her scientific research. Her most famous experiment showed that conservation of parity could be violated in nature.
Before the 1960s, farm workers in the U.S. were not paid even the minimum wage, and had no influential representatives to fight for their rights. What part did Dolores Huerta play in changing this situation?
Dolores Huerta (b. 1930), a long-time Chicana labor activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers union in 1962. She served for over two decades as the union's vice-president and chief lobbyist, savvy labor contract negotiator, and nationwide speaker.
She is regarded as the greatest ballerina born in America. Her father was the Chief of the Osage Indians. Her name?
Maria Tallchief (b. 1925), gained international stardom as prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet in a career that spanned 23 years. In 1980, she and her sister, Marjorie, founded the Chicago City Ballet.
--Adapted from The National Women's History Project History Quiz
