Tag Archives: kickass women in history

Kickass Women in History: Zabel Yesayan

Zabel Yesayan, a kickass Armenian woman, survived the Armenian Genocide, exile, and WWI, all while reporting on and speaking out about injustice. She was a feminist and a pacifist, as well as a reporter who told the world about the Armenian Genocide and its impact with passion and empathy. She was an unconventional wife and mother who spent long periods away from her family, assisting Armenian refugees and reporting on the many atrocities that she … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Zabel Yesayan

Kickass Women in History: Rusty Kanokogi

This edition of Kickass Women in History is by Pam G. PamG’s most interesting era was middle age when she returned to school to earn a BA in English, spent a decade practicing judo with family and friends, and subsequently converted to devout Band Boosterism when her daughter embraced the cult of Marching Band. Ms G is currently spending her twilight years wrangling teenagers in her alma mater’s library media center by day and her … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Rusty Kanokogi

Kickass Women in History: Lesya Ukrainka and Olha Petrovna Kosach-Kryvyniuk

This month’s Kickass Women in History is all about two kickass sisters from Ukraine, Lesya Ukrainka (born Larysa Petrivna Kosach) and her sister, Olha Petrovna Kosach-Kryvyniuk. These two sisters were literary powerhouses and feminist activists. The sisters came from a literary family. Their mother, Kickass Woman Olha Petrivna Kosach, who used the pen name Olena Pchilka, was a famous writer, translator, and feminist activist. Their father, Petro Antonovych Kosach, was, among other things, an accomplished … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Lesya Ukrainka and Olha Petrovna Kosach-Kryvyniuk

Kickass Women in History: The Tru’ung Sisters

This month we look to Vietnam for Kickass Women. The Tru’ung Sisters led a rebellion against the Chinese in Vietnam and ruled for three years. They lived from around AD 12 to AD 43. This entry comes with a few caveats. For starters, the history of Vietnam is long and complicated and not something I presume to have digested properly in the time it took to research this post. Secondly, stories about the Tru’ung sisters … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: The Tru’ung Sisters

Kickass Women: Mary Seacole

The Crimean War (1853-1856) was a messy and miserable conflict between Russia and an alliance that included Sardinia, France, the Ottoman Empire, and the United Kingdom. Just to make things extra confusing, it is NOT one of the Napoleonic Wars even though during the war France was ruled by Emperor Napoleon III. If I have to keep all this straight, by golly, I’m taking you all with me. Here’s how I tell these conflicts apart: … Continue reading Kickass Women: Mary Seacole

Kickass Women In History: Louise Little, Alberta Williams King, Berdis Jones

For this month’s Kickass Women in History, I’m highlighting the book The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs. I was so impressed and moved by this story of three kickass women who have been largely ignored by history: Louise Little, Alberta Williams King, and Berdis Jones. The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and … Continue reading Kickass Women In History: Louise Little, Alberta Williams King, Berdis Jones

Guest Kickass Women in History: Elizabeth Heyrick

This guest post for Kickass Women in History was written and researched by J.A. Miller: “I am a retired systems analyst and ex-historian who now writes political fantasy. I became involved with the Quakers here in Lenni Lenape lands thanks to General Smedley “War is a Racket” Butler, aka the Fighting Quaker. Though I have left academic-style history behind I still love to snoop historically and have been delighted to learn about the numerous and … Continue reading Guest Kickass Women in History: Elizabeth Heyrick

Kickass Women in History: Anne Brigman

Recently I read Prospects of a Woman by Wendy Voorsanger, and discovered a new Kickass Woman in its pages. One of the characters is loosely based on real-life photographer Anne Brigman, a passionate traveller and artist who was a leading figure in the Photo-Secession Movement in the arts. The real-life photographer was in California later than her fictional counterpart, but the real and fictional women share a common artistic style and personal philosophy. Anne was born … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Anne Brigman

Kickass Women in History: Queen Nanny

This month in Kickass Women in History we salute Queen Nanny (also known as Granny or Grandy Nanny and Nanny of the Maroons) a hero of Jamaican history. Jamaica’s original inhabitants were the Arawak and Taino people. Upon Columbus’ landing in 1494, the island became the property of Spain and most of the Arawaks and Tainos were murdered or killed by disease. Spain “imported” African slaves, many of whom escaped during the violent transition from … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Queen Nanny

Kickass Women in History: Virginia Hall

This month I’ve been reading about Virginia Hall, one of our better known Kickass Women. Virginia Hall was an American spy who recruited and organized resistance workers in France during WWII. She had a brilliant mind, a relentless work ethic, and an unparalleled ability to keep secrets and evade discovery despite being a tall, beautiful American who spoke French with a distinctly American accent and who walked with the aid of a wooden leg named … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Virginia Hall

Kickass Women in History: Ogino Ginko

Thanks to Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History, by Sam Maggs , I heard about Ogino Ginko, the first woman doctor in Japan. This woman broke barriers by means of intelligence and persistence, and to the question “marriage or career?” she answered, “Why not both?” Ogino was born in 1851. She married a banker when she was sixteen and divorced him three years later after he gave her gonorrhea. Her treatments … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Ogino Ginko