Women's History Month 2018: Zabel Yesayan

In 1915, the Ottoman Young Turk government rounded up Armenian intellectuals. Some were deported, some escaped, some were relocated, some were killed, some were sent to detention centers. The list of people rounded up included leaders, scholars, journalists, physicians, clergy and teachers. Only one woman was named among them: Zabel Yesayan.

Zabel was born in Constantinople in 1878. In 1895*, she moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. While there, she made two major life decisions: to be a writer and to marry Dickran Yesayan. During her time in Paris, she also wrote her first novel, The Waiting Room.

In 1902*, Zabel returned to Turkey. She balked at the only acceptable role for literary women, teaching, and chose instead to work as a writer. This was not considered an acceptable role for women at this time, but she did it anyway. She wrote for women's publications and continued to pen essays and novels. She also caused quite a stir by publishing Phoney Geniuses, which took a satirical look at the Armenian writing community.

Zabel achieved prominence in the Armenian community in Turkey. She fought for women's education and rights. Many Armenian leaders found her too forward-thinking and disagreed with her radical ideas. It's unclear if the Turkish government read Zabel's work or just know of her influence in the community, but she was one of the intellectuals targeted in that first raid on April 24, 1915. She escaped capture by going into hiding in the city before sneaking out of the country under a false name. After escaping, she traveled throughout that region documenting the events of the Armenian Genocide and taking testimonies from survivors. She served as a spokesperson for the plight of her people and wrote about it extensively.

After her husband died in 1922, Zabel settled with her daughters in Paris and continued to write. By 1933, she had decided to relocate to Soviet Armenia, which was the newly formed state for the Armenian people. She continued to write and became a lecturer at the Yerevan State University. Her outspoken nature, once again, landed Zabel at odds with the men in charge. Stalin's officers hounded her for her radical opinions and political views. In the late 1930s, she was arrested as a public enemy. Her official death records state she died in 1937, but her daughter has uncovered evidence that she lived much longer than that in various prisons. According to secondhand reports, it's possible that Zabel drowned in 1943 in Siberia.

Though Zabel's life was marked by tragedy and difficulty, she continued her life's work of writing. She wrote both nonficion and fiction, not hesitating to tell fictional stories packed with just as much truth as her journalist reports of what was going on in her world. She advocated for women's rights and Armenian rights to such an extent she found herself challenging Armenian leadership, Turkish leadership and Soviet leadership. She lived boldly, and never let threat of arrest or harm stop her from writing the truth.

Recently, Zabel has seen a revival. Several organizations have sought to translate and republish her work. A documentary was even made about her a few years ago. A new generation will have the work of Zabel Yesayen to learn about the Genocide, the writing and art of Amernians and the perseverance of an amazing woman.

Learn more:

• Read her Memoir Gardens of Silihdar
• Watch the documentary Finding Zabel Yesayan on Vimeo (in Armenian or English)
• Read her book about the 1909 massacres of Armenians in Adana, Turkey
• Learn about the Armenian International Women's Association's Zabel Yesayan Project

*Dates differ across sources

Women's History Month 2018: Louise Chéruit

Louise and her daughter, 1907

Before Coco Chanel or Elsa Schiaparelli, there was Louise Chéruit, often incorrectly referred to as Madeleine Chéruit. Louise was the first women to control a major French fashion house in the early 20th century.

Little is know of Louise's early life. She was born in 1866 and was the daughter of a seamstress. In the 1880s she studied dressmaking at Raudnitz & Cie in Paris. In 1895, Lousie married Prosper Chéruit who supported her endeavors in fashion. By 1900 the labels in Raudnitz's clothing read "Raudnitz & Cie, Huet & Chéruit Srs., 21, Place Vendôme, Paris." By 1905, they read "Huet & Chéruit, Anc.ne Mon. Raudnitz & Cie ('Huet and Chéruit, formerly Mr. Raudnitz and Co.')" By 1906, Louise was fully in charge of the fashion house of over 100 employees.

By 1910, the House of Chéruit became one of the most celebrated brands in Paris. All of Louise's collections were closely followed by the press. Louise created wearable yet beautifully ornamented clothing that helped transition fashion from the world of couture to the forthcoming world of ready-to-wear.

Louise's talent wasn't limited to fashion alone. She launched the careers of many other artists including designers, illustrators and photographers. She also produced a high-end fashion magazine made with beautiful illustrations and fancy papers.

When World War I hit, most fashion houses closed. Louise's, however, remained open. She continued to serve her clientele until she retired in 1923. Her brand continued until 1935. Elsa Schiaparelli took up residence in at the same address and remains there today.

While Lousie isn't one of the biggest names remembered by fashion, she opened the doors for the likes of Coco Chanel. She also helped transition fashion through an age of great change, especially in women's lives and attire.

Learn more:

• Read about one of Louise's garments that has fallen into disrepair and is currently owned by the Museum of London. 
• See these pictures and illustrations of her studio and designs. 

Women's History Month 2018: Jeannette Rankin

Jeannette Rankin was the first American congresswoman. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916, four years before women were granted the right to vote by the 19th Amendment.

Jeannette was born near Missoula, Montana in 1880. She was the oldest of six children and spent much of her young life helping to care for her siblings. She graduated high school in 1898 and went on to earn a bachelor of science from the University of Montana in 1902. She took a job working as a social worker in San Francisco then traveled to New York to attend the New York School of Philanthropy. After this, she attended the University of Washington where she became involved in the women's suffrage movement.

In 1911, Jeannette became the first one to speak before the Montana legistlature. She championed women's suffrage and called for a change. By 1914, Montana had granted women the right to vote. In 1916 she ran for one of Montana's two open seats in the House of Representatives. She rallied support across the state and won the seat making her the first woman in Congress.

During her first term in Congress, Jeannette had the privilege to vote for the women's suffrage amendment. Because of changes in districts, Jeannette's second term in Congress wouldn't come until 1940. Jeannette was a pacifist and maintained this belief when she voted against a declaration of war on Japan. She said, "As a woman, I can't go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else." She abstained from similar votes for declarations of war that came after this. Her pacifist attitudes during World War II were hugely unpopular and effectively ended her political career. She said she did not regret her choices and maintained that war was not the solution to the world's problems.

Jeannette never married or had children. When she died in 1973, she left her entire estate for the aid of "mature, unemployed women workers." Today, the Jeannette Rankin Women's Scholarship Fund provides educational scholarships to low-income women 35 and older. To date, the fund has awarded more than $1.8 million in scholarships to over 700 women.

She is remembered best for her pacifism, but said, "If I am remembered for no other act, I want to be remembered as the only woman who ever voted to give women the right to vote."

Learn more:

• Visit the Rankin Foundation to learn more about the scholarship program
• Read more about her in this biography
• Watch a video about Jeannette's work

Women's History Month 2018: Sarah Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca, a Northern Paiute author, activist and interpreter, was born in around 1844 in Nevada. She was the daughter of Cheif Winnemucca. Her family was influential in trying to create peaceful relationships with the Anglo-American settlers. 

Sarah attended a Catholic school in California where she learned to speak both Enligh and Spanish. Sarah also became fluent in many Native American languages. These skills would allow her to bridge the gap between the Native groups and the settlers.

Sarah returned to Nevada when white families grew uncomfortable with her presence in the school. Initially, her family had good standing with the settlers and was called on to perform and tour the area billed as the "Paiute Royal Family." However, worsening racial tensions led to violence that killed many members of Sarah's family.

In 1869, she began working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army at Camp McDermit. She carried on her families goals of peacemaking. Despite Sarah's hard work, her people were relocated to a reservation in Oregon in 1872. Sarah and her remaining family moved to the reservation in 1875

By 1876, a new "Indian Agent" was put in charge of the reservation, causing distress among the people there. The Bonnock war broke out when conditions on the reservation became unbearable. During the war, Sarah served as interpreter, scout and messenger. Thankfully, the war had few casualties because the two armies got along well and rarely attacked each other.

When Sarah's people were relocated again, she followed. She held an official job as a translator and was not required to reside on the reservation. When she saw the poor conditions her people lived in, she became to tour the country speaking about the plight of the Native Americans. In 1883, she published the first book written by a Native American woman, Life Among the Piutes, which detailed the struggle she and her people faced. Her speaking and writing earned enough attention and petition signatures to convince Congress to pass a bill granting many of their requests. Sadly, nothing ever came of this bill.

The end of Sarah's life was plagued with illness and financial trouble. Her husband died of tuberculosis in 1887. She passed away of the same illness in 1891. Her advocacy didn't get her people all of their demands during her life, but she set in motion many things to help better the lives of Native Americans. In 1993, she was inducted into the Nevada Writer's Hall of Fame and in 2005, Nevada placed a statue of Winnemucca in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol.

Learn more:

• Watch this video about the making of the statue honoring Sarah
• Read Sarah's book, which is still in print. 

Women's History Month 2018: Madam C.J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker went from being an orphan at the age of seven to being the first self-made female millionaire. She was one of the wealthiest African American women of her time and used her wealth and power to make change for women and the black community.

She was born Sarah Breedlove in 1867. She was the first child in her family born into freedom. Her parents and older siblings had been plantation slaves before the Emancipation Proclamation. After losing both of her parents by the age of seven, Sarah moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi. By age ten she began working as a domestic. During this time she lived with her older sister and her sister's husband.

In 1882, when she was only 14-year-old, Sarah married Moses McWilliams. It is suspected that Sarah did this to escape an abusive situation living with her brother-in-law. Their daughter was born in 1885. Moses died in 1887, and Sarah moved her and her daughter to Saint Louis. There she found work doing laundry to support herself and her daughter. She married again, but left her husband in 1903 and moved to Denver.

Due to poor working and living conditions, Sarah developed a scalp condition and began to lose her hair. She learned about hair care and started working as a salesperson for a company that would soon become her rival. During this time, she started to experiment with the cleaning products she used for laundry work to see if she could create some sort of tonic for her hair loss. Ultimately, she made something that worked beautifully. She marketed it as a hair regrowth tonic, but it really worked to heal her damaged scalp so her hair could grow healthily once again.

In 1906, she married Charles Joseph Walker and became known as Madam C.J. Walker. She became an independent hair care professional and started going door to door to give women hair treatments and teach them about proper hair care. She started bottling and selling her product, and it took off. Soon, Sarah put her daughter in charge of the mail order business and set up a new headquarters in Indianapolis. To expand even further, Sarah trained a team of saleswomen to sell her hair treatments door to door the same way she had at the beginning.

Not only did Sarah create a great business model, she understood the need for targeted advertising and found ways to reach new customers with newspaper and magazine ads. She also cultivated a strong brand awareness with branded packaging and well-trained saleswomen. By 1920, Sarah's products were sold outside of the United States in places like Cuba and Jamaica.

Sarah also knew how to manage her money, and passed that along to her employees and independent representatives. She provided training about personal grooming, budgeting and becoming financially independent. This lead to the creation of the National Beauty Culturists and Benevolent Association of Madam C. J. Walker Agents, which had annual conventions to train and inspire the women selling her products. The first conference, held in 1917, hosted 200 attendees and is thought to be the first national meeting of female entrepreneurs.

As Sarah's wealth grew, so did her desire to give back. She became involved in the NAACP, gave to scholarship funds for African American students, funded community services in black communities and toured regularly speaking about her success and speaking out against racism.

Sarah passed away in 1919 but left behind a legacy of empowerment and change. She started from nothing and became one of the wealthiest women of her era. She shared her wealth and created change by giving women and African Americans better opportunities and resources. Her legacy and brand continue today.

Learn more:

• Check out the current products being sold under the Madam C.J. Walker brand
• Watch this video of Sarah's granddaughter telling her story
• Read this book written by Sarah's granddaughter 

Women's History Month 2018: Artemisia Gentileschi

Possible self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi became the first woman ever admitted into the Accademia dell’Arte del Disegno in Florence. She is now recognized as one of the most accomplished painters of her generation, but her work as an artist has long been overshadowed by the high profile rape case that mostly defined her life for centuries.

Artemisia, born in 1593, was the eldest daughter of Orazio Gentileschi. He encouraged his daughter to learn to paint at a young age. She showed great promise so her father hired Agostino Tassi to tutor his daughter. Agostino raped Artemisia when she was 19.

Her father did not let the matter go, and brought Agostino up on charges. The court case was brutal and lasted seven months. Artemisia faced in-court medical examinations to confirm her story. When she testified against her attacker, she was tortured to make sure she was telling the truth. Agostino was convicted but never served his sentence. Orazio married his daughter to one of his debtors after the trial, and they moved to Florence.

Artemisia's work is known for its accurate depiction of the nude female form. Male painters of this era were prohibited from using fully nude female models, but Artemisia did not face this restriction. She also broke barriers in her time by painting narrative scenes. Most female painters only did portrait and still life work. Artemisia's oldest surviving painting, Susanna and the Elders, was completed when she was only 17. It featured the contorted nude body of Susanna and proved Artemisia would be a powerful force in the art world.

For many years, Artemisia's works were either overlooked or attributed to her father. However, interest in her work and rediscovery of some of her paintings and techniques has corrected these mistakes over the past century. Initially, her work was mostly viewed through the lens of her rape. Much of what she did was seen as a commentary on the rape, and she was perceived primarily as a victim.

However, as her work continues to gain prominence, critics have come to see more beyond that single story. What was often seen as women carrying out revenge on men in Artemisia's work, is not viewed by some as Artemisia's way of glorifying story female figures. This female artist, while still very young, broke barriers for women painters, pursued prosecution of her rapist, sought out powerful women as the centerpieces for her paintings and didn't let any of the sexism or sexual assault stop her from creating a vast body of work up until her death sometime in the 1650s.

Learn more:

• See a list of Artemisia's works on Wikipedia
• Listen to NPR's coverage of a 2017 showcase of Artemisia's work
• Read Susan Vreeland's novel, The Passion of Artemisia, based on Artemisia's life and work.

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Women's History Month 2018: Sue Sarafian Jehl

Sue Sarafian Jehl served in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), which would become the Women's Army Corps (WAC), as one of it's most prominent members during World War II. 

Born in Armenian immigrants in 1917 in Massachusetts, Sue was the oldest of five daughters. The family relocated to the Detroit era, where Sue attended school and graduated from Highland Park Highschool in 1934. She was also a charter member of the Armenian Youth Federation's Detroit chapter. 

In 1942, Sue became one of the first women from Detroit to enlist in the WAAC, which at the time provided secretarial, switchboard and culinary services to the military. Sue felt it her duty to join the war effort as the oldest of five daughters in a family with no sons. 

While serving in North Africa during the war, Sue became General Dwight D. Eisenhower's secretary. Women's roles were limited at first, but Sue knew that her roles was only the beginning for women in the military. In the book, Triumph and Glory: Armenian World War II Heros, Sue said:

"[WAC] paved the way for women in the military. We were the first. Today they have army officers, marines, even fighter pilots. A lot of people doubted that women could do the job, but [General Eisenhower] was confident. He pushed for it. He said in his book that after we were proven, many of those who doubted us were calling WACs to work with." 

Sue became a prominent member of General Eisenhower's core team. In fact, the Orlando Sentinal reported, “Few people in the American military had as much insight into Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s thoughts and moods during World War II as Sue Sarafian Jehl.” In addition to Sue's many U.S. Military decorations, the Government of Brazil awarded her the Brazilian Medal of War (Medalha de Guerra) in 1946. 

In 1947, Sue married Roland Roy Jehl, a military pilot. This marked the end of her military career. The couple had three children. In 1994, Sue appeared on Good Morning America to share her experience with General Eisenhower and his statue of mind leading up to and during the Normandy invasion. She passed away in 1997 at the age of 80. 

Sue's career in the military opened doors for women, and her dedication and competence helped prove that women were valuable to war efforts. 

Learn more: 

• Read more about Sue in Triumph and Glory: Armenian World War II Heros by Richard N Demirjian
• Read about other Armenian American veterans.

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Women's History Month 2018: Marie Van Brittan Brown

Marie Van Brittan Brown

Not a lot is recorded about the personal life of Marie Van Brittan Brown, but her inventiveness changed the future of both home and commercial security.

In 1922, Marie was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York where she lived her life. She worked as a nurse, which meant she often kept unconventional hours and found herself home alone. Crime rates in her neighborhood worried Marie and made her wish for a way to stay safer and more secure in her home.

Marie came up with an idea for a surveillance system. Her idea involved creating a closed-circuit television system and a motorized camera that looked through a set of peepholes. Her husband, Albert Brown, was an electronic technician. With his help, Marie was able to bring her idea to life. In 1966, the pair applied for a patent on their home security system, which was granted them in 1969.

The system Marie came up with still sounds modern. Not only did it have a closed circuit camera system, but it also featured a microphone so she could talk to anyone on the other side of the camera. It even featured a remote control lock so she could lock and unlock the door from the comfort and safety of another room.

The timing was perfect. No one else was creating this kind of security system in or before the 1960s outside of military applications, which gave Marie's idea an edge. There's no evidence that Marie and her husband tried to market their idea to others after receiving the patent, but their patent was cited by most other security system inventors that came after them. It is unclear when, but Marie did receive a National Scientists Committee award for her invention.

Marie and her husband created a system that became the basis for most modern security systems. It continues to influence security today. The most recent patent that cites Marie's was filed in 2013.

Learn more:

• See Marie and Albert's patent filing. 
• Watch this video about Marie. 
• Read more about Marie in the book, Black Stars: African American Women Scientists and Inventors.

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Women's History Month 2018: Beatrice Hicks

Beatrice Hicks was born in 1919, a time when young women were expected to follow in their mother's footsteps, not their fathers. Nonetheless, young Beatrice decided she would take after her engineer father when she was 13.

While her parents seemed to have little opinion about their daughter's ambition, Beatrice's teachers often tried to discourage her from pursuing work in a field most unconsidered so unsuited to women. Beatrice ignored this and went on to earn degrees in chemical and electrical engineering as well as physics. In 1942, she became the first female engineer to work for the Western Electric Company.

When Beatrice's father passed away, she joined the Newark Controls Company, a company he had founded. She worked as the chief engineer there until she purchased a controlling share of the company in 1955 and became president.

Some of her most notable work as an engineer was designing and patenting a gas density switch that would go on to be used by the U.S. space program. Her switch was part of the Apollo moon landing.

Beatrice ran a company, worked as an engineer at that company, continued her education and maintained a marriage all while operating in a world and a field that was not welcoming of women with that much education and power. Beatrice saw the lack of women in what we now call S.T.E.M. careers as a problem, not only for women but also for the fields that lacked their input.

In 1950, Beatrice and other women in her field began meeting together to help advance women in engineering and increase interest for women to enter the field. This group became Society of Women Engineers, and Beatrice was elected as its first president. She toured the country speaking to women and encouraging companies to hire female engineers. Her activism for women in engineering didn't stop there. She served on the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in Services from 1960 and 1963. She was also the director of the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists.

In 1948, Beatrice married fellow engineer, Rodney Duane Chipp. He went on to own a consulting firm. When her husband passed away, Beatrice sold her shares in the Newark Controls Company and took over her husband's firm. She passed away in 1979 at the age of 60.

Learn more:

• Check out the Society of Women Engineers, which still operates today.
• View Beatrice's profile at the Society of Women Engineers. 
• Watch this video which features a portrayal of a speech given by Beatrice.

Women's History Month 2018: Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte

Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte was a noted philathropist and the first woman and first black woman to own a funeral home in America.

Henrietta was born in 1817 to an affluent free black family in Philadelphia. Known in the community for her fashion sense, Henrietta became a tailor, a successful one. She made cloaks, capes and coats for the middle and upper classes.

In 1852, at the age of 35, Henrietta married Francis A. Duterte who owned a funeral parlor. The couple had several children, but none of them live past infancy. Henrietta's family life was not to be a happy one. After only six years of marriage, her husband passed away in 1858.

Despite her personal tragedy, Henrietta carried on. She took over her husband's funeral parlor and put her name on it. She became the first woman and first black woman to own an operate a funeral parlor. She quickly made a name for herself as a compassionate and swift undertaker who served both the black and white communities. Her business as a funeral director was profitable just as her tailoring business had been.

In addition to offering dignity in death to everyone in her community, Henrietta fought to give dignity in life as well. She was an abolitionist and part of the underground railroad. She smuggled slaves to safety by hiding them in coffins and disguising them as members of funeral processions.

Henrietta's philanthropy reached even further. She supported several charities in her community. She gave money to her local church. She supported the Philadelphia Home for Aged and Infirmed Colored Persons. She also helped support and start the 1866 Freedman’s Aid Society Fair, which offered aid to former slaves in Tennessee.

Though she eventually gave her business to her nephew, some accounts say she worked there until two days prior to her death in 1903 at the age of 86. She served her community until the very end as well. She never ceased her philanthropy or support for causes she cared about. She also opened many doors for women both black and white to operate their own businesses.

Henrietta never took a conventional route. She married late after running her own business and when her husband passed, she not only took over his business but switched it to her name. She grew that business and used that prosperity to help others. 

Learn more:

• Watch a video about Henrietta from Ask a Mortician.
• View a surviving document that shows she did business in her own name. 
• Check out this book about the Underground Railroad that includes a passage about Henrietta. 

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Women's History Month 2018: Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe in 1909

Julia Ward Howe was a poet, songwriter, abolitionist, suffragette and activist who advocated for causes such as prison reform and international peace.

Born Julia Warn in 1819, she was the fourth of seven children. Her father was a stockbroker and her mother was poet, Julia Rush Cutler.  In 1843, Julia married Samuel Gridley Howe who was 18 years her senior. Julia and her husband were both activists and together edited the abolitionist newspaper Commonwealth.

Despite their shared passion to end slavery, Julia and Samuel did not have a happy marriage. In Elaine Showalter's biography of Julia titled The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe, she paints a distressing picture of the marriage. The biography suggests that Samuel was in love with his male best friend Charles Sumner, and wanted Julia to act not as a partner but as an adoring devotee. Samuel wrote of wanting to keep Julia as a "prisoner [his] arms." Julia would be no one's prisoner even if she did remain in her unhappy marriage.

In 1862, Julia penned for The Atlantic the piece that would make her famous. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" appeared first as a poem and was later set to music. It would become a rallying cry for Union soldiers during the Civil War, but its inspirational powers wouldn't stop there. The women's suffrage movement and black civil rights workers would adopt the hymn later on.

That one poem may have brought Julia fame, but her literary work extends well beyond that. She wrote several collections of poetry, several travel books and a play. Her works have not been as well remembered as her "Battle Hymn" but they were ranked among the best work of her time. George S. Hellman said Julia was "the most notable woman of letters born and bred in the metropolis of America."

Julia's legacy doesn't stop at written works. In addition to advocating for the abolition of slavery, Julia fought for women's rights. She served as one of the founders of the women's suffrage moment working alongside Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Julia had a more conservative approach to women's rights than her well-known contemporaries, but ultimately they joined Julia, who was seeing success with her methods. Even though Julia died because women earned the right to vote, she was a major player in founding and maintaining the movement.

She also started a weekly magazine, the Women's Journal, in 1870, which not only discussed various women's issues, but called for women all over the world to join together to create international peace. In 1871, Julia became the first president of the American chapter of Women’s International Peace Association.

Samuel did not support Julia's writing or her activism for women's rights. While he didn't mind working with her on the abolitionist paper, he didn't like that she wrote about their marriage and women's roles in society.  Samuel tried many tactics to keep her from disobeying him. Julia made concessions to keep her family intact for her children, but that didn't stop her from becoming one of the most prominent and influential women of her era who would make massive strides forward for feminism, civil rights and world peace.

Julia died in 1910 at the age of 91. A choir of 4,000 sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" at her funeral. It's difficult to capture all of Julia's accomplishments in one post or even one book. She may not have lived a happy life in her marriage, but she lived a life of great passion and purpose. Her achievements echo on into the future just like her famous "Battle Hymn."

Learn more:

• There is an entire website about her amazing work.
• Read the aforementioned biography.
• Check out Julia's many books, several of which available as free ebooks.