She Thought It

'She Thought It: Crossing Bodies in Sciences and Arts' is a public database that provides information about women in science and arts.

[fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors]

Director Rungano Nyoni photographed by Stephan Vanfleteren.

[celebratingamazingwomen]

Ruby Payne-Scott (1912-1981) was the first female radio astronomer. She was a pioneer of the field, one of the first scientists to consider the possibility of studying celestial objects through radio frequencies.

She studied at the University of Sydney, and later started working at the Cancer Research Laboratory of the institute. She made significant contributions to solar radio astronomy, and discovered Type I and Type II bursts. During World War II she performed top secret work, and was involved in the detection of aircraft through radar displays.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Matilda Evans

Dr. Matilda Evans was born on May 13, 1872 in Aiken, South Carolina. Dr. Evans earned her medical degree in 1897, at a time when most medical schools did not admit African-Americans and the medical profession was mostly male-dominated. After graduating from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, she opened a successful practice in her home state, making her the first African-American woman in South Carolina to become a licensed physician. In 1901, she established Taylor Lane Hospital, the city of Columbia’s first black hospital.

Dr. Matilda Evans died in 1935.

[coolchicksfromhistory]

Madame J. C. De Veyra, wife of the Philippino Commissioner to the United States and president of the Woman’s Club of Manila which has led in the suffrage movement for women of the Philippines.

[fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors]

Sofia Coppola wins Best Director at Cannes 2017

The last woman to win Best Director at Cannes was Yuliya Solntseva in 1961 for The Story of the Flaming Years.  

Sofia Coppola won for The Beguiled. She was not able to attend the awards ceremony, but sent a speech which was read by director and Cannes jury member Maren Ade, in which she gave special thanks to writer/director Jane Campion for being a role model. 

[mariatallchief]

“Maria Tallchief took what had been a European art form and made it America’s own — how fitting that a Native American woman would do that.“ -President Bill Clinton, presenting the National Medal of Arts to Maria in 1999. 

[scientific-women]

Sexism in American society has been on the decline. Obstacles to female-bodied people excelling in previously male-only occupations and hobbies have lessened. And women have thrived in these spaces, sometimes even overtaking men both quantitatively and qualitatively. Another kind of bias, though, has gotten worse: the preference for masculinity over femininity. Today we like our men manly, just like we used to, but we like our women just a little bit manly, too. This is true especially when women expect to compete with men in masculine arenas.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Sepideh Jodeyri

Sepideh Jodeyri was born on May 23, 1976 in Ahvaz, Iran. Jodeyri published her first book, a poetry collection titled Dream of the Amphibious Girl, in 2000. Seven years later, she published a second volume of poetry called Some pink inclined to my blood. Jodeyri’s second and fourth books were censored heavily, and the fifth was outright banned from being published in Iran. When she translated Blue is the Warmest Color into Persian, she was declared a “persona non grata” in her home country, and was forced into exile.

Happy birthday, Sepideh Jodeyri!

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Matilda Evans

Dr. Matilda Evans was born on May 13, 1872 in Aiken, South Carolina. Dr. Evans earned her medical degree in 1897, at a time when most medical schools did not admit African-Americans and the medical profession was mostly male-dominated. After graduating from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, she opened a successful practice in her home state, making her the first African-American woman in South Carolina to become a licensed physician. In 1901, she established Taylor Lane Hospital, the city of Columbia’s first black hospital.

Dr. Matilda Evans died in 1935.

[celebratingamazingwomen]

Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) was a sculptor working mostly in the Neoclassical style, who was the first woman of African-American and Native American heritage to gain international fame in this art. She emerged as a figure in American mainstream art during the Civil War, and was the only black female artist recognized to any degree on the artistic scene.

She studied at Oberlin College, one of the first institutions to admit women and people of different ethnicities. She went on to begin a career in sculpting in Boston, and opened her studio to the public for her first solo exhibition in 1864. She later moved to Rome, Italy, where she created most of the works for which she became internationally known (such as Death of Cleopatra, photo above).

[celebratingamazingwomen]

Cheryl Dunye (b. 1966) is an academic and filmmaker, whose work focuses on issues of sexuality and race, particularly those surrounding the lives of black lesbians. She currently teaches at San Francisco State University.

Her 1996 film, The Watermelon Woman, has made history by being the first full-length feature film directed and written by a black lesbian about the subject. Another film, Stranger Inside, focuses on the experiences of African-American lesbians in prison. She has won numerous awards for her work, particularly in recognition of their promotion of LGBT themes.

[explore-blog]

Rosanne Cash reads Adrienne Rich’s tribute to Marie Curie. Performed at The Universe in Verse, where Cash prefaced her reading with a moving story about how science saved her life and what it taught her about the source of every artist’s power. 

Also from The Universe in Verse, hear Amanda Palmer’s reading of Neil Gaiman’s feminist poem about science, playwright Sarah Jones’s astonishing homage to Jane Goodall, and astrophysicist Janna Levin’s reading of Adrienne Rich’s “Planetarium,” a tribute to pioneering astronomer Caroline Herschel. 

[celebratingamazingwomen]

Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926) was the first African-American professional nurse in the United States. She graduated from the nursing school of the New England Hospital for Women and Children in 1879, challenging discrimination on account of both gender and race.

After graduation, she worked as a private nurse for mostly white families. In 1896 she became one of the original members of the American Nurses Association. However, since it discriminated against black nurses, she formed her own: the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

[lgbt-history-archive]

Dr. Marie Equi (April 7, 1872 – July 13, 1952), c. 1915. . Dr. Marie Equi, who was born one hundred and forty-five years ago today, was an American medical doctor, progressive political activist, and open lesbian whose radical politics—and particularly her vehement opposition to American involvement in World War I—led to her conviction and imprisonment under the Espionage Act. . Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Equi left life in the mills and joined her high school girlfriend, Bessie Holcomb, on an Oregon homestead. In 1897, the couple moved to San Francisco, where Equi began studying medicine; in 1903, Equi relocated to Portland, Oregon—without Holcomb—and completed her medical studies at the University of Oregon. She met Harriet Speckart, with whom she had her longest relationship, in 1905; the couple adopted an infant girl in 1915. . As one of the first sixty women to become a physician in Oregon, Dr. Equi focused her practice on the health concerns of women and children. At some point between 1905 and 1915, Equi started to provide abortions, often charging wealthy patients more for the procedure to help cover the costs for poorer patients. She also was an active member of Portland’s Birth Control League, disseminating information about birth control even when such activity was illegal. . Dr. Equi was involved with several campaigns to secure women’s right to vote in Oregon. . After supporting a 1913 workers’ strike, Equi’s politics grew increasingly radical. During the lead-up to World War I, she was particularly outspoken in her opposition to American involvement, and she continued to protest after the U.S. entered the war. Her resistance brought her to the attention of the American government and she soon faced charges under the Espionage Act; Equi served ten months in San Quentin State Prison. . After her release, Dr. Equi returned to her medical practice, and she led a relatively quiet life. . Dr. Marie Equi died on July 13, 1952; she was eighty. #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory #MarieEqui #Resist

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Kathrin Bringmann

Number theorist Kathrin Bringmann was born on May 8, 1977 in Münster, Germany. Bringmann has been recognized for her work on mock theta functions, including her progress toward answering Freeman Dyson’s challenge regarding such functions. She has won the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize, and was the third mathematician to win the Krupp Prize.

Happy birthday, Kathrin Bringmann!

(image source)

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Angel De Cora

Angel De Cora was born on May 3, 1871 in Thurston, Nebraska. Kidnapped from her family at a young age and sent to a school aimed at “civilizing” native children. It was there that she first displayed her artistic talent. She would later illustrate stories for Harper’s New Monthly magazine, as well as several books on Native American subjects. De Cora frequently traveled to teach about Native art and design, and was a major supporter of the Society of American Indians. De Cora was remarkable for her time as a Native painter, as well as a woman professional, both of which were unusual in her day.

Angel De Cora died in 1919 at the age of 47.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Higuchi Natsu

Higuchi Natsu, better known by her pen name, Ichiyō Higuchi, was born on May 2, 1872 in Tokyo, Japan. She began writing as a means of supporting her family after her father’s death, and became the most important Japanese woman writer of her day. Her style was characterized by a rejection of colloquialisms and its use of classical Japanese language. Higuchi’s 1895 story, “Growing Up” is regarded as her masterpiece.

Higuchi Natsu died of tuberculosis in 1896, at the age of 24.