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1871 to 1880

1871

England

..... the first club exclusively for women in England, the Berners Club, was founded in Berner Street, London ( see also 1770 )

..... Newnham College in Cambridge was founded and the first women were admitted. However it was not until 1949 that they were awarded the same degrees as men

born January 15th

..... Rosa Luxembourg .....  writer and politician known as ‘Red Rosa’ who was born in Zamose in south east Poland, the fifth child of a Jewish family and in 1873 they moved to Warsaw. She was physically weakened by a bone disease in the hip which left her undersized and with a permanent limp. She was clever in school and by right should have received the gold medal for academic attainment but this was withheld on political grounds and this and other actions against her helped in her formation as a revolutionary. In 1889 she was smuggled across the frontier and settled in Switzerland where she studied for eight years at the University of Zurich and gained a doctorate for a thesis on the industrial development of Zurich. She fell in love with a Jew who helped intensify her Marxism but because they were not German nationals and therefore could not settle in Germany where they wanted to co-ordinate Polish and German socialistic activity. To secure this right she married a German emigré who agreed to leave her after the ceremony. She began to speak at public meetings, produced pamphlets, met Lenin and was also heard to speak by Stalin. She spent much of the First World War in prison and became one of the International Group which adopted the name “Spartacus”. In November 1918 she was released from Breslau Prison and in January 1919, when 700,000 workers staged a mass demonstration in Berlin, she and Karl Liebknecht were unable to calm the mob and so had to go into hiding. Here she was finally arrested on January 15th 1919 and as she was being taken to Moabit prison she was clubbed with a rifle butt, pushed into a car and shot by one of the officers. Her body was thrown into the Landwehr Canal where it remained for 20 weeks. She became a martyr, was venerated by party men and artists and poets of protest were inspired by her. Her shrine is in the Friedrichfelde Cemetery in East Berlin

1872

America

..... in Chicago, discrimination for reasons of gender became illegal, enabling female lawyers to practise ..... in Portland, Oregon, married women were allowed to enter business for themselves and their property was legally protected should their husbands desert them

..... Congress passed a law stipulating equal pay for equal work in the U.S. federal employment

..... Charlotte E Ray became the first black woman to receive a law degree

England

..... the London School of Medicine for Women was founded by Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

born May 12th

..... Eleanor Florence Rathbone ..... social reformer, in London, daughter of William Rathbone and his second wife Emily Acheson Lyle. She was brought up in an atmosphere of social reform in Liverpool and politics in London and was educated at Kensington High School and Somerville College, Oxford. She became a leading advocate in the case for family allowances and in 1924 published The Disinherited Family. In 1940 she published The Case for Family Allowances. She was also a firm supporter of the suffrage movement and succeeded Millicent Fawcett as President of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies in 1919. In 1929 she was elected Independent MP for the combined English Universities and retained the seat until her death. From 1928, when women in Britain achieved equal voting rights, she concentrated on the plight of Indian women. Her work was recognised by the award of honorary degrees from Liverpool and Oxford. When the war came she organised schemes for the relief of refugees.  She was active in the problems of Palestine when she died suddenly in London on 2nd January 1946

1873

America

..... in Indianapolis, Indiana, the first U.S. prison operated and occupied solely by women was opened

..... Girton College, the first university college for women, was opened, with Emily Davies as mistress. It was mainly through her campaigns that this college was eventually established

England

..... the Custody of Infants Acts gave all women access to their children if they were separated or divorced

..... the Local Government Board ( later Department of Employment) appointed its first woman inspector, Mrs Nassau Senior. Sadly she became ill and had to resign and no other woman was appointed to such a high grade in the Civil Service until 1885

born 

..... Emily Post ..... author of Etiquette: the Blue Book of Social Usage which was published in 1922 and which was a very popular and widely accepted guide to good behaviour and social proprieties. She was born into a wealthy Baltimore family, the daughter of an architect, travelled widely in Europe and was educated in New York. She married in 1892 and had two children but was later divorced. Her book was an immediate success and was revised ten times in her lifetime. The Emily Post radio programme in 1931 was followed by a syndicated column and in 1946 she founded the Emily Post Institute for the Study of Gracious Living. She died in 1960

born

.....  Evangeline Adams .....  a descendant of President John Quincy Adams. She was born in Boston and in 1899 following the advice of her own horoscopes moved to New York City. The day she took up residence in a local hotel, she told the proprietor that disaster would soon occur. A day later the hotel burned down. Her name was spread across all the newspapers, her story spread and she was on her way to becoming one of the most noted of modern U.S. astrologers. In 1914 she was arrested for the crime of fortune-telling but her skill saved her from conviction. She gave a demonstration in court and the judge was so impressed with her that he ruled “ The defendant raised astrology to the dignity of an exact science”. She was released to continue her work which she did until her death in 1932 having refused a lecture tour scheduled for the fall. She turned it down because her astrological chart had indicated that her imminent death would make such a trip impossible

born

..... Queen Heléne of Italy neé Princess Helene of Montenegro .....  daughter of King Nicholas of Montenegro, the 4th of nine children and was known as the ‘Shepherdess Princess’. Although Montenegro was only a small country it was connected by the brilliant marriages of the daughters of the King to Russia, Italy, Great Britain and Serbia. On October 24th 1896 she married the Prince of Naples, later King, and at first there was much prejudice on the part of the Italian aristocracy towards her. However she soon won the hearts of the people and became known throughout Italy as the ‘Babies Queen’. When her first child was born, cradles were sent from all over Italy including one made of fresh flowers that had been made by the working girls of Messina where a terrible earthquake occurred in 1908. She had three other children and when in 1904 she gave birth to a son, Italy went wild with joy. She was patroness of many crèches and orphanages and when the earthquake occurred at Messina, she helped to tend the injured, made clothes and gave money to the needy. She was interested in archaeology and once discovered a beautiful statue by Mynon, the celebrated Greek sculptor. Her other interests were painting in oils and water-colours and she also wrote a book of verse – The Crown of Thorns

died

 ..... Susan Durant ..... sculptress. At first she had no intention of becoming a sculptress but from 1847 until her death she was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and was one of Queen Victoria’s favourites. At one time, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, was a pupil in her studio. In 1860 she exhibited at the British Institution. Some of her works are – a statue of Robin Hood, Medallions of the Prince Consort and Queen Victoria ( which are now at Windsor Castle), a bust of Queen Victoria for the Inner Temple, busts of Mrs Beecher Stowe and Lady Killeen and she assisted in the execution of the monument of Leopold, King of the Belgians

born 

..... Willa Sibert Cather ..... winner of the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Literature with her novel One of Ours. She graduated from the University of Nebraska where she studied Latin and where she was an unconventional student who wore her hair short and called herself William. Her first novel was Alexander’s Bridge in 1912. With fame her life changed and her novel The Professor’s House (1925) dealt with some of the problems which this brought. She always preferred the company of women and portrayed a series of independent women in her books. During the 1930s she was greatly respected and received several honorary degrees. She died in 1947

1874

America

..... the first successful law stipulating a 10-hour working day for women in America was passed in Massachusetts

England

..... the Women’s Protective and Provident League was formed by Emma Paterson to encourage and help women to join a trade union. The name was later changed to the Women’s Trade Union League

..... in Ireland the Dublin Women's Suffrage Society was formed

..... the London School Board issued degrees to women for the first time

Norway

.....  Charlotte Lund took the middle school examination in Stavanger, and two years afterwards the Ministry stated “ there appears to be no obstacle preventing young women from taking the middle school examination”  

born

 ..... Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow ..... novelist and 1941 Pulitzer prize winner with her novel In This Our Life. She was born in Richmond, Virginia and took a degree in politics at the University of Virginia. Sadly her hearing began to deteriorate when she was sixteen and she eventually went deaf. In 1896 she went to London where she met Henry James and began to write herself. Her first novel was The Descendant (1897)and in 1900 she published The Voice of the People. Her autobiography was The Woman Within which was published in 1954, nine years after her death and her greatest novel was Barren Ground (1925). She received several awards and in 1938 became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

born February 3rd

..... Gertrude Stein .....  American writer who was born in Pennsylvania. She studied psychology and medicine at Radcliffe College and at John Hopkins University. In 1902 she left the USA and spent her life in France where she both wrote and encouraged writers. She was one of the leading and stimulating figures of her time. Her fame and influence centred on a new way of thinking about the art of writing. Her famous circular motto “ a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” is a reminder to us that things are only what they are. Some of her other works are Three Lives (1909) The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas (1933) and The Making of the Americans. She died on July 29th 1946…." If a thing can be done, why do it?"

1875

America

..... the first typists were recruited in an advert in a New York paper. The wages offered were between 10 and 20 dollars per week which was abnormally high for female workers in this period but was probably due to the fact that typewriters had only been put into production a year earlier by the Remington Company and competent typists were hard to find. The typewriter was also effective in liberating young women of the lower middle class from the bondage of home. Women began to take their places in the office in order to fulfil tasks that they were better suited to do than men

.....  the first women’s college to be established by a woman, was opened. It was called Smith College after Sophia Smith, the American philanthropist who was born in 1796 and died in 1870. She never married and at the age of 40 became deaf and lived a retired life with her sister and brother. When they died she inherited her brother's stock exchange fortune and a local clergyman suggested that she should leave it to a college for women. In 1868 she decided to do this and plans were drawn up. In her will she declared a belief that education for women would mean that ‘ as teachers, as writers, as mothers, as members of society, their power for good will be incalculably enlarged’. Smith College is one of the foremost American colleges for women. Mary Ellen Chase was a Professor of English there from 1926-1955 and graduates have included : Grace Hazard Conkling (1899) Constance M Green (1919) Eleanore Carrol Chilton (1922) Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1928)and Sylvia Plath (1955)

England

..... Newnham College, Cambridge, admitted its first women students due to the pioneering efforts of Anne Jemima Clough from Liverpool

..... an act of parliament made it permissible for women to be admitted to university on the same terms as men

..... the Trades Union Congress admitted women delegates for the first time and Emma Paterson and Edith Simcox introduced the campaign for equal pay for women workers

..... the Post Office introduced a rule that married women who were not widows, could not be appointed and single women who then married would have to leave. This marriage bar remained in force until 1946 and was only broken by one woman

Norway

 ..... the Women’s School of Arts and Handicrafts was opened in Christiania

born February 21st

.....  Jeanne Calment ..... who reached the age of 120  in 1995 and was accepted as being the world’s oldest person. Her life spanned the years before and after the inventions people now take for granted – electric light, cinema, telephones, television, radio etc etc. when the First World War started she was 43 years old and was 64 years old when the Second World War broke out. At the age of 94 she watched man’s first steps on the moon. When she was 80 she sold her house to a lawyer under an agreement by which he would pay her an annual amount until her death but as she kept on living he eventually paid more than five times the value of the house                 

born

..... Mistinguett, Queen of the Paris night, neé Jeanne Bourgeois. .....  she became an entertainer and the most famous star in the entire history of the French music hall. She was a talented comedienne and had beautiful legs which were the most heavily insured in the world. Her partner was Maurice Chevalier and her costumes were unequalled. Enormous feathers, spangled dresses, worn with panache, unrivalled before and since. She did not appear in England until 1947 when she was nearly 70 years old but at this age her legs were still seemingly beautiful. She died in 1956                             

1876

1877

America

..... the first training course for office typists was offered by the Y.W.C.A. in New York, America and eight pioneer girl students were chosen, more for their physique than aptitude as it was claimed that the arduous six months course was beyond the capacity of female minds and constitutions. All the girls survived the course and secured immediate employment

England

..... the Association for the Higher Education of women was established  in Glasgow, Scotland    

born

 ..... Elizabeth Wallace neé Ahern .....  Australian socialist who was a dedicated feminist and one of the most eloquent orators in Australian politics. Her father was an Irish gold miner and she left school at 14 and worked as a pupil teacher and then as a cook. She helped found the Domestic Workers Union and in 1909 founded the Women’s Socialist League. In 1906 she was imprisoned for defending the right to speak in public places. Her husband was Arthur Wallace and in 1916 they led the anti-conscription campaign although their own son enlisted and died of an illness caught whilst a soldier. Arthur became MP in 1919 and she continued to work for the Australian Labour party and also became a Justice of the Peace and Children’s Court magistrate. She died in 1969

born 

..... Rosika Schwimmer .....  Hungarian feminist and pacifist who spent her life campaigning for peace and against Fascism. As a journalist she was active in the women's movement and was a co-founder of a feminist-pacifist group. She became Vice-President of the women's International League for Peace and Freedom and in 1918 was appointed Minister to Switzerland but resigned a year later. In 1920 she fled to America but was refused citizenship. She spent the rest of her life until her death in 1948 campaigning for pacifism

1878

America

.....  the Women's Typographical Union Local closed but women were reluctantly accepted into the printers union on an equal footing with men

England

..... Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville College were opened at Oxford. Although these colleges were linked to the universities they were still considered to be separate institutions, despite an 1875 act of parliament which made it permissible for women to be admitted to university on the same terms as men ..... London University was empowered to grant degrees to women ( see 1880)

..... Cleopatra's Needle,  the rose coloured granite monument carved in Egypt 35 centuries ago, was erected on the Embankment in London. In legend, the Needle is protected by a curse – each time it is moved, men will die. On its journey to England a storm blew up in the Bay of Biscay. The captain had no choice but to cut the cylinder, in which it was being towed, loose, in order to save his ship. Six sailors took after the drifting Needle in a lifeboat but all were drowned. It was given up for lost when another ship sighted it and towed it to England

..... the Factory and Workshop Act allowed women better protection

..... an Association for the Higher Education of Women was formed at Oxford University

1879

America

.....  women were allowed to plead a case in the supreme Court and Belva Lockwood was the first to exercise this right

England

..... Somerville College, an all-women college (until 1994) was founded at Oxford University

..... the first two women admitted into the Pharmaceutical Society were Isabella Clarke and Rose Minshull

born June 4th

.....  Alla Nazimova neé  Alla Nazimoff ..... Russian who went to the USA as a successful stage actress and in 1916 began to make films. She was a kind of super vamp and slowly became so remote from her fans that she eventually lost her popularity. In 1918 she was the most popular star at Metro and her most famous film was ‘Salome’ in 1923. Sadly it was a financial failure and cost her her life savings. She left the cinema in the late 1920s and returned to the theatre but made a screen appearance in 1941. She had built for herself, the famous Garden of Allah, the hotel of the stars, and it was later converted into one of Hollywood’s most exclusive residences. Her films include – War Brides (1916) The Revelation (1918) The Brat  (1919). She died in 1945

born

..... Dorothy Fisher Canfield ..... American novelist born in Kansas. She served on the editorial board of selectors of the Book of the Month Club from its founding in 1926 until her death in 1958 and it established annual awards in her memory, to public libraries in small U.S communities. Another award in her name was established by Vermont organisations to select annually, a distinguished book for children. Some works are  Gunhild (1907)  The Squirrel Cage (1912) The Deepening Stream (1930) 

born July 25th

..... Isadora Duncan ..... pioneer of free dance as opposed to the classical ballet. She danced barefoot and won both fame and criticism. She introduced the novelty of dancing with bare limbs and translucent clothing but her personal life however was marred by tragedy. She had two lovers by whom she had two children who were both drowned when the car in which they were sitting careered down a hill and plunged over a bridge into the Seine. She was divorced and her ex-husband committed suicide and it was reported that she had attempted this herself. On September 14th 1927 her scarf caught in the wheel of a car and she was strangled…”it would be much kinder if they sent me champagne while I am alive, they can send me flowers when I am dead” she said after a successful dance performance

1880

England

..... the first high schools for girls were established

..... the first three women to graduate as Bachelors of Arts from London University were Elizabeth M Creak, Marianne Andrews and Elizabeth Hills

born

..... Edie Martin .....  diminutive British character actress who first appeared on stage in 1886 at the Prince of Wales theatre. She then toured for almost 18 years in pantomime. She began in films in 1932 and had her first significant roles in ‘Servants All’ and ‘ The Big Noise’. She excelled in cameo parts, such as maids or frail but fierce old ladies, in nearly 50 films.  Some are – Troopship (1937) They Were Sisters (1945) Great Expectations (1945) Oliver Twist (1948) The Lady With the Lamp, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). Her final appearance was in the 1962 film ‘Sparrows Can’t Sing’, two years before she died at the age of 84

born August 31st

..... Queen Wilhelmina .....  Dutch Head of State, Queen of the Netherlands who is long remembered as the living symbol of Dutch resistance. She preserved Dutch neutrality during the First World War and afterwards offered asylum to the defeated Kaiser. She encouraged social reforms which inaugurated the welfare state and during the German occupation she conducted her government from London, remaining there until the liberation. She abdicated for health reasons in 1948 in favour of her daughter Juliana, who married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld