Submitted by Vandana, Historyly.com

 

When we talk of American history, we find innumerable names that find a prominent place there, and most of them are those of men. However, many powerful and influential women have played a significant role in American history. Though some of these names are pretty popular, others have disappeared into oblivion. In this article, we will discuss some famous women in American history:

Hedy Lamarr

People know Hedy Lamarr as a Hollywood glamor girl, but few know she is also an inventor. She worked alongside George Antheil, a composer, to develop the idea of “frequency hopping.” This would have helped military radios from being bugged. Initially, the US Navy ignored her patent. But later, many technologies were developed based on the same concept without giving the lady any credit. It was much later that the original patent was discovered, and the lady was honored with an Electronic Frontier Foundation Award before she died in 2000.

Lee Krasner

Lee Krasner was an American abstract expressionist painter who worked in the second half of the 20th century. She was the wife of the renowned artist Jackson Pollock, and her artworks were often overlooked. Though she was quite accomplished as a painter in her own way, Krasner never got the recognition she deserved. The volumes of her artwork were rediscovered in the 1970s. Among the very few famous females in history, her work has a retrospective exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.

Harriet Powers

Though Harriet Powers was born in Georgia into slavery, she is one of the greatest Southern textile artists in United States history. To tell her stories, she sought help from quilts, stitching elaborate and stunning images from various myths, celestial phenomena, and Biblical stories. She also drew on West African artistic traditions. Just two of the quilts that she stitched remain today. One is preserved at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and the other at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

Margaret Hamilton

When it comes to forgotten but prominent women in American history, the name of Margaret Hamilton should be taken with immense pride. We all know that in 1969, men set foot on the moon for the first time. Along with many well-known men, many women also played a crucial role in the Apollo 11 mission. Margaret Hamilton was one such female member of the team. She was the leader of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which NASA used for the Apollo 11 mission. The lady led the development of the navigation system and the spacecraft’s guidance. She worked incessantly to test the Apollo 11 software.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Born in 1815, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an American abolitionist, suffragist, and social activist who worked in the early women’s rights movement. She organized the first women’s rights convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls. With the help of Susan B. Anthony, she formed the National Women’s Loyal League and co-established the National Woman Suffrage Association. The main aim of these works and associations was to help women in the United States gain the right to vote in the making of the country’s government.

Sybil Ludington

The name of Paul Revere is closely associated with the American Revolutionaries. But there was a female revolutionary named Sybil Ludington who rode a long distance at night on horseback for American freedom. One day, when Sybil was just 16 years old, her father learned that the British were to attack Danbury, Connecticut, 25 miles from the Ludington family’s home in New York. Sybil rode on a horse in torrential rain and covered 40 miles to announce to the village that the British were coming. After this successful ride, she served as a messenger in the Revolutionary War. However, she was lost in oblivion soon after that.

Margaret E. Knight

When discussing famous women in America who made a significant impact, the name Margaret E. Knight cannot be overlooked. She was born in Maine and went a long way from working in a factory to inventing a product that had a global impact. The way groceries were packed changed forever with the invention of the paper bag. The lady created a machine to produce paper bags with flat bottoms in mass volumes. The paper industry was also greatly impacted by the invention. Even today, such machines are still designed based on the original Knight design.

Mary Edwards Walker

She is not only the first woman physician in the US Army but also the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. Her application to join the Union Army as a Medical Officer was rejected, and she volunteered as a surgeon. She was captured and kept as a Prisoner of War. However, she was released and assisted as a surgeon. She attended to sick and wounded soldiers in the fields and hospitals at the risk of her own health. She fought strongly for women’s rights, too.

Harriet Chalmers Adams

Harriet Chalmers Adams was born in California and was an American writer, photographer, and explorer. As a young kid, she traveled with her father from Oregon to Mexico without fear. She could also speak six languages fluently as a young woman. The most important and interesting thing about the lady is that she traveled almost all over the world and wrote about it for National Geographic. She also became an engaging lecturer and shared her travel stories.

Check out these superwomen from America who made a significant impact on the country’s history through their contributions.