American history is filled with stories of women, most unknown, who made their own way, defied societal expectation and command, and bravely and independently pushed down doors, ignorance, harassment and even threats to their lives and well being. Women such as Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who in a 1912 New York Times article was cited as “the symbol of the new era, when all women will be free and unhampered.” She was just 16 years old at the time and was already gaining notoriety for her work as a suffragist who had led over 10,000 in the New York suffrage parade. Mabel would go on to become the first Chinese woman to get a PhD in economics. Think of Maria Mitchell, born who on Natucket in 1818. In 1847 at the age of 29 Maria discovered a comet. She was the first female astronomer in the United States, and was also the first American scientist to discover a comet! Maria was a strong advocate for science and math education for girls and became the first female astronomy professor. Then there is Charlotta Spears Bass. Throughout the first half of the 20th century Charlotta was the editor of the African American newspaper The California Eagle. She worked as a journalist, civil rights activist, and politician...she was also the first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States in 1952. Charlotta dedicated her work to fighting what she called “The two-headed monster, Segregation and Discrimination.”