March is Women's History Month, and the celebration of this month around the world has definitely increased the knowledge of women's contributions to history and society. However, the month tends to focus mainly on relatively well-known women. It is certainly important to celebrate and honor these women, but it is also crucial to spread awareness of other women who have fought for what they believed in and changed the course of history. Here are seven women I've recently learned about who I think need more credit.
Dolores Huerta
Most people have heard of Cesar Chavez, but his female counterpart, Dolores Huerta, is often forgotten about. Huerta and Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association to fight for better working conditions for farmers and migrant workers, but she is also a women rights advocate. She was nearly killed by a police officer during a protest, but she didn't let that stop her from fighting for equality for men and women of all races.
"My mother was a dominant force in our family. And I always saw her as the leader. And that was great for me as a young woman, because I never saw that women had to be dominated by men."
Truus and Freddie Oversteegen and Hannie Schaft
Truus and Freddie Oversteegen and Hannie Schaft were members of the Dutch resistance during World War II. They would lure Nazis into the forest and kill them. They also wore disguises and smuggled Jewish children across the country to get them to safety and sometimes even smuggled them out of concentration camps. Hannie Schaft was captured, tortured, and murdered by Nazis just days before the liberation of the Netherlands.
"Yes, I've shot a gun myself and I've seen them fall. And what is inside us at such a moment? You want to help them get up."
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was a big-time Hollywood actress whose acting career was full of firsts and surrounded by scandal (she might have portrayed the first on-screen orgasm). More than that, however, she and George Antheil teamed up during World War II to create a "secret communications system" that would encrypt radio signals traveling between devices. This invention is the basis for most of the modern technology we can't imagine our lives without- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and some cell phones.
"My mother always called me an ugly weed, so I never was aware of anything until I was older. Plain girls should have someone telling them they are beautiful. Sometimes this works miracles."
Berta Cáceres
Berta Cáceres was an environmentalist from Honduras who was actually murdered for her activism. She fought against land developers for the protection of the Gualcarque River, which is a critical source of food and water for the indigenous Lenca people. She also founded the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras to fight for the protection of the indigenous people.
"Let us wake up, humankind! We're out of time. We must shake our conscious free from the rapacious capitalism, racism, and patriarchy that will only assure our own self-destruction."
Lilly Ledbetter
Lilly Ledbetter was the plaintiff in the employment discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that challenged the wage gap between genders. She lobbied for a decade for equal wage, and after she was ruled against by the Supreme Court, she became the namesake for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which made it easier for women to file gender discrimination cases and receive compensation.
"I'll be happy if the last thing they say about me after I die is that I made a difference."