We should not need a reason to commemorate women in history. I think it’s sad about our heritage as a human race that we remember so little about individual women. Unless they were “great queens” or victims of horrible tragedy most women of antiquity are long-forgotten. The Greeks and Romans left us some stories about their women, but they were often relegated to the secondary pages of literature. Did ancient women truly accomplish so little or have we men just focused on our own achievements?

Here is an example of how men have treated the women of history poorly. Two of the most famous women in Asian antiquity are the Trung Sisters. They are not remembered for being great artists or writers, or for inventing things. They are remembered for leading a Vietnamese rebellion against Han China.  The legend of the Trung Sisters is grounded in historical records but we know very little about their lives.  They only freed Vietnam from Chinese colonial rule for about three years before their rebellion was put down.  How the Chinese prevailed is a matter of debate, as legendary accounts say the sisters were abandoned by their male soldiers, or that they jumped into a river, or that they were captured and beheaded by the Chinese general.

Here is more heartening story of a notable woman in my opinion.  Juliana Morrell has a very modern sounding name but she lived in the 1600s.  Juliana grew up with her father, a man with a troubled life it would seem.  Dear Mr. Morrell was accused of murder, forcing him to flee from Spain to France.  Even so, at the age of 12, Juliana Morrell was so accomplished she publishes theses on ethics and morality that she was privileged to defend before the Queen of Spain, Margaret of Austria.  After moving to France Juliana continued her studies and was eventually granted the first doctoral degree given to a woman in Europe.  Juliana Morrell went on to become an accomplish nun and prioress.  She is commemorated in modern women’s studies but I think she deserves recognition from men for being bright and achieving an education against all the odds.  It would be at least two hundred more years before European universities began awarding degrees to women in any great numbers.

A more recent example of a notable woman has to be Bessie Coleman.  Bessie was not just the first African American woman to become a pilot, she was the first American women to earn an international pilot’s license.  Bessie found herself surrounded by some of the most accomplished African American men when she took a job at a barbershop as a manicurist.  Supported by some of these men, she learned French and traveled to Paris, where she learned to fly.  Bessie returned to the United States with a highly coveted pilot’s license and she was an immediate sensation.  Her fame crossed racial boundaries as she began performing at air shows throughout the country.

Bessie died in an unfortunate accident in 1926.  She was not wearing a parachute or seatbelt when her plane went down, as she had intended to inspect some terrain prior to an airshow.  10,000 mourners attended her funeral.  Hopefully Americans will never forget Bessie for her courage and her daring-do.  She broke down barriers and crossed a world to prove that African American women were capable of greatness.

I will conclude with one more name from American history: Lucy Terry Prince.  You may not know about her but she is celebrated as the first African American poet.  Lucy lived in the 1700s.  She was abducted from her home in Africa when she was still quite young.  Taken to north America she was sold as a slave, but within a few years had become an ardent Christian and married a free black man, Abijah Prince.  Upon her marriage Lucy’s freedom was granted, although it is not known how.  Her husband may have purchased her freedom or she may have been granted her freedom as a gift.

Lucy Terry Prince was a gifted orator who spoke before the Vermont Supreme Court and other bodies.  She is said by some sources to have persuaded Williams College to allow one of her children to attend classes there, but other sources say she did not succeed.  In her legal case, Lucy successfully defeated a white man’s defamatory accusations.  Lucy composed a poem, “Bar’s Fight”, that was orally preserved among African Americans for 100 years before it was finally published in the 1800s.  Sadly, almost no one remembers the poem today.  I leave you with then-young Lucy’s words.

August ’twas the twenty-fifth,

Seventeen hundred forty-six;

The Indians did in Ambush lay,

Some very valiant men to slay,

The names of whom I’ll not leave out.

Samuel Allen like a hero fout,

And though he was so brave and bold,

His face no more shall we behold.

Eleazer Hawks was killed outright,

Before he had time to fight, —

Before he did the Indians see,

Was shot and killed immediately.

Oliver Amsden he was slain,

Which caused his friends much grief and pain.

Simeon Amsden they found dead,

Not many rods distant from his head.

Adonijah Gillett we do hear

Did lose his life which was so dear.

John Sadler fled across the water,

And thus he escaped the dreadful slaughter.

Eunice Allen see the Indians coming,

And hopes to save herself by running,

And had not her petticoats stopped her,

The awful creatures had not catched her,

Nor tommy hawked her on her head,

And left her on the ground for dead.

Young Samuel Allen, Oh lack-a-day!

Was taken and carried to Canada.