Diverse Voices: Women Inventors

Introduction

If you had to name an inventor, would it be a woman? Or did you first think of a man like Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell? Women haven’t always had equal opportunities to be inventors, or received as much recognition. But throughout American history, women with diverse backgrounds and interests created inventions that change our lives every day.

The stories featured here offer a glimpse into the rich world of women inventors, past and present.

Exhibitions

Picturing Women Inventors (ongoing)

At the National Museum of American History, Lower Level

If you had to name an inventor, would it be a woman? Like their male counterparts, women inventors represent all segments of American society, but their stories are often overlooked or undervalued. Picturing Women Inventors highlights the distinctive motivations, challenges, and accomplishments of exceptional 20th- and 21st-century inventive women who are diverse both personally and professionally. Presented in bold wall murals, with text in English and Spanish, the exhibition illustrates the creativity of women inventors while inspiring young people (especially girls) to see themselves as future inventors.

Picturing Women Inventors is organized by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, and was developed in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and made possible with the support of Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.

Women included in Picturing Women Inventors at the National Museum of American History: Patricia Bath; Theresa Dankovich; Marion O’Brien Donovan; Marilyn Hamilton; Grace Hopper; Marjorie Stewart Joyner; Stephanie Kwolek; Alexis Lewis; Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith; Ellen Ochoa; Amy Prieto; Charlotte Cramer Sachs​

Picturing Women Inventors (ongoing)

Poster Exhibition

In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Picturing Women Inventors is also available as a series of eight posters that explores the inventions of 19 highly accomplished American women. Astronauts, computer pioneers, and businesswomen join athletes, engineers, and even teenagers in this remarkable group of inventors. Ideal for classrooms or other learning environments, the poster exhibition also comes with curriculum material developed by Smithsonian educators at the Lemelson Center. The poster exhibition includes most of the stories featured in the museum installation, along with additional historic and contemporary women inventors. To order, please visit https://s.si.edu/3dupTWc .

The Picturing Women Inventors poster exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, and was developed in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and made possible with the support of Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.

Women included in the Picturing Women Inventors poster exhibition: Tara Astigarraga; Patricia Bath; Ayah Bdeir; Cynthia Breazeal; Theresa Dankovich; Marilyn Hamilton; Grace Hopper; Marjorie Stewart Joyner; Michelle Khine; Stephanie Kwolek; Alexis Lewis; Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith; Madison Maxey; Ellen Ochoa; Amy Prieto; Sharon Rogone; Kavita Shukla; Mária Telkes​

Picturing Women Inventors (ongoing)

Smithsonian Learning Lab

This online resource for kids features objects from the collections of the National Museum of American History, with informative stories about women inventors and the technologies they create. 

Inventive Minds: Women Inventors (2018–2020)

Inventive Minds Gallery, Lemelson Hall of Invention, National Museum of American History

Inventive Minds is a changing exhibition gallery that introduces museum visitors to the Lemelson Center’s mission to foster an appreciation for the central role of invention and innovation in the history of the United States. In our ongoing work to document American inventors and increase our understanding of the inventive process, the Lemelson Center works with the museum's archivists and curators to collect, preserve, and share the historical records of inventors and innovators from all segments of American society. 

Through first-person videos, artifacts, and archival materials, visitors to Inventive Minds learn about the traits that successful inventors share—insatiable curiosity, keen problem-solving skills, tenacity, and flexibility in the face of failure—and explore the creative spirit of American invention.

From September 2018 through December 2019, the Inventive Minds gallery features a selection of stories illustrating the creativity of women inventors over more than a century. The exhibition was updated with new inventors' stories in April and August 2019.

Women included in Inventive Minds: Women Inventors at the National Museum of American History: Patricia Bath; Theresa Dankovich; Marion O’Brien Donovan; Marilyn Hamilton; Grace Hopper; Marjorie Stewart Joyner; Margaret Knight; Stephanie Kwolek; Alexis Lewis; Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith; Ellen Ochoa; Amy Prieto; Sharon Rogone; Charlotte Cramer Sachs; Laura Shepherd; Madam C. J. Walker; Cindy Whitehead; Woman’s Building, 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, designed by architect Sophia Hayden

Tara Astigarraga

“Women bring strong skills and unique perspectives to projects.”

Tara Astigarraga

Tara Astigarraga, a member of the Choctaw Nation, studied Spanish linguistics and communications in college and planned to become either a bilingual teacher or a social worker. An internship at IBM changed all that, sparking a passion for software engineering.

With more than 75 patents to her credit, she has invented storage, networking, security, and blockchain solutions. For her inventions and her mentorship of Native Americans and women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), Astigarraga was named an IBM Master Inventor.

Read more about Tara Astigarraga: Eric Atkisson, "Conquering Impostor Syndrome," USPTO, https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/field-stories/conquering-impostor-syndrome

Source for quote above: “How This IBM Master Inventor Brings STEM Education to Native American Communities,” IBM Careers Blog, March 12, 2018, https://www.ibm.com/blogs/jobs/2018/03/12/how-this-ibm-master-inventor-brings-stem-education-to-native-american-communities/.

Patricia Bath

“The most important part [is] having faith and belief in the power of your own ideas.”

Dr. Patricia Bath

Enabling the blind to see was the greatest joy of Dr. Patricia Bath (1942–2019), eye surgeon, professor of ophthalmology, inventor of the Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts, and founder of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. An independent thinker, she has been a trailblazer for women and African Americans in the medical profession, being the first to attain many of the highest academic honors and appointments in her field.

It was in 1981 that she first conceived of an invention that would use a laser to remove cataracts, a cloudiness that forms in the lens of an eye, causing blurry or distorted vision, or even blindness. Doctors have treated cataracts with traditional surgery or, more recently, ultrasound, to remove the clouded lens. An artificial lens can then be inserted. But Bath envisioned a way to make the surgery faster, easier, more accurate, and less invasive (with a much smaller incision) by using lasers.

Learn more about Patricia Bath's life and work >>

Source for quote above: Inventive Minds: Patricia Bath, 2015, https://youtu.be/8DzsdHsAKjg. 

Ayah Bdeir

“I am inspired by empowering people to invent.”

Ayah Bdeir

Ayah Bdeir grew up in Lebanon. As a child, she often took apart (and reassembled) her family’s electronic equipment so she could understand how it worked. After earning an engineering degree in Beirut, Bdeir moved to the United States for graduate study at the MIT Media Lab. She began an “experiment to make engineering and inventing more fun.” Her prototypes became littleBits, a system of color-coded, magnetic, electronic building blocks. Bdeir says her littleBits blur the boundary between a toy and a tool kit, so makers of all ages can explore the connections between art and engineering through invention.

Source for quote above: “Ayah Bdeir: Innovation, Invention from Mouths and Hands of Babes | CFI.Co,” accessed August 17, 2020, https://cfi.co/editors-picks/2020/05/ayah-bdeir-innovation-invention-from-mouths-and-hands-of-babes/.

Cynthia Breazeal

Theresa Dankovich

“It’s not just to make this really cool product, but also to help improve people’s lives.”

Theresa Dankovich

Theresa Dankovich invented germ-killing water filters as a graduate student and co-founded her company Folia Water in 2016 to scale up production. Folia Filters (US Patent 9,611,153) are made of thick paper embedded with silver nanoparticles, which are lethal to  microbes. The filters were originally distributed in Safe Water Books—each book provided a year of safe drinking water for a family. Dankovich’s team has field tested her inexpensive filters with users in South Africa, Ghana, Honduras, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Haiti. “I saw an opportunity to simply listen to the people . . . and to deliver designs that fit with the culture,” she notes.

In response to COVID-19, Dankovich used the same low-cost antimicrobial paper to create an antiviral 3-ply face mask. Used as a substitute for the familiar blue material on the outer layer of a mask, the Folia paper stops microbes from growing on the surface most touched by users. The 75% wood-based paper from sustainable sources that is used in the masks can be manufactured on existing standard paper mills or coating machines.

Dankovich also has a patent application pending for microwaveable paper food packaging embedded with metal nanoparticles that absorb microwave radiation and convert it into heat. Surrounding the entire food portion with the nanoparticle-infused packaging provides better browning and crisping results than the typical “sleeve” included in some microwaveable foods.

Source for quote above: Inventive Minds: Theresa Dankovich, 2017, https://youtu.be/Icxxzhmu-fE. 

Marion O’Brien Donovan

“I went to all the big names that you could think of and they said, ‘we don’t need it—no woman has asked us for that . . .’ so I went into manufacturing myself.”

Marion O’Brien Donovan

Marion O’Brien Donovan (1917–1998), a college-educated Connecticut homemaker, continually sought better ways to organize her home and take care of her children.

The Boater

Frustrated with frequently having to change her baby’s soaked cloth diapers, clothing, and bedding, Donovan became determined to find a better way to keep infants dry. She used a section of her bathroom shower curtain for her first prototype of a diaper cover that would prevent leaks. That experiment led to her creation of the Boater, a reusable diaper cover made from surplus nylon parachute cloth, which went on sale at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949. She sold the Boater—her first successful invention—for $1 million in 1951 and went on to create numerous products intended to make everyday tasks easier and more efficient.

The Big Hang-Up

One of Donovan's later inventions was the Big Hang-Up, a closet organizer for hanging “30 to 40 slacks, skirts, shorts, belts, scarfs, jewelry” in a compact space. Donovan researched several manufacturers of small clothespins before finding ones that worked for her design.

DentaLoop Floss

In the 1990s, Donovan invented the DentaLoop, a loop of dental floss with flat and fluffy sections to clean thoroughly between teeth. Donovan claimed that the pre-cut loops were easier to use than the typical method of winding long lengths of floss around the fingers.

Learn more about Marion O'Brien Donovan's life and work >>

Source for quote above: Excerpts from “Not for Women Only with Barbara Walters,” April 1975, https://youtu.be/j-YtYOKt6T0.

Marilyn Hamilton

Grace Hopper

“Getting frustrated only stops you.”

Grace Hopper

When World War II began, Grace Murray Hopper (1906–1992) was a PhD mathematician teaching at Vassar College. She joined the US Navy in 1943 and applied her math skills to writing code for the Mark I, a new electromechanical calculator at Harvard’s Cruft Laboratory. Hopper’s instructions for running complex computations were punched into paper tapes, like the segment from “Problem L” seen here. (Problem L calculated mathematical tables that had applications in radio, sound, and frequency modulation.) Hopper was one of the first woman programmers. In her lifelong computing career, she pioneered ways to make communication between humans and computers more user-friendly.

Source for quote above: domer1987, “Oral History Interview of Captain Grace Murray Hopper by Angeline Pantages,” Domer1987’s Blog (blog), August 12, 2010, https://domer1987.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/oral-history-interview-of-captain-grace-murray-hopper-by-angeline-pantages/.

Marjorie Stewart Joyner

“If I've set an example for other people—not just black people, not just poor people, not just women—I want it to be that you shouldn't be limited in what you try to do."

Marjorie Stewart Joyner

Marjorie Stewart Joyner (1896–1994) was the first African American graduate of Chicago’s A. B. Molar Beauty School. She opened her own salon in 1916 and trained further with Madam C. J. Walker, a pioneer of the modern African American hair care and cosmetics industry. Within three years, Joyner became the national supervisor of more than 200 Walker beauty schools. She was also an inventor. Frustrated with the time-consuming method of curling or straightening hair one iron at a time, she patented a permanent waving machine with multiple curling irons, heated by electricity, to style entire sections of hair. She also developed Satin Tress, a preparation that relaxed tight curls.

Source for quote above: Christi Parsons, “63 Years Later, Inventor Glad She Made Waves,” Chicago Tribune, November 3, 1989, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-11-03-8901270983-story.html.

Michelle Khine

“I didn’t fit into any of the parameters that most people would think of as an inventor.”

Michelle Khine

Biomedical engineer Michelle Khine knew that parts of the world with limited healthcare often had drugs to treat disease but not the capability to diagnose it early. So she adapted her favorite childhood toy—Shrinky Dinks—into a low-cost device for medical diagnostic tests.

Khine first created patterns on Shrinky Dinks sheets with a laser printer. When she baked the Shrinky Dinks, the ink left ridges that she used as a mold, creating channels to hold small amounts of bodily fluids, like blood or saliva, for testing. Khine’s inexpensive miniature devices make diagnosing treatable diseases more accessible and affordable.

Source for quote above: Michelle Khine and Kimberly A. Macuare, “The NAI Fellow Profile: An Interview with Dr. Michelle Khine,” Technology & Innovation 19, no. 4 (June 10, 2018): 765–71, accessed July 29, 2020, https://doi.org/10.21300/19.3.2018.765.

Margaret Knight

“As a child, I never cared for things that girls usually do; . . . I was always making things.”

Margaret Knight

Growing up in New England manufacturing towns, Margaret Knight (1838–1914) was familiar with industrial machines. “As a child,” she recalled, “I never cared for things that girls usually do; . . . I was always making things.” While working for a manufacturer of envelope-style paper bags, she invented, prototyped, and tested a machine to make more practical square-bottom bags. But when she applied for a patent, she discovered that an unscrupulous man had seen her design and patented it in his name. She sued, and presented her notes, patterns, drawings, and models to refute the impostor’s claim that no woman could create such a complex machine. Knight received her patent and many more in her lifetime—including one represented in the model here, for an improvement to her original bag machine. “I’m only sorry I couldn’t have had as good a chance as a boy,” she maintained, “and have been put to my trade regularly.”

Source for quote above: “A Lady in a Machine Shop.” Woman’s Journal, December 21, 1872: 463. Quoted in Anne L. MacDonald. Feminine Ingenuity: How Women Inventors Changed America, 51. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.

Stephanie Kwolek

“To invent, I draw upon my knowledge, intuition, creativity, experience, common sense, perseverance, flexibility, and hard work.”

Stephanie Kwolek

“When I joined DuPont in 1946,” chemist Stephanie Kwolek remarked, “women who got jobs in the lab would stay only a few years. . . . They were not promoted as rapidly as the men. But there were some of us who decided to stick it out, and I was one.” Assigned to research extra strong and stable polymers in 1964, Kwolek turned to solutions in which all the molecules line up in one direction—like a string of pearls, as she often described it. Her experiments resulted in the invention of Kevlar, an incredibly strong, stiff, and lightweight synthetic fiber that has broad applications, from bullet-resistant vests and military helmets to fencing gloves.

Source for quote above: “Stephanie Kwolek, Kevlar,” Invention & Technology Magazine, https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/stephanie-kwolek-kevlar?page=full.

Alexis Lewis

“Inventors are basically anybody and everybody who’s ever tried to solve a problem.”

Alexis Lewis

In 2011, twelve-year-old Alexis Lewis was inspired to invent after reading about children who became lost when their families fled the famine in Somalia. She adapted a traditional Native American sled, called a travois, by adding wheels to create a simpler way to transport families and their belongings.

Alexis continues to invent—she has a patent pending for an emergency smoke filtration kit that can be thrown to someone trapped in a burning building—and she is inspiring other young inventors through invention education.

Source for quote above: “Teenage Inventor Alexis Lewis Thinks That Kids Have the Solutions to the World’s Problems.” Smithsonian Magazine, July 21, 2015, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/teen-inventor-alexis-lewis-wants-kids-to-invent-solutions-to-worlds-problems-180955933/?no-ist.

Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, & Polly Palmer Smith

“This was made by women for women.”

Hinda Miller

Lisa Lindahl was one of millions of Americans who started jogging as part of the running and fitness boom that swept the United States in the 1970s. But as much as she loved running, it was painful because supportive running bras didn't exist. Lindahl teamed up with her childhood friend, costume designer Polly Palmer Smith, and Smith's colleague Hinda Miller to solve that problem. They deconstructed two men’s athletic supporters and sewed the pieces into a prototype sports bra they called “Jogbra.” Lindahl and Miller first sold their invention through mail orders and quickly expanded into a successful company.

Source for quote above: Lemelson Center oral history interviews with Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith, March 2020

Madison Maxey

“I felt like it was the right time to finally make my dreams come true.”

Madison Maxey

Madison Maxey has always loved making things—from clothing to stretchy inks that conduct electricity. She started sewing when she was eight years old and began her design career by interning in the fashion industry. She has since broadened her exploration of how technology and design can work together through innovations in electronic textiles (e-textiles). Maxey and her company, LOOMIA, create fabrics that act like circuit boards for innovative products that range from medical wearables for monitoring patients to heated ski gear.

Source for quote above: “How She Got There: Madison Maxey, CEO and Co-Founder of Madison Maxey,” Her Campus, accessed August 31, 2020, https://www.hercampus.com/money-career/how-she-got-there/how-she-got-there-madison-maxey-ceo-and-co-founder-madison-maxey.

Ellen Ochoa

"I've seen the uplifting impact of diversity in STEM, and of women in leadership roles."

Ellen Ochoa

Ellen Ochoa studied physics in college and played the flute in the marching band. She earned a PhD in electrical engineering, got a job at NASA, and dreamed of going to space. Although she was not selected for the astronaut program on her first try, she didn’t give up, and became an astronaut in 1991. When she flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1993, she was the first Latina in space—and she took her flute with her. She went to space three more times, became the director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and applied her training to inventing devices that help scientists analyze images from space.

Source for quote above: “Ellen Ochoa Speaking Bio and Videos: The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau,” https://www.thelavinagency.com/speakers/ellen-ochoa.

Amy Prieto

Sharon Rogone

“Whatever you needed to do, you had to make up for yourself, because there weren’t products out there.”

Sharon Rogone

As a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse for more than 25 years, Sharon Rogone understood the needs of premature babies. Standard infant medical supplies were impractical for her tiny patients, so Rogone began inventing specifically for preemies. She started Small Beginnings in 1995 to create and market masks, diapers, pacifiers, and additional necessities that she and other nurses invented.

Bili-Bonnet

Rogone designed a mask that protected babies’ eyes from the harsh lights used to treat jaundice caused by high levels of bilirubin, a yellow-colored pigment in blood. The Bili-Bonnet was made of soft foam with an attached stretchy cap that prevented the mask from slipping during treatment.

Diapers

As late as 1990, there was not an acceptable diaper on the market for extremely premature infants. Nurses were forced to cut diapers in half to accomodate ultra-premature infants. Rogone and Small Beginnings developed a line of disposable diapers in a range of sizes for preemies.

Pacifiers

The buttlerfly-shaped "Lil' Pacee" pacifier for premature infants was developed by four neonatal nurses and nurse practitioners. The Lil' Pacee pacifier is made of soft medical grade silicone and has six ventilation holes. Testing ensured that the products were safe. The force required to pull a suspended, weighted pacifier through the opening in the metal frame seen below, for example, was evaluated to eliminate choking hazards.

Listen to a two-part podcast with Sharon Rogone >>

Source for quote above: “Prototype Online Podcast: Sharon Rogone Invents for Preemies, Part 1,” Lemelson Center, 2007, https://invention.si.edu/podcast-sharon-rogone-invents-preemies-part-1-2.

Charlotte Cramer Sachs

"It’s like opening another window in your life when you become involved in something creative and new.”

Charlotte Cramer Sachs

Charlotte Cramer Sachs (1907–2004) was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1924. Her creative talents extended to art, languages, music—and invention. She received her first patent in 1940 for a combination key and flashlight.

As a single working mother in the 1940s, Sachs experienced firsthand the demands on the growing number of women who worked outside the home. Her line of instant cake and muffin mixes helped save time and ease wartime food shortages. She revealed her delight in inventing in the name of her company—Joy Products. 

Source for quote above: Roberta Fleming Roesch, “Housewife Finds Time For Two Careers,” King Features Syndicate (KFS), July 3, 1961, from the Charlotte Cramer Sachs papers, Box 1, Folder 3, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian. 

Laura Shepherd

“I told my dad I’d like to try it.”

Laura Shepherd

The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in 1934. The competition opened to girls in 1971, and the Junior Division for children 10–12 years old was created in 1976. Junior competitors built their cars from authorized kits, an innovation in derby racing. 

Eleven-year-old Laura Shepherd started racing in 1992 and built “Lightning Laura” in 1993; she went on to win more than 20 races. In constructing her car and personalizing the basic components provided in the kit, Shepherd demonstrated some common traits among inventors—curiosity, persistence, imagination, problem solving, and a childhood passion for tinkering and building.

Source for quote above: “Laura Shepherd Soap Box Winner," unattributed newspaper clipping, undated, NMAH image AHB2015q007137.

Kavita Shukla

“I really love pursuing things and doing things that make me feel creative.”

Kavita Shukla

While visiting her grandmother in India, twelve-year-old Kavita Shukla accidentally drank contaminated water. Her grandmother brewed a spice tea for her so she wouldn’t get sick.

Back at home, Shukla wondered how that tea worked and started an experiment to find out. When she applied the spices to fruits and vegetables, they stayed fresh longer.

She then embedded the spices in paper that could be placed with the produce and patented the idea during her senior year of high school.

Shukla hopes that her all-natural product—FreshPaper—will help end food spoilage and waste, especially in areas where refrigeration isn’t available.

Learn more about Kavita Shukla in her interview with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Source for quote above: “Fighting Food Waste with Paper and Spice | Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs,” accessed August 13, 2020, https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/archive/policy_innovations/innovations/00304.

Mária Telkes

“Each new house is another experimental stepping stone toward the use of the sun as a fuel resource.”

Mária Telkes

Born in Hungary, Mária Telkes (1900–1995) immigrated to the United States in 1925 after completing her PhD in physical chemistry. She was nicknamed the “Sun Queen” for her work on solar energy, inventing solar stoves and a solar-powered distiller to desalinate sea water. In the 1940s, she worked with architect Eleanor Raymond on a solar-heated house. Photovoltaic panels were still experimental, so the house was built with large windows backed with black metal sheets. Sunlight heated the sheets and fans circulated the warmed air around bins filled with a chemical salt. The salt melted and stored heat until the temperature around the bins cooled. Then the salt recrystallized, slowly releasing the absorbed heat.

Source for quote above: Quoted in “The House of the Day After Tomorrow,” MIT Technology Review, https://www.technologyreview.com/2010/06/22/202508/the-house-of-the-day-after-tomorrow/.

Madam C. J. Walker

“Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come . . . get up and make them!”

Madam C. J. Walker

Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker (1867–1919), known professionally as Madam C. J. Walker, was born to parents who were once enslaved. She started life as a farm laborer and laundress, but became a pioneer of the modern African American hair care and cosmetics industry. 

Seeking to remedy her own hair loss, she invented a system of hair and scalp hygiene and treatment. She incorporated her company in 1911, and it grew into a successful international business that made her a millionaire. An innovator, entrepreneur, activist, and philanthropist, Walker once advised, "Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come . . . get up and make them!"

Listen to a two-part podcast with A'Lelia Bundles, Madam C. J. Walker's great-great-granddaughter >>

Source for quote above: A’Lelia Bundles, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker. New York: Scribner, 2001: 153.

Cindy Whitehead

“When I started in the ’70s, female skateboarding was still taboo and I was the only girl at the skatepark. I had to block out negative comments and stand my ground. I got sick of hearing, ‘She’s pretty good for a girl.”’

Cindy Whitehead

Cindy Whitehead turned pro in her teens and became a top-ranked skater. After retiring from competition, she reinvented herself as a sports stylist. In 2013, she created her brand of skateboards and apparel for girls and women, “Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word.” Proceeds from GN4LW support micro-grants and nonprofits that encourage girls in skateboarding. 

Listen to a podcast with Cindy Whitehead and Robin Logan >>

Source for quote above: Tracy Ramsden, “Female Skateboarding Might Just Be the Coolest Thing Ever.” Marie Claire, May 15, 2017, https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/female-skateboarding-506580.

Woman’s Building, 1893 World’s Fair

“[The Woman’s Building] is the result of careful training in classical design and is the expression of what I liked and felt.”

Sophia Hayden

The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago was a showcase for the latest achievements of American society. A record number of inventions by women were included throughout the fair and in a separate Woman’s Building—designed by architect Sophia Hayden, the first woman graduate in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Still, prevailing attitudes about women’s traditional roles in the home permeated the fair. Most of the invention prizes awarded to women were for domestic technologies, and the press described Hayden’s building as “lyric,” “feminine,” and “delicate.” 

Source for quote above: Sophia Hayden's Architect’s Report, April 1894, quoted in Jeanne Madeline Weimann, The Fair Women. Chicago: Academy Chicago, 1981: 150.