New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Women

Madam C. J. Walker: Black Hair Care Entrepreneur

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History Twins PodcastThe latest History Twins podcast is about Madam C. J. Walker (1867 – 1919), who made a fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women, especially through the business she founded, the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

The first child of her large family born free. Sarah Breedlove was a child near Delta, Louisiana where her parents die and she was orphaned by the age of seven. She moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the age of 10, working as a domestic servant. [Read more…] about Madam C. J. Walker: Black Hair Care Entrepreneur

Peggy Shippen, Wife of Benedict Arnold (Podcast)

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History Twins PodcastThe topic of the latest The History Twins podcast is Peggy Shippen, the wife of American General Benedict Arnold. Storytelling duo Carla and Keyes discuss Shippen’s involvement in the Revolutionary spy plot in which Arnold sold the plans to West Point to British Major John Andre. [Read more…] about Peggy Shippen, Wife of Benedict Arnold (Podcast)

Marguerite Kearns: Unfinished Women’s Rights Revolution (Podcast)

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The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast the guest is Marguerite Kearns, author of Unfinished Revolution: Edna Buckman Kearns and the Struggle for Women’s Rights (SUNY Press, 2021). The book explores how Edna Buckman Kearns’s focus on women’s suffrage and world peace affected her family then and now. [Read more…] about Marguerite Kearns: Unfinished Women’s Rights Revolution (Podcast)

Layered Citizenship: Amended Podcast’s Final Episode

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Amended PodcastWhen the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, millions of Native American women still could not vote. The U.S. government did not recognize them as citizens. And if U.S. citizenship required renouncing tribal sovereignty, many Native women didn’t want it. But early-twentieth-century writer, composer, and activist Zitkála-Šá was determined to fight for both. [Read more…] about Layered Citizenship: Amended Podcast’s Final Episode

Author Asks: What Was The Suffrage Movement Really Like?

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An Unfinished RevolutionMarguerite Kearns started asking questions about her suffragist grandmother Edna Buckman Kearns when she was ten years old. She couldn’t understand why no photos of Edna were displayed in the home where she was raised. She realized later that family members hadn’t processed the grief of Edna’s death in 1934. They loved her, and reminders of family history, including photos, made the matter worse. [Read more…] about Author Asks: What Was The Suffrage Movement Really Like?

Trailblazing Women: Geraldine Ferraro

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Jimmy Carter with Congresswomen Geraldine FerraroGeraldine Ferraro, born in Newburgh and later of the South Bronx, would make history as the first female Vice Presidential nominee for a major party. In 1984, Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale announced that Congresswoman of New York would be his running mate. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Geraldine Ferraro

Trailblazing Women: Mae Jemison

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Mission Specialist Mae Jemison courtesy National ArchivesMae Carol Jemison became the first African American woman accepted into NASA’s space training program on June 4th, 1987. Five years later, on September 12th, 1992, she became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Mae Jemison

Trailblazing Women: Amelia Earhart

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Amelia Earhart courtesy National ArchivesIn 1922, Amelia Earhart set a record for reaching the highest altitude for a woman pilot, flying to 14,000 feet. Six years later, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

In the following 10 years, Earhart continued to set aviation records for speed and distance. She also helped create a women’s aviation club, the Ninety-Nines, and was elected the first president. The organization still exists today and works to promote female pilots. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Amelia Earhart

Women Spies for the French Resistance

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The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast the guest is Sarah Patten, author of The Measure of Gold (Ashland Press, 2020) a historical novel set in Europe in the Second World War with a focus on French Resistance women spies. Patten discusses the lives of actual spies including Virginia Hall, an American woman who later served with the CIA. [Read more…] about Women Spies for the French Resistance