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Several firsts belong to Pennsylvania women:
- The first woman industrialist, Rebecca Lukens (1794 – 1854), who took over her family’s iron business in 1825
- Pearl Buck (1892 – 1973), the first woman to win both the Novel and Pulitzer prizes in literature
- Betsy Ross (1752 – 1836), viewed as the first to make an American flag
- Dolley Payne Todd Madison (1768 – 1849), who pioneered a public role for the First Lady
- Loretta Perfectus Walsh (1896 – 1925), the first woman allowed to serve as a woman in any of the U.S. armed forces in a role other than a nurse, in 19717
- Violet Oakley (1874 – 1961), the first woman to receive a commission for her murals in 1900
- Crystal Bird Faucett (1894 – 1965), the first African-American woman elected to a state legislature in 1938
- C. DeLores Tucker (1927 – 2005), who in 1971 became the first African-American Secretary of State
- Many Pennsylvania women like Dora Lewis (1862 – 1928) and Caroline Katzenstein (1888 – 1968) were prominent suffrage leaders both in Pennsylvania and nationally
Here are a few highlights in Philadelphia:
- Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial Sculpture Garden. Ellen Phillips Samuel (1933 – 1961) bequeathed Philly a “museum without walls” with three terraces and 17 sculptures which demonstrate American history and development (Fairmont Park on Kelly Drive along the Schuylkill River, south Girard Avenue Bridge).
- Historic house museums for historical women including singer Marian Anderson (1897 – 1993), located at 762 Martin Street, patriot Betsy Ross, located at 239 Arch Street, and First Lady Dolley Todd, located at 339 Walnut Street.
- Statues of singer Kate Smith (1907 – 1986), erected in 1972, at Xfinity Live on the corner of 11th and Patterson, and Mary Dyer (1611 – 1660), a Quaker and one of the four Boston martyrs who fought for religious freedom, located at 1501 Cherry Street).
If you can make it to nearby Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, you’ll also find the Henry Botanic Garden founded by botanist, plant explorer, and author Mary Gibson Henry (1884 – 1967). Other Pennsylvania cities with women’s history museums, gardens, statues, and monuments include Ashland, Beallsville, Bensalem, Coatesville, Gettysburg, Girard, Gladwyne, Perkasie, Pittsburgh, Springdale, and Titusville.
The challenge for women’s history is that so little is preserved in stone and granite or in museums. NWHP is committed to Writing Women Back into History! Please join us to help preserve women’s history sites and areas throughout the United States to ensure that we can pass on our distinctive history, embodying the legacy of freedom, community, entrepreneurship, science, music, art, sports, philanthropy, conservation, and women’s leadership.
NWHP 2016 Democratic Convention Delegate Guide
NOTE: We worked to include all women’s history sites that are open to the public. As such, what is here is only a fraction of the landscape of American women’s diverse contributions to America and their communities. We are also aware that as new women’s history sites are being developed, others are being lost and so change is constant. If you see any errors or omissions, we invite you to let us know so we can correct the guides. If you are interested in learning more about the gaps and what is being lost, we highly recommend Lynn Sherr’s Susan B. Anthony Slept Here: A Guide to American Women’s Landmarks (1994). We estimate that as many as half of the wonderful landmarks that Lynn identifies are not open to the public or no longer exist. Lynn Sherr was honored by the NWHP in 2015 and is a wonderful resource on women’s history.