“I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man’s work for less than a man’s pay.”

—Clara Barton, a nurse who founded the American Red Cross in 1881

“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”

—Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister
of the United Kingdom

“The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers.”

—Juliette Gordon Low, who founded Girl Scouts of America in 1912

“In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.”

—Wilma Mankiller, who became the first woman elected to be chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985

As co-founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association and founder of the American Equal Rights Association, Susan B. Anthony advocated for voting rights for 50 years and made women’s suffrage a recognized cause in both the United States and Europe.

Along with Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention (July 19–20, 1848), the first women's rights assembly in America. There, Stanton drafted the “Declaration of Sentiments . . .,” which paralleled the wording of the Declaration of Independence and insisted on women’s suffrage.

Sojourner Truth was a preacher, abolitionist, and leading orator for black emancipation and women's suffrage. Her most famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?,”  highlighted the importance of eliminating both racial and gender-based oppression.

A founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Ida B. Wells was an African American journalist and civil rights activist who launched a far-reaching antilynching crusade and organized and demonstrated on behalf of women’s suffrage.