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By the time Anna Howard Shaw was barely twelve years old, she had crossed the stormy Atlantic (one and a half times), survived a grueling journey from Massachusetts to the unexplored woods of Michigan, and helped create a house and home in the middle of nowhere. By most measures, Anna Howard Shaw's life was hard and filled with struggle.

But a life in the North American wilderness also had many pleasures. Anna was young, happy, and strong. What Anna didn't have was school.

With incredible fortitude and purpose, not only did Anna go on to teach school herself, she also accomplished a great many other things, including helping to win the right to vote for women. With his magical storytelling and radiant artwork, Don Brown welcomes us into the pioneer life of a most extraordinary woman.

--Houghton Mifflin Company

Anna Howard Shaw, born February 14, 1847, immigrated with her family from England in 1851 settling in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1859, her father, believing they would experience a better life in the West, established a homestead in Michigan where their closet neighbor was six miles away; the post office, forty miles; and the railroad, one hundred miles.

Anna had a strong desire to "talk to people and tell them things….Just why, just what, I did not yet know, but I began to preach in the silent woods, to stand on stumps and address the unresponsive trees."

Anna's pioneer experience and wilderness stump speeches set the course for the rest of her life. At the age of 15, Anna became the mistress of a small log schoolhouse. Feeling unfulfilled by her small audience of students, she quit teaching and became a seamstress. Encouraged by a woman minister to get a better education, Anna enrolled in Boston University School of Theology from which she graduated (the second woman graduate) in 1878. She was one of the first women to be ordained in any branch of Methodism by the New York Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church in 1880. Anna would later earn a medical degree from Boston University and become a "master orator" for social justice concerns and lecture throughout the world for temperance, peace, and women’s suffrage with her friend and colleague Susan B. Anthony.

Anna Howard Shaw was first woman awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for her work as chair of the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Defense during World War I, and was an advocate for the League of Nations.

In 2000, Anna was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY, birthplace of women's rights.

Learn More:

The Story of a Pioneer (Autobiography of Anna Howard Shaw) 1915 [Book downloadable free at Project Gutenberg]

Anna Howard Shaw's induction into National Women's Hall of Fame in October 2000

[The Fundamental Principle of a Republic Speech 1915 New York State equal suffrage campaign]

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Born a slave in 1862, Ida B.Wells went on to become one of our nation's earliest civil rights leaders. She helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and fought for women's voting rights. In 1892, Ida began a crusade that would prove to be her main life's work. Through her writing and her speaking engagements, she carried out a national campaign against the intolerable practice of lynching—the hanging, burning, or shooting of a person without a trial. Her outspokenness put her in grave danger time and time again, but Ida would not be silenced. By the time of her death in 1931, lynching in the United States had disappeared almost entirely, due largely to her efforts.

Here Dennis and Judith Fradin thoughtfully recount the achievements of Ida B. Wells, the spiritual mother of the civil rights movement, bringing this strong and intelligent woman vividly to life. Striking archival photographs and prints appear throughout this well researched and accessible book.

--Clarion Books

[Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), A Passion for Justice - Questions to Think About]

[WebQuest for Middle School]

IDA B. WELLS, CRUSADER FOR JUSTICE : The story goes like this: Ida B. Wells bought a first-class ticket on a local Memphis-to-Woodstock line operated by the Chesapeake, Ohio, and Southwestern Railroad Company. After she took a seat in the ladies' coach she was asked by the conductor to move to the forward car, a smoker reserved for people who smoked. Wells refused and was forced to leave the train. When she returned to Memphis, she filed a suit against the railroad company. In December 1887, the Memphis court ruled in her favor and awarded her $500.00 damage.

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Remarkable true stories of the most amazing women in U.S. history…

They were passionate and fearless, outspoken and adventurous. They negotiated peace treaties, fought in wars, managed businesses and, plantations, and spoke out against Injustice. They were entrepreneurs, artists, and leaders. These Outrageous Women of Colonial America, with their daring exploits and brave deeds, won a place, In history and helped to forge a new country.

Among the outrageous women you'll meet are:

Deborah Samson—the fearless, Massachusetts servant girl who disguised herself as a man and ran away to become the first female soldier in America to fight in battle.

Anne Bailey—the, fiery 32-year-old Widow who donned her husband's buckskin jacket and took his place scouting In the wilderness.

Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman—a slave, who won her freedom in a landmark court case in the 1780s, ditched the slave name her master had given her, and inspired others to follow in her footsteps.

Peggy Arnold—the bold wife of Benedict Arnold, who conspired with her notorious husband and became the highest paid spy of the American Revolution.

--John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

BRAVE HARRIET: The First Woman to Fly the English Channel
By Marissa Moss

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Based on the life of Harriet Quimby, the first American woman to receive a pilot's license and the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel (1912). Her feat was overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic. [Learn more about Harriet Quimby]   [PBS Chasing the Sun]