#adventuresses

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Happy International Women's Day!

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Shieldmaiden!

Fiddling with some shieldmaiden designs based on PJ's Rohirrim aesthetics. I think I'll do one for each of the Adventures in Middle Earth classes. Dual-wielding Slayer design with a shield for backup!

Link: https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D56151658/

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Happy Emmeline Pankhurst Day! Celebrating the life and legacy of the early and legendary leader in the suffragist movement on what would reportedly be her 167th birthday!

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Celebrating Amelia Earhart Day on what would have been her 128th birthday!

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Mary Alice Nelson was born in 1903 on Indian Island, Maine, part of the Penobscot Reservation. The oldest child of a tribal official and a prominent Penobscot artisan, Mary Alice began performing traditional Penobscot dances for tourists when she was 13. Before long, she was making her living dancing on the vaudeville circuit.

She left the limelight behind to study anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. After only two years, though, the money ran out, so she returned to modeling and dancing, adopting the stage name Molly Spotted Elk. She was a success, causing a sensation everywhere she went, although catering to the attitudes of the day meant dancing in an abbreviated buckskin costume, (or less,) and acting out common stereotypes of Indigenous People. It was during this time that she started a second career as a writer.

It wasn’t long before Hollywood called. Spotted Elk was cast as Neewa, the female lead, in 1930s “The Silent Enemy.” One of Paramount’s last silent films, this groundbreaking production about pre-contact Ojibway life featured an all-Indigenous cast and set out to break stereotypes and myths. Sadly, it was a flop. Spotted Elk would appear in supporting roles in a couple more films, but never again had a lead role.

In 1931 Molly Spotted Elk began performing in France, where she found the audiences to be much more open to actual traditional dances than American audiences had been. She also found love with French journalist John Archambaud. The pair would marry, have a daughter they named Jean, and were by all accounts happy.

Until the war came.

Archambaud was an outspoken anti-Nazi, which made him a target. When Germany invaded, John was separated from Molly and their daughter. They never saw him again. Molly and Jean escaped over the Pyrenees to Portugal – mostly on foot. Jean would later recall, “We walked, we ran, we rode ambulances. A newsman picked us up once, and my mother always claimed it was Howard K. Smith. Adventure always followed her even in adversity.”

Spotted Elk returned to performing in New York, retiring from the stage in the early 1950s. She spent the rest of her life on Indian Island. Mary Alice Archambaud/Molly Spotted Elk died on February 21, 1977. Her writings have been collected into the book, “Katahdin: Wigwam’s Tales of the Abnaki Tribe”, published by the Maine Folklife Center.

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Adventuresses We Love – Sophie Scholl Sophie Scholl did not set out to be an activist and revolutionary. At the age of 12, she and most of her classmates joined the League of German Girls, the female branch of the Hitler Youth. While initially enthusiastic, she quickly grew disillusioned with the Nazis, a view shared by her family and those within her circle. In 1942, she joined her brother, Hans, in the anti-fascist White Rose movement.

The White Rose practiced passive resistance against the Hitler regime. Their primary “weapon” was leaflets designed to inspire Germany’s intelligentsia to rise up and overthrow the Nazis. On 18 February 1943, Sophie and her brother, Hans, were distributing such leaflets at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich when their activities were spotted by the university’s maintenance man, Jakob Schmid. Schmid, an ardent Nazi, turned them in to the Gestapo.

On 22 February 1943, Sophie, Hans, and their fellow White Rose, Christopher Probst, were put on trial. During the trial, Sophie was recorded as saying:

“Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did.”

It was a show trial. All three were convicted of High Treason and sentenced to death. While awaiting her faith, Sophie is reported to have said to her cellmate, Else Gebel,

“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause… It is such a splendid sunny day, and I have to go. But how many have to die on the battlefield in these days, how many young, promising lives. What does my death matter if by our acts thousands are warned and alerted.”

Adventuress Sophie Scholl was beheaded at 5:00 pm, 22 February 1943. She was 21. Her brother, Hans Scholl, was executed at 5:02 pm, and Christopher Probst at 5:05.

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Adventuresses We Love – Aisha Bowe It was her interest in science fiction and a passion for mathematics that led Adventuress Aisha Bowe to a career in aerospace engineering. After earning her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and her master’s in space systems engineering, she joined NASA’s Aviation Systems Division. Her work focused on developing algorithms in support of Air Traffic Management. It was during her time with NASA that she also began mentoring students and advocating for global STEM education.

In 2013, Bowe left NASA to found STEMBoard, a professional advisory consultancy focusing on STEM fields. “STEMBoard” she says, “was founded on the principles of integrity, diversity, and inclusion. We are the crossroads where passion, ingenuity, and intelligence thrive.”

In 2022, she’d go on to found LINGO, an edtech company helping students around the world gain essential tech skills for hardware and software design.

For her STEM advocacy work, Bowe was named the 2024 STEM for Her Woman of the Year. She’s also been awarded NASA’s Engineering Honor Award, and several others.

On 14 April 2025, Adventuress Aisha Bowe flew aboard Blue Origin NS-31, becoming the 6th Black woman, and 1st person of Bahamian descent, to fly into space. She partnered with Winston-Salem State University’s Astrobotany lab to conduct plant biology experiments during the mission. During the brief window of the flight, she also conducted experiments in human physiology.

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Adventuresses We Love - Shirley Chisholm Adventuress Shirley Chisholm could be neither bought nor bossed. The daughter of immigrants, Chisholm’s first foray into politics was a run to represent her Brooklyn district in the New York State Assembly. It was not an easy campaign, with many in the Democratic party establishment reluctant to back a woman candidate. By appealing directly to women voters, and not being afraid to step on some toes when needed, Chisholm was able to secure the Democratic nomination and, ultimately, win the seat. She served in the New York Assembly from 1965 – 68, championing civil rights, workers’ rights, and education.

In 1968, Chisholm was elected to the House of Representatives by a 2-to-1 margin over her opponent, and in so doing became the first Black woman elected to Congress. She was initially assigned to the agricultural committee, despite coming from a very urban congressional district. While less than happy about the assignment, she used that seat to help expand food assistance programs, including working with Bob Dole to help create WIC.

In 1971, she helped create the Congressional Black Caucus and National Women’s Political Caucus.

In 1972, Chisholm set her sights even higher with a Presidential run, becoming the first Black person to run for a major party’s nomination, the first woman to try for the Democratic nomination, the first woman to appear in a Presidential debate. Her campaign was underfunded, and she was largely ignored by the Party establishment and her male colleagues, yet she’d still go on to win 153 first-round delegates at the Democratic convention before ultimately losing to George McGovern. (McGovern would ultimately lose the general election to incumbent President Richard Nixon.)

Returning to Congress, Chisholm continued to work for civil rights, workers’ rights, and the expansion of education, health care, and other social services, while also fighting against the war in Vietnam and the draft. She also became a mentor for a new generation of women Representatives. Chisholm retired from Congress in January 1983.

After a series of strokes, Adventuress Shirley Chisholm died January 1, 2005, at the age of 80. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in November 2015, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2024.