Her Stories of The World

The World History of Women "History is Herstory Too"-Anonymous

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An interview with Obiageli Ezewesili about the missing schoolgirls in Nigeria and the power of hope.

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Detail of a Roman statue of Venus Genetrix, 2nd century CE. Marble.

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Malalai Joya

Human rights activist Malalai Joya was born on April 25, 1978 in Farah Province, Afghanistan. When Afghanistan was under Taliban rule, Joya ran a secret school for girls, and she later established a clinic for poor women. After the Taliban were overthrown, she became known for publicly denouncing the warlords that came to power. She became a member of Parliament in 2005, and continued to decry the presence of criminals in the Afghan legislature- at great risk to her personal safety. Many of these warlords were also members of Parliament, and voted to remove her. Joya has faced multiple attempts on her life, and has been called “the bravest woman in Afghanistan”.

Happy birthday, Malalai Joya!

(image source)

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FEMALE PHYSICIANS IN ANCIENT EGYPT: 

A famous story from Greece relates how a young woman named Agnodice wished to become a doctor in Athens but found this forbidden. In fact, a woman practicing medicine in Athens in the 4th century BCE faced the death penalty. Refusing to give up on her dreams, she traveled to Alexandria where women were routinely allowed in the medical profession. Once she had received her training, she returned to Athens to practice but did so disguised as a man. When she was found to be a woman ‘pretending’ to be a doctor she was brought to trial charged with a capital crime until she was saved by her female patients who stormed the proceedings and shamed the prosecuting males into releasing her.

Following Agnodice’s trial, the laws were changed in Athens so women could now practice medicine, but by this time, female physicians were known in Egypt for centuries. The evidence for women in the medical field in Egypt, however, has been largely ignored by historians for the past century.

Read More 

Article by Joshua J. Mark on AHE

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Unity Dow

Unity Dow was born on April 23, 1959 in what is now Botswana. Dow was the first woman to appointed to Botswana’s high court, and during her tenure as a judge, ruled on what had been the country’s longest and costliest trial to date. She has had a successful career as a criminal prosecutor and a defense attorney, and garnered national attention as the plaintiff in a lawsuit that forced Botswana to recognize matrilineal citizenship.

Happy birthday, Unity Dow!

(image source-cropped from original)

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3294 points and 69 comments so far on reddit

Glamour shot for Josephine Baker in “La Revue des Revues”, 1927

(Wikimedia Commons)

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Born on this day…

Carole Robertson      

April 24, 1949-September 15, 1963

One of the four little girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing in 1963. Carole was 14 years-old. The other girls were Addie Mae Collins (14), Carol Denise McNair (11), and Cynthia Wesley (14).

Quick Read:

Carole Robertson Biography

Photo Source

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Esther “Auntie Ocloo” Afua Ocloo- (April 18, 1919-February 8, 2002)- Ghanaian entrepreneur and businesswoman who began entrepreneurship in the 1930s as a teen with less than a dollar.  A pioneer of micro-lending, the practice of creating small loans to grow businesses, Mrs. Ocloo co-founded the micro-lending organization, Women’s World Banking (WWB). Her service in women’s empowerment and economic stability earned her the African Prize For Leadership in 1990.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Ghana Web

Al-Jazeera

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Woman, Healer, Goddess? Famous (and Forbidden) Female Physicians in the Ancient World

Throughout history, women have always been healers. They were pharmacists, cultivating healing herbs and exchanging the secrets of their uses. They were also nurses, counselors, midwives who traveled from home to home and village to village.

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Marion O. Donovan (October 15, 1917-November 4, 1998)- Mompreneur and Inventor. She invented the  waterproof disposable diaper, which earned her a place in the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 2015. Read more about Mrs. Donovan’s life and achievements  here and here.

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Urraca the Reckless: How Did a Child Bride Unify a Kingdom?

Stories of strong and successful queens are not too rare in the history of the last millennium of Europe. One with a particularly fine legacy is that of Urraca I of Leon, Empress of All the Spains in the 12th Century. She inherited a splintering kingdom from her father, Alfonso VI, but used her significant talent for diplomacy and governance to unify and bring peace to her nation. A child bride at 8, and dead in childbirth at 47, this powerful woman certainly shone brightly. But what made her such a star?

Read more…

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Happy international women’s day

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Women’s History Month – Dr. Rosalind Franklin, Pioneer Molecular Biologist and Uncredited for Discovering Double Helix Structure of DNA

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25 essential reads to make Women’s History last longer than a month