It’s Women’s History Month! Throughout history, millions of women from many different backgrounds have made lasting impacts on the world. Women have worked hard toward doing good through a myriad of adverse situations including war, poverty, sexism, natural disasters, abuse, and more. Women have proven, time and time again, their strength, intelligence, and resilience throughout history. But they have not always been recognized for it. To honor just a couple of those women, I will be compiling some of them that are less widely known, to shed a light on their accomplishments and celebrate them.

Dolores Huerta is a woman of Spanish and Mexican descent who was born in New Mexico. She grew up in California and her parents divorced when she was only three years old. Huerta worked hard to receive an associate teaching degree, and she taught school for a short period of time in the 1950’s. As a teacher, she noticed many children coming to school hungry, and she decided she wanted to do more to help the situation by helping farmers and farm workers. So, she became an activist. In 1955, Huerta and Cesar Chavez co-founded a new chapter of the Community Service Organization, which was a Mexican-American civil rights group that rallied for better economic conditions for Hispanic people. She helped found the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). Huerta advocated for better wages and safer working conditions through the UFW. She even helped lead a series of nationwide boycotts of table grapes in the 1960’s, including the famous Delano Grape Strike (more on that here). Her many efforts gave farm workers the ability to form unions and fight for better pay and working conditions. She has received many awards for her human rights work. Some of the most notable include the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1998 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. 

Another inspiring woman that I came across in my research is Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte. She was a Native American woman. Her parents, Chief Joseph la Flesche (also known as Iron Eye) and Mary (also known as One Woman) lived with her on the Omaha Reservation in northern Nebraska. Picotte had a life changing experience when she was younger. She witnessed a fellow native American woman die waiting for medical care because the local white doctor never showed up to help after being called several times. The reality was that Native Americans were not treated equally to their white counterparts and did not always receive proper medical care. This experience moved her, and she later attended the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. She defied the odds not only as a Native American, but also as a woman, to become the first Native American woman in the United States to receive a medical degree and become a doctor. She provided care to her underserved community of Native Americans and made an impact on the lives of those who desperately needed medical care.

These are only two out of millions of women around the world who have made a difference in the betterment of our world. Not all women receive proper recognition, which is why I chose these women to shed light on and honor. I encourage you to reach out to a special woman in your life who has made an impact and to let her know how appreciated she is!