March is Women’s History Month— a month dedicated to honor the contributions and achievements of women in the United States to encourage those in the modern age to go forward with their goals. The celebration began as a week-long parade in Santa Rosa, California in 1978. However, by 1986, fourteen states ratified the declaration of March being Women’s History Month, now fully recognized in the United States.
This year’s theme is “Moving Forward Together,” highlighting “women educating and inspiring generations.” We at TeenSource want to recognize women of history who have taken steps forward within education and inspiring the future, especially those in the healthcare sector.
- Katharine McCormick
Katharine McCormick was one of the first women to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and heavily believed in the importance of science and moving forward in women’s rights. She worked to ratify the 19th Amendment—which gave women the right to vote. She funded the research that led to the first birth control pill.
- Pat Maginnis
Although many do not know her name due to the fact she often worked subtly, Maginnis is considered the first pro-choice activist in the United States. In 1951, she joined the Women's Army Corps in 1951, working as a surgical technician. Here, she met many women who had botched abortions and tended to their injuries, as abortion was only legal as "therapeutic abortion" for medical conditions. Maginnis during her time was able to bring women the ability to get an abortion through legal and protective means, desensitized the general public of the word “abortion,” and founded the organization “Society for Humane Abortion” that further allowed women access to abortion pre-Roe V. Wade.
- Georgia Rooks Dwelle
Dr. Georgia Rooks Dwelle was a trailblazer who made a huge impact on healthcare in Atlanta. She founded the Dwelle Infirmary, the very first medical practice dedicated to serving Black families, focusing on obstetrics and pediatrics. At a time when racial segregation meant the Black community had limited access to medical care, Dr. Dwelle saw an urgent need. She was determined to use her medical knowledge to uplift her community. By 1935, the infirmary grew and began offering even more services, like teaching Black mothers about pre- and post-natal care. Dr. Dwelle always believed that medicine was about giving back to humanity and the work she started continues to inspire today. Her legacy is a powerful reminder of the difference her being one of three Black women physicians made in Atlanta.
- Mary Ware Dennett
Dennett was an early advocate during the first generation of feminism, who advocated for sex education and availability of birth control. Most notably, she was the main catalyst for overturning the Cornstalk Act through the United States Supreme court case in 1930, “United States v. Dennett.” In this case, Dennett was charged with violating act by publishing the sex-education forward pamphlet “The Sex Side of Life: An Explanation for Young People," as Cornstock Act denies the distribution of sex education or abortion related materials in the postal service. She ended up cleared of all her charges, allowing for more women to rally together for new women’s rights initiatives. Furthermore, alongside Jessie Ashley and Clara Gruening Stillman, she established the National Birth Control League in 1915, a precursor to Planned Parenthood which was established in 1947.
- Henrietta Lacks
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman from Baltimore, went to John Hopkins Hospital for treatment for cervical cancer. During her treatment, doctors took some of her cancer cells without her knowledge or consent. Unlike previous attempts to study cancer cells, Henrietta’s cells were unique because they could survive for much longer and could be reproduced endlessly. These cells, later called “HeLa” cells, became a groundbreaking tool in science. HeLa cells have been vital in major medical breakthroughs, including the development of the polio and COVID-19 vaccines. While what happened with her cells was legal at the time, it raises questions today about consent and privacy, especially for Henrietta and her family. Henrietta Lacks may not have known it, but her cells have changed the scientific world, and continue to shape medical research to this day.
- Helen Rodríguez Trías
Trías was the first Latina president of the American Public Health Association, fully understanding social and economic stressors in healthcare. Throughout her life, she had been extremely strong, establishing the Committee to End Sterilization Abuse and the Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse that further brought guidelines to reproductive rights, informed consent, and bettering international healthcare. Focusing her public health services to minority and low-income populations, her work recognized the intersectionality of identities and how it affects people’s lives, especially regarding their health. Although early movements of feminism were exclusionary to minority women or those with a lower socio-economic class, Trías opened the conversation of race and class for the ability for a woman to get contraceptives.
Overall, there are many women in history in need of recognition, especially pertinent to those active in healthcare. Many of these women’s names have been left unsung, despite their large impacts to the United States and women. Here, it is important to recognize extraordinary women of the past, while also acknowledging women today and how they continue to exceed.