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About This Quiz
The old saying on purple bumper stickers claims that “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” Is that true? Who are the women who have made history? Do we need a separate category for women’s history? That’s what the writer of the 1970s book, Herstory: A Woman’s View of American History, thought. Even though the word “history” does not at all come from “his story,” (but from the French histoire, meaning “story”), the term “herstory” certainly grabs attention.
The attention-grab highlights the reality that history books, for most of history, have left out the thoughts and actions of women, telling the narratives of men in power instead. It wasn’t until the women’s movement gained traction in the 1960s and '70s that “women’s history” came into being as a field of study. What does it cover?
While history had typically been concerned with political events that glossed over or outright ignored the role women played in them, a history of women’s experiences also required a look into the events of daily life and culture. Women’s history acknowledges that even those parts of life we think of as private have political consequences, like deciding whether or not to have a baby, for instance. This one decision can encompass issues of healthcare, employment, discrimination, and bodily autonomy.
How much do you know about women in history? Let’s open the Herstory book and see!
Who was Sacajawea?
A Native American woman who fought at Custer’s last stand
A Native American woman who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition
Sacajawea was born into the Shoshone tribe and kidnapped at the age of 12. When Lewis and Clark hired her husband as a translator, Sacajawea became part of the expedition. Her language skills and knowledge of the land made her invaluable to the expedition.
An abolitionist who was influential in the Underground Railgroad
An Alaska-native who worked to preserve sacred lands
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Which two women were involved in the fight for the right to vote?
Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi
Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Associate in 1869. Together, they promoted women’s rights across the country, writing, making speeches, and gathering conventions.
Anne Hutchison and Emily Dickinson
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What was Harriet Tubman involved in?
Fighting for teacher’s unions
Gaining reproductive rights
Founding the first women’s college
The Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and escaped to the North in 1849. She used her freedom to usher other enslaved people into freedom through the Underground Railroad. She was so notorious that there was a $40,000 reward on her life.
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What were the women called who worked to gain the right to vote?
Suffragists
Women, and men, who worked for the right to vote were called suffragists. The right to vote is also known as “suffrage.” So don’t be fooled by satirical or nefarious campaigns to “stop women’s suffrage!”
Rocketts
Rosie the Riveter
B***&#!
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When men went off to fight in World War II, what did women do by the millions?
Went to work
The masses of men leaving for the war against Germany and Japan left a gaping vacancy in the American workforce. Millions of women stepped up to fill that gap, disrupting the gender divide in employment.
Found other men
Played softball
Had babies
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What were the Salem Witch Trials?
A set of trials where they put some witches to justice
False accusation of over 200 women as witches
While the witch craze started in Europe, the Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts. Over 200 women were accused of witchcraft and 20 were put to death for supposedly being in the power of the devil. The trials can be seen as symptomatic of society’s broader distrust of powerful women.
Witches trying out for the Salem competition
European executions of supposed witches
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When did Elizabeth Blackwell become the first licensed female physician in the US?
1818
1849
When Elizabeth Blackwell first began seeking entrance to medical schools, there were none that accepted women. She overcame ridicule and discrimination to graduate in 1849 with a medical degree.
1928
1947
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What was formative for women’s history about Lucy Stone’s marriage to Henry Blackwell in 1855?
It brought together abolition and suffrage.
She didn’t love him.
She did not have a dowry.
She kept her own name.
When Lucy Stone marred Henry Blackwell in 1855, she kept her own name. This was a landmark moment because it symbolized Stone keeping her identity in marriage, rather than becoming Mrs. Henry Blackwell.
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Who was influential in creating the first birth control pill?
Susan B. Anthony
Frances Willard
Margaret Sanger
When it was still illegal to educate people about birth control options, Margaret Sanger started the birth control movement. Her efforts led to the development of the pill in 1960 and the founding of a birth control clinic that later became Planned Parenthood.
Madonna
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Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?
Malala
Carol W. Greider
Frances Arnold
Marie Curie
Marie Curie is perhaps the best-known early female scientist. And for good reason: she discovered two elements, was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize (1903), and the first person to be awarded a second Nobel (1911).
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When Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John Adams to “Remember the ladies,” what was she asking him?
Not to forget he was married
To remember to pick something up for his daughters
To vote for the equal rights ammendment
To work for women’s freedom while he was working for American freedom
Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John Adams in 1776, while he was working toward the independence of America from Britain. She adjured him to consider not giving men such power over women because women should have independence also.
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What did women NOT do in the Civil War?
Fight in battle
Nurse the wounded
Maintain their homes alone
Lead armies in battle
People burying the Civil War dead were surprised to find women’s bodies among those scattered across battlefields. Experts estimate that between 400-750 women disguised themselves to fight in the Civil War.
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Who was the first female attorney general of the US?
Madeleine Albright
Janet Reno
Janet Reno was the first Attorney General of the United States, and she served in this position from 1993 to 2001. She was nominated by Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton
Sarah Palin
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What did Amelia Earhart do in 1932?
Flew the first plane
Was the first woman to make a transcontinental flight
Amelia Earhart has been the hero of countless young girls for trailblazing the airways for women. In 1932 she made the first transcontinental flight as a woman. Her mysterious disappearance in 1939 only increases her mystique.
Was the first woman to fly around the world
Was the first woman to make a solo sailing voyage around the world
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Which English queen established the Protestant church in England?
Anne Boleyn
Princess Diana
Mary
Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry III and Anne Boleyn, formally established the Protestant church in England. Later it became the Church of England. Elizabeth was the Supreme Governor of the church.
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Many who involved the struggle to gain women the right to vote were involved in which other struggle?
abolition.
Many activists who had been working to end slavery, like Lucretia Mott, realized that the rights they were working to gain for people in slavery were also not granted to women. This realization led them to work for women’s rights as well. However, some women fighting for women's suffrage were rabid racists, including Susan B. Anthony, who once said, "I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ask for the ballot for the Negro and not for the woman.”
reproductive rights.
environmental activism.
farm worker’s rights.
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What does the feminist saying “the personal is political” mean?
Keep your politics to yourself
Keep your personality in your political views
Private experience is connected to political systems
Feminists in the women’s movement of the 1960s and 70s explored how the similarity of women’s experiences with power in relationships, domestic violence, reproductive decisions and other issues showed that these issues were not private but part of a larger system of power politics. This idea became encapsulated in the saying “the personal is political.”
Politics determines personal experience
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When did a women first run the Boston marathon with an official race number?
1967
In 1967, Kathrine Switzer entered the Boston Marathon without speificying her gender on her race application. During the race, a race official ran up to her and physically tried to remove her from the race. He was blocked by Switzer’s hulky boyfriend, who was running alongside her. Switzer completed the race.
1897
1923
1952
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Sojourner Truth famously asked which question?
Where to now?
Is the personal political?
Ain’t I a human?
Ain’t I a woman?
Sojourner Truth, a former slave who became powerful activist for abolition and women’s rights, asks “Ain’t I a Woman?” in her most well-known speech. She breaks down perceptions that women are naturally weaker than men by painting a picture of the back-breaking labor she endured.
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What did Rachel Carson’s 1962 book bring into motion?
The environmental movement
Rachel Carson’s book "Silent Spring" called America’s attention to the widespread ecological damage being done by the rampant use of pesticides. The awareness Carson raised burgeoned into a broader concern for how we could better care for our ecosystem.
The women’s movement
The reproductive rights movement
Advances in space travel
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Who is the youngest person to be awarded a Nobel Prize?
Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her heroic efforts to withstand the threats of the Taliban against girls going to school. After surviving a Taliban attack against her bus and undergoing many surgeries, Malala returned to the struggle of gaining education for girls globally.
Marie Curie
Donna Strickland
Tu Youyou
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Who was the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice?
Marco Rubio
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice and the third woman on the Supreme Court in 2009. Sotomayor says she was first inclined to the law profession after watching Perry Mason.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Elena Kagan
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Who is sometimes called the First Lady of American Olympics?
Serena Williams
Gaby Douglas
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, according to USA Track & Field, is thought by some to be “the greatest female all-around athlete in history.” She won three gold medals, and still holds the record for heptathlon.
Jenny Thompson
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Why is Greta Thunberg renowned for ditching school?
She set in motion a youth climate movement.
Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist, began missing class to protest global inaction on climate change. Her efforts, at 16 years old, ignited a worldwide youth movement protesting climate change and demanding action.
She stood up for her desire not to be in school.
She was too smart to be there anyway.
She began a youth labor movement.
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Who was George Eliot?
A politician involved in suffrage
A female novelist
George Eliot was the pen name of Marian Cross, a British novelist in the 19th century. Eliot was a voracious intellectual and wrote the masterpieces "Silas Marner" and "Middlemarch."
An avant-garde artist
A revolutionary hero
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What did Maria Mitchell discover in 1847?
A new disease
A dinosaur
A new comet
Maria Mitchell discovered a new comet and was awarded a medal by the King of Denmark. Mitchell found the comet with a telescope, and it was aptly named “Miss Mitchell’s Comet.”
A new casserole
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Gloria Steinem said that “A woman without a man is like a fish without ____.”
Water
Fish food
A bicycle
Gloria Steinem said that “a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” Steinem, a feminist activist and writer, was a leading figure of the women’s movement of the 1960s and 70s and is still actively making blisteringly accurate statements and working for women’s rights.
Algae
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Who was the first Chinese-American movie star?
Patsy Takemoto Mink
Toni Ko
Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong first graced the screen when she was 14 in the 1919 silent film, "The Red Lantern." Wong had a starring role at age 17, but was often cast in roles that played out racist stereotypes of Asian women. She eventually left the US for Europe.
Constance Wu
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Which woman was one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century?
JK Rowling
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf was a modernist genius who changed the way stories are told. Her novels, such as "To the Lighthouse" and "Mrs. Dalloway," broke new ground in describing how intricate psychological perceptions define daily life. A recent movie depicts the torturous love affair between Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. JK Rowling is more 21st century.
Emily Dickinson
Charlotte Bronte
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When was the Equal Pay Act passed by Congress?
1919
1963
President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963, amid a swath of Civil Rights legislation. The law made it illegal to pay men and women different salaries for the same work requirements. Of course, the wage gap is still alive and well — the AAUW estimates that white women make 80% of what men do, while women of color make considerably less.
1975
2007
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What does Seneca Falls stand for in women’s history?
The first women’s convention
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first large gathering of women in the US to discuss women’s rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and others led discussions on the need for action and shared the Declaration of Sentiments, a compilation of resolutions for change.
The first abolitionist convention
The first LGBT convention
The largest protest for women’s suffrage
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What does Title IX prohibit?
Sexual harassment at work
Equal pay
Sexual discrimination at school
Title IX, passed into law in 1972, prohibits discrimination based on sex in any educational activity or program that receives federal funding. The law is widely understood as protecting equality in school sports, which it does, but it also has much broader applications across the education landscape.
Women in sports
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Who is sometimes referred to as the “First Lady of Physics”?
Brittany Spears
Lise Meitner
Rosalind Franklin
Chien-Shiung Wu
Born near Shanghai, Wu moved to the US after graduate work in physics and finished a PhD at Berkeley in 1940. She went on to contribute to the Manhattan Project and later helped to disprove the Law of Conservation of Parity. I hadn’t heard of her either. That’s how herstory works.
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Before the Industrial Revolution, how were many women occupied?
Farming, harvesting, and running a homestead
Before the industrial revolution, it was more common for men and women to work together running a homestead than it was for them to operate in separate worlds of “work” and “home.” Work and home were the same thing. Until the mid-nineteenth century, most teachers were men.
Staying home with children while men went out to work
Doing the weekly shopping
As teachers
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When did women get the right to vote in the US?
1776
1918
1919
Congress passed the 19th Ammendment on June 4th, 1919, giving women the right to vote. It wasn’t ratified until August 18, 1920. The struggle to gain this right was an epic battle and initiated the First Wave of Feminism.
1921
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