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→
After years of being vilified, Sophia Tolstaya has finally gotten some validation as a Kickass Woman in the last ten years or so. The wife of author Leo Tolstoy, Sophia raised children and managed an estate while serving as Leo’s editor and agent and while being an artist in her own right. Sadly, the Tolstoys started marriage as a madly-in-love couple but ended in a state of mutual frustration and misery. However, it is clear … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Sophia Tolstaya→
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→
For Halloween, I give you Kickass Woman Milicent Patrick, also known as Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia di Rossi, one of the first women in animation and the designer of the ‘Gill-man’ from The Creature From the Black Lagoon. Born Mildred Elizabeth Fulvia Rossi in 1915, she grew up in San Simeon, California where her father was the superintendent of construction at Hearst Castle (designed and overseen by another Kickass Woman, architect Julia Morgan). As an adult, … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Milicent Patrick→
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→
Today’s Kickass Women doubles as a SQUEE grade book review. Balloonomania Belles by Sharon Wright is a comprehensive, fun, and sometimes harrowing look at female aeronauts (who flew balloons) and parachutists (who jumped out of them) from the first days of ballooning through the Edwardian Era. This book is easy to read, well organized, and comprehensive. However, it’s not very technical so for the mechanics of ballooning and parachuting, you’ll want to look elsewhere. Additionally, … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Balloonomania Belles→
This month in Kickass Women in History, we celebrate the life of Manuela Sáenz y Aizpuru, “La Libertadora del Libertador.” This woman saved the life of Simón Bolívar and worked tirelessly to end Spanish colonial rule over South America. Sáenz was born in 1797 to an unwed mother. She was a tomboy and loved riding horses. Sent to a convent at one point, she got kicked out when she was seventeen after being seduced by … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Manuela Sáenz y Aizpuru→
During the fight for women’s suffrage in California, the support of Latinx voters was essential. Maria Guadalupe Evangelina Lopez fought for suffrage, taught at the high school and university level, flew an airplane, and was an ambulance driver in WWI. She was the first (confirmed) Latina to teach at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and, as of 1902, their youngest professor. She was also the first person in The United States of America … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Maria Guadalupe Evangelina Lopez→
This month’s Kickass Women is also a book review (Grade: A!). In Marmee and Louisa, we learn of a well-known kickass woman, Louisa May Alcott, and one much less well known – Louisa’s mother, the amazing Abigail. Marmee and Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother, is a biography that focuses on the relationship between Louisa May Alcott (author of Little Women) and her mother, Abigail May Alcott. It is a … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Louisa May Alcott and Abigail Alcott→
Many of us today know of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakastani activist for women’s education. This month’s Kickass Women is in honor of her namesake, Malalai of Maiwand (1861-1880). Malalai was a heroine in the Afghanistan rebellion against the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. This war, which lasted from 1878 to 1880, involved Afghanistan’s attempt to prevent British colonization. Malalai’s story involves the fight against colonialism, women at war, and the power of romantic poetry … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Malalai of Maiwand→
This month I give you not one Kickass Woman but rather twenty-nine, as profiled in the graphic non-fiction book Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World . I loved this book so much that I couldn’t resist sharing it with you all. The panels are simple and classical in style (mostly rectangles), which allows for the focus to be on the information presented. The art is clever and colorful and the text is packed with … Continue reading Kickass Women: Brazen by Pénélope Bagieu→
