Hi, my name is Hannah and I'm doing a project on women in history and I would like to know some of the women that contributed greatly in this country. I was wondering if you could please help me out?

Thanks for your note to FEMINIST.COM. There are so many women who have contributed greatly to American history. There are both the famous examples and the not-so-famous examples, but each group contributed equally to advancing the status of women throughout the century.

For instance, there was Rose Schneiderman who was a passionate labor organizer at the beginning of this century, but her work was successful in part because of her leadership and in part because of the women--and some men--who supported her. There is also Margaret Sanger, who fought for the birth control pill to be legal and also set up some of the first family planning clinics for women. There was Sojourner Truth who was very vocal about how race and gender were inseparable--they were parallel movements. There was Harriet Tubman, who helped blacks escape slavery in the south. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony--who were the most visible supporters of women having the right to vote. There was Madam CJ Walker who was one of the first female millionnaires--proving that women could be successful in business. There was Diane Eck who bravely integrated Little Rock's Central High School. And Milianna Trask who is currently fighting for Hawaii to regain its status as a sovreign state.

See, there is so much to choose from. I hope some of these women pique your interest. To learn more you can to go the National Women's Hall of Fame and the National Women's History Project.

—Amy