Womanica

Pat Schroeder (1940-2023) was a trailblazing force in American politics, known for her advocacy for women's rights and social justice. As the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado, she championed progressive causes from gender equality to reproductive rights to education throughout her 24-year tenure.

Irene Fernandez (1946-2014) was a Malaysian human rights activist. She co-founded Tenaganita, a non-governmental organization that promotes the rights of migrant workers. When she raised the alarm about migrant workers’ welfare in government detentions, she became the subject of one of the longest trials in the country’s history

Emma Tenayuca (1916-1999)  was a Mexican-American labor organizer and civil rights activist who led a wave of strikes by women workers in Texas during the Great Depression. She is known as la pasionaria de Texas, or the Passionate One.

Maria Moreno (1920-1989) was a farmworker and labor union activist during the Farmworkers' Movement of the 1960s. She is the first woman to be hired as a union organizer. During her time with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, Maria led strikes and fought for workers’ rights.

Sue Cowan Williams (1910-1994) was a teacher in Little Rock, Arkansas, who filed and won a lawsuit to end pay discrimination against Black teachers in the segregated South. Hher case helped shape the organization’s legal strategy for civil rights in schools across the country.

Florence Reece (1900-1986) was a writer, musician, and poet who wrote about unions, coal miners’ rights, and her own lived experiences. Florence was a coal miner’s wife and experienced the bloody Harlan County War, which she used as inspiration for her material. She is best known for her song “Which Side Are You On”, and her poetry and labor song collection Against the Current.

Ela Bhatt (1933-2022) was an activist and organizer who founded the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA), which serves primarily low-income women across India. She went on to become an influential figure, known internationally for her work in cooperatives, labor organizing, and microfinance.

Mina Miller Edison (1865-1947) was the second wife of American inventor and businessman Thomas Edison. She was an advocate for acknowledging the domestic labor required of women. She called herself a “home executive” and emphasized the importance of women’s work as actual work, not an idealized calling.

Florence St. John (c.1896-1970) was a General Motors factory worker who led her co-workers in a lawsuit against the company demanding equal pay for women. The win was the first significant damages payout in a discrimination case in the history of America law.

Sue Ko Lee (1910-1996) was a labor organizer who participated in one of the longest strikes in the history of San Francisco’s Chinatown. She and other garment workers joined forces with a white-led union to win better pay and shorter hours — and a huge victory for the Chinese American workforce.