Women's History Archives

Nov. 15, 1917: Suffragists Beaten and Tortured in the “Night of Terror”

Twenty women were subjected to beatings and torture at Occoquan Workhouse, a prison in Virginia, in what became known as the “Night of Terror.”

Jan. 26, 1944: Angela Davis Born

Born on this day, Angela Davis is a civil rights activist, writer, professor, and a founding member Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex.

Zora Neale Hurston | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Jan. 7, 1891: Zora Neale Hurston Born

Zora Neale Hurston, a folklorist, anthropologist, and author, was born in Alabama.

Feb. 11, 1916: Emma Goldman Arrested

Russian Jewish anarchist Emma Goldman was arrested for distributing materials about birth control in violation of the Comstock Act.

March 24, 1853: Mary Ann Shadd Cary Published “The Provincial Freeman”

Mary Ann Shadd Cary published the first edition of “The Provincial Freeman,” Canada’s first anti-slavery newspaper.

Frannces Perkins | Zinn Education Project

March 4, 1933: Frances Perkins First Woman to Serve in U.S. Cabinet

Frances Perkins became Secretary of Labor, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet.

April 17, 1863: Charlotte Brown Forced Off Streetcar

Charlotte Brown was forcibly removed from a horse-drawn streetcar in San Francisco.

Harriet Hanson Robinson: “Characteristics of the Early Factory Girls.”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Harriet Hanson Robinson's "Characteristics of the Early Factory Girls" (1898) read by Lili Taylor.

May 19, 1930: Lorraine Hansberry Born

Lorraine Hansberry was an author and activist who wrote “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Shirley Chisholm '72 | Zinn Education Project

July 10, 1972: Shirley Chisholm at Democratic National Convention

Shirley Chisholm was an historic candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. Chisholm was outspoken on behalf of civil rights legislation, the Equal Rights Amendment, and a minimum family income; she opposed wiretapping, domestic spying, and the Vietnam War.

Elizabeth Jennings Graham | Zinn Education Project

July 16, 1854: Elizabeth Jennings Graham

Schoolteacher Elizabeth Jennings Graham successfully challenged racist streetcar policies in New York City.

Suffragists White House | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 26, 1920: 19th Amendment Adopted

The 19th Amendment was formally adopted.

Sept. 14, 1911: El Primer Congreso Mexicanista Convenes in Laredo

El Primer Congreso Mexicanista (First Mexicanist Congress) met in Laredo, Texas in order to discuss social, labor, educational, and economic issues facing Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States.

Teaching SNCC: The Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools. 24 pages.
A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.

Teaching Activity by Adam Sanchez

The Persons Case | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 18, 1929: The Persons Case

The Persons Case, a legal milestone in Canada, established the right of women to sit in the Senate of Canada.

Nov. 14, 1889: Nellie Bly Embarks on Travel Around the World

Pioneering journalist Nellie Bly began a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days.

Jan. 31, 1938: Emma Tenayuca Leads Pecan Shellers Strike

Tenayuca was known as “La Pasionaria de Texas” for her commitment to justice for Mexican American laborers.

Before She Was Harriet

Picture book. By Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome. 2017. 32 pages.
An illustrated biography of Harriet Tubman written in verse.

Poems from a Marshallese Daughter (Book Cover) | Zinn Education Project

Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter

Poetry. By Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner. 2017. 90 pages.
Poetry reveals the traumas of colonialism, racism, forced migration, the legacy of American nuclear testing, and the impending threats of climate change.