Alice Roosevelt Longworth was the oldest daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. She grew up to become just as outspoken and strong-willed as her father. Alice was the most unconventional first daughter ever to live in the White House. She became a Washington socialite and political power broker with a keen intellect and a razor-sharp tongue.Continue reading “The Spirited Alice Roosevelt Longworth – Teddy’s Oldest Daughter”
Category Archives: Historic Heroines
Rosalind Franklin and the DNA Double Helix
Dr. Rosalind Franklin was the trailblazing scientist whose first photo of DNA revealed its secret double-helix structure. Her critical contribution however went largely unrecognized for nearly 50 years. James Watson and Francis Crick are the famous British scientists credited with discovering the DNA double helix. They came up with it, however, only after borrowing dataContinue reading “Rosalind Franklin and the DNA Double Helix”
Diane de Poitiers, Royal Mistress Extraordinaire
Diane de Poitiers was a remarkable 16th century courtesan, the mistress of French King Henri II. She wielded considerable power and influence at the French court, garnering considerable wealth along the way. All this, despite a royal rivalry between Diane and Henry’s wife, Queen Catherine de Medici. The Queen and Diane loathed each other andContinue reading “Diane de Poitiers, Royal Mistress Extraordinaire”
History’s Greatest Pirate was the Pirate Queen
Who was the greatest pirate in history? Blackbeard? Captain Kidd? Jean Lafitte? None of them come close to the exploits of Ching Shih, aka Zheng Sao, Hsi Kai, or Shi Yang, depending on the historical source. She terrorized the South China Seas in the first half of the 1800’s–a time when Chinese women had fewContinue reading “History’s Greatest Pirate was the Pirate Queen”
France’s Chevalier d’Eon, the First Trans Aristocrat
When the Chevalier d’Eon left France in 1762, he was a diplomat, a spy, a Dragoon captain, and a man. When she returned in 1777, at the age of 49, she was a celebrity, a writer, a fencer, and a woman—by declaration by the government of France. Chevalier d’Eon was born Charles d’Eon de Beaumont, andContinue reading “France’s Chevalier d’Eon, the First Trans Aristocrat”
The Daring Harriet Quimby, Queen of the Air
Most everyone knows the name Emilia Earhart, the famous female pilot lost at sea in 1937. But few remember another ground-breaking female aviator named Harriet Quimby. She was famous a decade before, and was an inspiration to, Emilia Earhart. Today, only aviation buffs know that Quimby was the first American woman to earn a pilot’sContinue reading “The Daring Harriet Quimby, Queen of the Air”
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring and the birth of the Environmental Movement
Rachel Carson was a writer, marine biologist, and environmentalist who, in the early 1960’s, alerted the world to the ecological dangers of pesticides and fertilizers. Her best-selling book, 1962’s Silent Spring outlined the environmental dangers of chemical pesticides in particular. It led to a Kennedy presidential advisory commission that endorsed her findings. Her book ultimatelyContinue reading “Rachel Carson, Silent Spring and the birth of the Environmental Movement”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a Living Saint to the Poor
Most people remember Mother Teresa as a tiny, frail, Catholic nun in a white habit; her weathered face lined with deep creases. She was always seen tending to the poor, sick and dying in India, or other Third World countries, usually with an impossibly warm smile on her face. But there was so much more to this determined, faith-driven woman than just that singular image.
Marguerite Alibert – from Prostitute to Princes
Marguerite Alibert was a very resourceful Frenchwoman who lived many different lives. She had gone from poverty to prostitution to princes – not just one prince, but two, from different countries. She managed to transform herself from a prostitute, to a consort, to a defendant in the trial of her husband’s murder.
Belle Starr, Outlaw Queen of the American Wild West
elle Starr was an infamous fugitive in the American “Wild West” of the late 1800’s. She was connected with such famous outlaws as Jesse and Frank James, and was arrested several times herself. She’s been credited with a long list of crimes, but was she truly the Bandit Queen as the newspapers made her out to be?