Women's History Month: Empowering Quotes For Young Women

• Susan B. Anthony

  “Woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself,” said Susan B. Anthony. She gave a speech in San Fransciso in July of 1871. Anthony said this quote during her speech to show women that times were changing. In 1888, she helped to merge the two largest suffrage associations into one, the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. She was an American women’s rights activist known for her role in the women’s suffrage movement.

  

  Portrait of Susan B. Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a women’s rights activist and suffragist, abolitionist, and Quaker. Photograph engraving published 1895. Original edition is in my archives. Copyright expired and in Public Domain.

• Maya Angelou

  Maya Angelou was the poet at President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in January 1993. The New York Times reported that she also appeared on Hilary Clinton’s website in a taped video segment where she “eloquently” advocated for women. She said, “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” Angelou was not only a writer and poet, she’s also a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

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• Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, said, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” Ginsburg advocated for women’s rights. She directed the influential Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970s. In 1996, Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion in United States v. Virginia, holding that qualified women could not be denied admission to Virginia Military Institute.

  

  Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

• Sandra Day O'Connor

  The late Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice. She said, “As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.” O’Connor shattered the idea that women were not qualified to serve on the nation’s highest court. She further opened the door for women at all levels of the legal profession.

  

  Women standing backwards together at full length against gray wall, hold on to each other, dressed in white T-shirts and jeans, rear view

• Gertrude Ederle

  “When somebody tells me I cannot do something, that’s when I do it,” said Gertrude Ederle. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel. Only five men had ever swam the waterway before. According to the History network, She first tried to cross the English Channel in 1925 but didn’t make it all the way across. The following year, she tried again at age 20 when she completed the swim.

  

  Woman swimming in a lake on a summer day

• Oprah Winfrey

  Oprah Winfrey is a former talk show host and philanthropist who is full of wisdom. She said “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” She built a world-class school for girls in South Africa for grades 7 through 12 through the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. People reported that Winfrey hopes the students who finish at The Academy will continue their educational paths and eventually transform their communities and countries.

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