Category Personalities

Why are Emily Murphy and the Famous Five so fatuous?

 Emily Murphy was the first woman police magistrate in Alberta, in Canada, and in the British Empire. She was a strong advocate for the rights of women and children, and the leader of a group known as the Famous Five.

       The Famous Five are five women, truly pioneers, who in Alberta in the early part of the 20th century, shaped the future of the lives of all Canadian women to come. They are Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby, and Nellie McClung. Because of their efforts, on October 18th, 1929, the Privy Council declared in the famous ‘Person’s Case of 1929’ that women were persons, and thus eligible to hold any appointed or elected office. All the members of the Famous Five came from the upper-middle class, were well educated, and were committed to social change and women’s suffrage.  They were social activists who felt it was their responsibility to make needed changes.

            For Murphy, the Persons’ Case was only one triumph in a lifetime of achievement. She combined family life with a writing career, and a wide variety of reform activities in the interests of women and children. Murphy was a member of the Canadian Women’s Press, the National Council of Women, the Federated Women’s Institutes, and 20 other organizations. But there is no doubt that it was the ‘Persons’ Case’, fought by the Famous Five, which significantly improved the democratic life of women throughout the British Empire.

 

Why is Sarah Breedlove Walker an inspiration for African American women?

          Sarah Breedlove was born in a poor farm family on December 23, 1867, in Delta, Louisiana. By the age of nineteen, Sarah was a widow with a young daughter to support, and she moved to St. Louis to work as a hotel washerwoman. In 1906, Sarah married Denver newspaperman Charles Joseph Walker, and changed her name to Madame C.J. Walker.

          Around 1910, Sarah came up with idea of straightening hair with a hot iron comb and an ointment to add softness and shine. It was an important development because for generations, black women had straightened tightly curled hair on ironing boards. This was sometimes harmful to the scalp and face and broke the hair. Sarah developed a variety of products to serve a range of hair care needs. She peddled them door to door, and then organized agents in ‘Walker Clubs’. She opened a shop, trained assistants, and then later added mail order sales, followed by a beauty school that taught the Walker Method of hair straightening and hair growing.

         Her next step was to build a factory, and soon she was employing 3,000 workers in America’s largest black-owned business. She became a social leader, and opened a hair care laboratory, and a chain of beauty salons in Harlem. Thus, a St. Louis washerwoman, created a cosmetic empire by inventing a system of hair straightening to become an inspiration for all African American women.

Why is Marie Curie an icon in the world of science?

          Marie Curie was one of the most famous women scientists in the world. Her parents were both school teachers, and they had high expectations from their children.

          Marie chose to study physics, which is a branch of science that investigates the four forces at work in the universe, both on a large scale, as in the solar system, or on a small scale, as in atoms. The structure of the atom, and the forces which hold it together were still unknown when Marie enrolled as a student at the Sorbonne in 1891. Here she met and married Pierre Curie, who encouraged her to do research. With Pierre acting as her advisor, Marie spent several years purifying uranium ore. It was a grueling task to isolate the ‘radioactive’ substances from tonnes of ordinary rock.

           Marie proposed that the radiation came from inside the atoms. Other scientists followed her lead, and started to investigate the structure of atoms. She discovered two new elements which the Curies named radium – after ‘radiation’ – and polonium – after Poland. In 1903, the Curies and Henri Becquerel received the Nobel Prize in physics for their combined research and discoveries on radioactivity.

           Marie Curie has become an icon and a role-model for other women to follow, for she was someone who succeeded-despite many difficulties, in carving a niche for herself in the world of science. 

Why is it said that Ann Sullivan Macy played a key role in Helen Keller’s achievements?

         Anne Sullivan Macy overcame poverty and blindness to obtain an education, which in turn, enabled her to teach Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf. Anne lost most of her sight at the age of seven, the result of an untreated bacterial infection known as trachoma. Soon after, her mother died, and her father abandoned her. Anne became a ward of the state, and was sent to a poorhouse. A chance encounter with a state official made it possible for her to attend the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston.

         Anne threw herself into her studies at Perkins, and soon learnt to use a manual alphabet. When the Keller family contacted the school looking for an instructor for their blind and deaf daughter Helen, Anne’s unique combination of knowledge and personal experience made her the ideal candidate. Anne taught Helen to read, write, sign and speak. Helen even went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College, and it was Anne who made it possible. She attended lectures with Helen, and spelled what the professors were saying into the palm of Helen’s hand.

         Helen Keller became world famous for the way she overcame her difficulties-and much of the credit for achievements must go to Anne – for if a student achieves extraordinary heights, it is sometimes because of an equally extraordinary teacher. 

Why is Mary Church Terrell to be admired?

          Mary Church Terrell was an early civil rights advocate, an educator, an author, and a lecturer on woman suffrage and rights for African Americans. An early advocate of women’s rights, Terrell was an active member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, addressing in particular the concerns of black women. In 1896, she became the first president of the newly formed National Association of Coloured Women, an organization that under her leadership, worked to achieve educational and social reform, and an end to discriminatory practices. Appointed to the District of Columbia Board of Education in 1895, Terrell was the first black woman to hold such a position.

          Mary was an articulate spokeswoman, efficient political organizer, and prolific writer. She addressed a wide range of social issues in her long career. Her last act as an activist was to lead a successful three-year struggle against segregation in public eating places and hotels in the nation’s capital. Do you know what segregation is? It is the forced separation of a race in a community or country. In those days, segregation existed in many parts of the USA, and coloured people were kept separate from the whites in public places. This unfair system was finally abolished thanks to the work of brave people like Mary. 

Carrie Chapman Catt

Carrie Chapman Catt was a suffrage movement leader and the founder of the League of Women Voters. She became head of field organizing for the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1895, and in 1900, having earned the trust of the leaders of that organization, became its president. Her leadership was the key in the final passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. She was also one of the founders of the Women’s Peace Party during World War I, and helped to organize the League of Women Voters after the passage of the 19th Amendment. She supported the League of Nations after World War I, and the founding of the United Nations after World War II. Between the wars, she worked for Jewish refugee relief efforts, and for child labour protection laws.