This special day for all women is about the celebration of being a woman. Not just on this occasion, but . . . every day, reach out to all the women you admire who have achieved success. Let all your friends, family, and acquaintances know how much you value knowing them. International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on February 28th. 1909.   This year it is celebrated March 8th. 2005.

I was very surprised to find so many names when I began my search for special women. This list contains approximately 110 names. Please forgive me if I left out other important women, it is only because I had to stop somewhere. It is my hope that you enjoy reading each name as much as I enjoyed writing my tribute to so many women who made a difference. If you have a special woman's name - please e-mail me and I will add them to this list.        info@mattia.ca

QUEEN ISABELLA
Her patronage of Christopher Columbus made his trips to the
New World possible.

MARTHA WASHINGTON

First First Lady of the United States.

POCAHONTAS
The Powhatan princess who saved the life of Captain John Smith.

MOLLY PITCHER
Mary Hayes McCauley earned the name Molly Pitcher by carrying
water to the men in the battle of Monmouth.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
American diplomat, writer, social reformer, and First Lady to
Franklin D. Roosevelt.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY
Feminist who spent more than 50 years fighting for women's rights.

VIRGINIA DARE
First European child born on American soil, in 1587.

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
American author famous for her books Little Women and Little Men.

FRANCES E. WILLARD
Educator, reformer, lecturer, and women's suffrage supporter.

JANE ADDAMS
Founder of Hull House in Chicago, a social welfare center.

CLARA BARTON
Founded the American Red Cross.

JULIETTE GORDON LOW
Founded the Girl Scouts of America.

MOINA MICHAEL
Initiated the Veterans of Foreign Wars fundraising drive
selling red poppies in 1915.

BETSY ROSS
America's most famous flagmaker.

SACAJAWEA
Shoshone guide who led the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1954.

AMELIA EARHART
First woman to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.

MARY CASSATT
American painter best known for her works of mothers and children.

LUCY STONE
Nineteenth century abolitionist and women's rights leader.

GRANDMA MOSES
Anna Mary Robertson Moses took up painting at the age of 76.
She continued to paint until her death at age 101.

EMILY DICKINSON
American poet who wrote more than 1,700 poems.

WILLA CATHER
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist.

DR. ELIZABETH BLACKWELL
First woman physician in the U.S.

SYBIL LUDINGTON
Sixteen-year-old Revolutionary War hero.

CLARA MAASS
Twenty-five-year-old U.S. Army nurse who advanced medical science
when she volunteered to be bitten by a mosquito carrying yellow fever.

HARRIET TUBMAN
Leader of the Underground Railroad, which brought slaves to freedom.

EMILY BISSELL
Leader in the fight against tuberculosis who introduced
Christmas seals in the United States.

HELEN KELLER
Famous student who overcame tremendous handicaps and her
extraordinary teacher.

DOLLEY MADISON
First Lady who saved White House treasures during the
capture of the capital by the British in 1814

FRANCES PERKINS
First woman member of the presidential Cabinet
(Secretary of Labor) appointed by F.D. Roosevelt.

EDITH WHARTON
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist known for her novels
Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence.

RACHEL CARSON
The publication of her book Silent Spring 1961, touched
off a major controversy over the effects of pesticides.

EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY
American poet whose work was first published when she
was just 14 years old.

MILDRED (BABE) DIDRIKSON ZAHARIAS
One of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century. She
excelled in track, golf, baseball, and basketball.

DR. MARY WALKER
Devoted herself to the care and treatment of the sick and
wounded during the Civil War.

DOROTHEA DIX
Nineteenth-century crusader for the poor and mentally handicapped.

PEARL S. BUCK
Author of more than 100 books, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize
for The Good Earth.

LILLIAN M. GILBRETH
Engineering pioneer who analyzed how tasks are done, hoping to
increase the efficiency of workers.

ABIGAIL ADAMS
First Lady to John Adams, she influenced American politics through
her letters to her husband.

MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE
Educator and social activist who founded the Daytona Educational
and Industrial Training
School for Negro Girls, currently known as Bethune-Cookman College.

BELVA ANN LOCKWOOD
First woman candidate for president.

MARGARET MITCHELL
Pulitzer Prize-winning author best known for Gone with the Wind.

SOJOURNER TRUTH
Born Isabella Baumfree, she was the first black woman
to speak publicly against slavery.

JULIA WARD HOWE
Composer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

MARY LYON
Education pioneer who founded Mount Holyoke College.

HELENE MADISON
1932 - Olympic Games in swimming.

MARIANNE MOORE
Poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1951 for her Collected Poems.

IDA WELLS
Civil rights activist who cofounded the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People.

HAZEL WIGHTMAN
Olympic gold medalist credited with doing more to build American and
international women's tennis than any other player.

FANNY BRICE
Singer and comedienne who created the “Baby Snooks”
radio character.

HARRIET QUIMBY
First American woman pilot to fly the English Channel.

DOROTHY PARKER
Poet and short story writer.

PATSY CLINE
Popular American country singer.

GRACE KELLY
American film actress.

DINAH WASHINGTON
“Queen of the Blues.”

CLARA BOW
ZASU PITTS
THEDA BARA
Silent film actresses.

NELLIE CASHMAN
The “Angel of Tombstone,” an anti-violence advocate
who raised orphans and campaigned against public hanging.

ETHEL WATERS
BESSIE SMITH
BILLIE HOLIDAY
ETHEL MERMAN
MILDRED BAILEY
Famous American singers.

ANNIE OAKLEY
American sharpshooter.

VIRGINIA APGAR
Doctor who developed a newborn assessment method.

RUTH BENEDICT
American anthropologist.

MARY CHESNUT, PHOEBE PEMBER
Heroic Confederate women.

BESSIE COLEMAN
First woman to earn an international pilot's license.

ALICE HAMILTON
Pioneer in industrial medicine.

MARILYN MONROE
American film actress.

ALICE PAUL
Founder of National Women's Party and
author of the Equal Rights Amendment.

JACQUELINE COCHRAN
Pioneer pilot who had more than 200 aviation records, firsts,
and awards. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier.

GEORGIA O'KEEFFE
Abstract American painter. Her most famous and popular
works are of huge flowers.

DOROTHY FIELDS
Song writer of the 1920s and 1930s. She wrote the words for “
On the Sunny Side of the Street.”

ROSA PONSELLE
LILY PONS
Opera singers.

MARY BRECKINRIDGE
Founder of the Frontier Nursing Service.

MAHALIA JACKSON
ROBERTA MARTIN
SISTER ROSETTA THARPE
CLARA WARD
Gospel singers.

MARGARET MEAD
Famous anthropologist who studied child rearing, personality,
and culture, mainly in the South Pacific.

MADAME C. J. WALKER
African American who became one of the wealthiest women in
the 1910s by developing and selling hair care products.

AYN RAND
Author of the novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

PATRICIA ROBERTS HARRIS
Lawyer and political adviser; in 1977 she became the first
African American woman named to a presidential cabinet.

LOUISE NEVELSON
Twentieth-century American sculptor who worked with wood,
metals, and found objects.

HATTIE WYATT CARAWAY
First woman elected to U.S. Senate.

ROSE O'NEILL
American illustrator.

LUCILLE BALL
Famed American comedienne and actress.

FRIDA KAHLO
Influential Mexican artist.

NELLIE BLY
MARGUERITE HIGGINS
ETHEL PAYNE
IDA TARBELL
Journalists.

Born: August 26, 1910 – Died: September 5, 1997
When Mother Teresa received her Nobel Prize,
she was asked the question, "What can we do to
promote world peace?" She replied...
"Go home and love your family." -- Mother Teresa

ELIZABETH ARDEN Born as Florence Nightingale Graham in 1884 in Woodbridge, Ontario. She first trained to be a nurse before she realized that she "not only wanted to make people well, but she wanted to make them beautiful." She moved to the U.S. at 25 and got a job as a secretary for a cosmetics firm. After a while she borrowed some money, and opened up a beauty salon. This is when she changed her name to Elizabeth Arden. She hired chemists to make skin creams, this helped her salon become an immediate success. Elizabeth died in 1966.

MARGARET LAURENCE Small town Ontario author recently deceased. She was born and raised in Neepawa, Manitoba. Famous for the novels Stone Angel, and The Diviners. She won the Governor General's Award twice, for The Diviners, and A Jest of God (made into the film Rachel, Rachel).

MARGARET ATWOOD Is an author among other things. She was born November 18, 1939 in Ottawa. Her reputation as a poet was established with The Circle Game in 1966 for which she was awarded the Governor General's award. In 1969 she published The Edible Woman, and in 1972 she published Surfacing, her best known novel yet. 1980 she became the vice-chairman of the writer's union of Canada. Margaret has had continued critical success since the 1960s.

CAIRINE WILSON Born in 1885 in Montreal to a Liberal senator. She became a member of the Liberal women's comittee, and the first woman appointed to the Senate (1930). She passed away in 1962.

LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY Author of Anne of Green Gables.

LYNN JOHNSTON Creator of the For Better or For Worse comic strip.

CÉLINE DION Céline was born in Charlemagne, Quebec, on March 30, 1968, the youngest of 14 children to Adhemar and Thérese. When Céline was 12 she decided that singing was the only career for her. With the help of her mother, a demo song for Céline was written and sent to Rene Angelil. Rene is still her manager, as well as her husband.

CARRIE DERICK - 1862-1941 Scientific research in Canada. NELLIE MCCLUNG - 1873-1951 Remembered for her role in the famous "Person's Case" which saw Canadian women declared persons in 1929. GABRIELLE ROY Born in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, March 22, 1909 - died: 1983 1943 she wrote a series of articles on the poor in Montreal which formed the basis for her first novel, Bonheur d'occasion (The Tin Flute), published in 1945. The novel told the story of the impact of World War II on the lives of a poor family living in the Saint-Henri district in Montreal, and it was an instant hit. The Tin Flute was eventually translated into 15 languages and won the Prix Femina in Paris and the Literary Guild of America Award in New York. In 1947 she was the first woman admitted to the Royal Society of Canada and won her first Governor General's Award for the English translation. PORTIA WHITE - 1911-1968 A teacher and musician of African-Nova Scotian descent, achieved international fame as a classical concert singer in the 1940s and 1950s. SANDRA LOVELACE A Maliseet woman from the Tobique Reserve in New Brunswick, belongs to the second wave of feminism of Canada. Thanks to her successful appeal to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, Native women in Canada no longer lose their status under the Indian Act through marriage to a non-Native man. KIM CAMPBELL Elected leader of the Progressive Party of Canada on June 13, 1993. She became the first woman to serve as Prime Minister of Canada. ANNE MURRAY Born Spring Hill, Nova Scotia Canadian Song Writer and Singer

SOJOURNER TRUTH HARRIET TUBMAN

AMELIA EARHART GEORGIA O'KEEFE

WILLA CATHER EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY


SUSAN B. ANTHONY
The first woman to appear on U.S. coinage. A one-dollar coin was minted in 1979.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY WOSIB SISTERS - GARDEN of DESIGNERS For their creative thought in designing the top graphic for International Women's Day.

©dmDesign

INDEX
To my knowledge these names and all this information are not copyrighted.
They are published in many places on the Internet, along with these photos.
If they are a copyright, they will be removed or proper credit will be given.