Aspasia was born in Miletus, Greece (or modern-day Turkey), and later moved to Athens. Her early history isn't very well known and is only theory. It's suggested when she moved to Athens, she became a courtesan and a brothel owner or worker. She was a speaker and teacher of classical Greek. Aspasia is one of the first women mentioned in early rhetoric and is said to have influenced Socrates and other notable philosophers. Many Greek philosophers at that time spoke highly of Aspasia, unlike the text and theater productions, which depicted her as a foreigner and prostitute. During her life in Athens, she faced exclusion due to being a foreigner. 

None of Aspasia's original works have survived, so all we know about her comes from mentions in books from other philosophers, mainly Socrates, who frequently praised her wisdom and expertise.  Women and immigrants were often mistreated treated in Athens. There are very rare instances where an immigrant woman is shown respect. It gives rare glimpses into how women impacted classic rhetoric. 

Sappho was born to an aristocratic family on the island of Lesbos and then later in life became a lyrical poet. She was highly regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets of her time. All of Sappho's work has now been lost, and there isn't much written about her family life. it is said her work is lost because the church didn't approve of her morals and it was written that during the Renaissance, they burned her work. That is why her works are known in fragment form.  It is known she wrote a lot about desire, mainly desire between women. Her work had many homosexual themes, and it was believed that she was a historical queer figure. Around 600 BCE, she was exiled to Sicily, where she lived until 570 BCE. According to a legend, she had jumped from cliffs due to unrequited love.   

Beyond Sappho's poetry, she was a known symbol of love and desire between women. It is thought that the English words Sapphic and Lesbian were derived from her name and home islands. 

Texts: 

• Ode to Aphrodite

Julian of Norwich lived in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century. She was an English anchoress (someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life.). All of her life was dedicated to prayer at St. Julian's church of Norwich. Very little is known of Julian. It is known she wrote several religious manuscripts anonymously. She often referred to Jesus as a mother, and all her works have maternal themes. Julian is known for being a major figure in women’s involvement in medieval Christianity while intertwining mysticism and femininity throughout her writings.  

Texts: 

• Revelations of Divine Love ( the earliest surviving English works attributed to a woman. Also the only surviving works of an English anchoress) 

Margery was a Christian mystic in Bishop Lynn (now King Lynn's), England, in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century. She began to have visions after the birth of her first child and even claimed to have spiritual conversations with god. Unlike Julian of Norwich or other devout Christian women, Margery married and had fourteen kids. At this time, women were forbidden to preach, but Margery often gave public speeches of her conversations with god and would be in tears, saying her tears would be the gift to the spirit. These speeches put her at odds with the church, and she was often tried for heresy (but never convicted). Her book offered an understanding of married middle-class life, but it also represents the rhetoric of English religious dissent that arose during the era. Her book even depicts Margery meeting Julian of Norwich and her approving of Margery's visions. 

Texts:

• The Book of Margery Kempe   

Christine was an Italian-born French court writer. She wrote for King Charles VI and other French royal dukes in prose and poetry. Christine produced several works of prose and poetry on the lives of nobles, stories of female leaders, and political thought pieces. Unlike authors of that time, Christine used her writings to defend women and denounce misogynistic texts. She judged the quality of leaders and engaged in political commentary with Aristotelian ethics.  

Texts: 

• The Book of the City of Ladies 

• The Treasure of the City of Ladies 

Juana is a new Spanish writer, philosopher, composer, poet, and nun. She was self-educated and taught young children during her life. Through her time as a nun, she advocated for women's right to an education and criticized misogynist practices in her writings. She is considered one of the most important female writers in Spanish language literature and the literature of Mexico.  

Texts: 

• Poems, Protest, and a Dream: Selected Writings

Sojourner was born into slavery in New York and later escaped to freedom with one of her children. In 1828 Sojourner went to court to get her other son back and was the first black woman to win a court case against a white man. Sojourner was born Isabella Baumfree but in 1843 she changed it saying god called to her. Sojourner's most famous speech was given in Akron, Ohio at the Ohio Women's Rights convention. During the Civil War, she worked to recruit black troops for the union. After the war, she tried to secure land grants for formerly enslaved people but was unsuccessful. Until the end of her life, she fought for women and African Americans. She is also the first African American women to have a statue at the capitol building.  

Texts: 

• Ain't I a women 

Elizabeth was born and raised in New York. Her father was a lawyer, and she got an informal law education from talking and listening to his conversations with colleagues. Elizabeth then married to become active in the anti-slavery movement. In 1848, Elizabeth and her friend Lucretia Mott held the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. She also circulated petitions to help New York pass the Women's Property Act. In 1851, Elizabeth met Susan B. Anthony, and they quickly began to collaborate. Elizabeth would author the speeches Susan spoke due to her not being able to travel with seven children. She and Susan joined the Civil War and pushed for the thirteenth amendment. In 1869, Elizabeth and Susan founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). Elizabeth died eighteen years before women gained the right to vote.   

Texts:

• The Declaration of Sentiments

• History of Woman Suffrage (3 volumes) 

• Woman's Bible

•  Eighty Years and More

Susan was born into a Quaker family. Her family shared a passion for social reform. When Susan was six her family moved to New York, and her father bought a cotton mill where he employed young women. By the age of 17, she was collecting anti-slavery petitions. Susan was educated for one term by a Quaker school, but her family fell into ruin, and she had to leave. 1851, she met Elizabeth, and in 1856, she became a New York state agent for American anti-slavery society. Elizabeth and Susan founded the New York Women's State Temperance Society, the Women's Loyal National League, the National Woman Suffrage Association, and the American Equal Rights Association. In 1868, the women wrote for a newspaper called The Revolution. In 1872, Susan was arrested for trying to vote in New York. 1878, Susan and Elizabeth petitioned Congress to get women to vote. This then became ratified in 1920 to what we know today as the Nineteenth Amendment.  Susan traveled and gave 75 to 100 speeches a year. Susan also plays a key role in creating the International Council of Women. which is still active today. Susan was the first woman to be depicted on American coinage in 1979 dollar coin. 

Texts: 

• History of Woman Suffrage (3 volumes)      

Bell was born in Kentucky as Gloria Jean Watkins. In her youth, she was educated in racially segregated public schools, then later moved to an integrated school in the 1960s. She earned a BA from Stanford University, an MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD from the University of California-Santa Cruz. She started to write her first book (Ain't I a Women: Black Women and Feminism) at the age of 19, which she published at age 29. Throughout her works, she explored the relationship between sexism, racism, and economic disparity. Her books have been aimed at scholars and the public. Bell also had a career as a teacher which started in 1976, and she taught at USC, Yale University, Oberlin College, the City College of New York, and Berea College    

Texts: 

• Ain't I a women: Black Women and Feminism  

•  Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center 

• Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics 

• Teaching to Transgress  

• Homemade Love

• And There We Wept

• When Angels Speak of Love 

• Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place

Angela was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She studied at Brandeis University and the University of Frankfurt, where she studied far-left politics. After her return to the States, she joined the CPUSA. She is known for being a Marxist, feminist, political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She mainly involves herself with the second-wave feminist movement and the campaign against the Vietnam War. During the 1980s, she was the vice presidential candidate for the communist party of America In 1991, Angela broke away from the CPUSA. In 1971, she was Times Women of the Year, and in 2020, she was included in the Times list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Angela is most famous for being involved in the Soledad brothers case, where the guns they used were registered to her. She spent 18 months in jail, which led to the "Free Angela Davis" campaign, but all charges were acquitted. In 1997 Angela came out as a lesbian and has fought against oppression ever since. 

Texts: 

• Women, Race, and Class 

• Are Prisons Obsolete?

Kimberlè was born in Canton, Ohio. Her parents at a young age, encouraged her to discuss "interesting things". This push by her parents is what became the basis for her career. In 1981, she graduated from Cornell with a BA in government and African studies. She received a JD from Harvard. In 1985, she received a master's of Law from the University of Wisconsin. Kimberlè is the founder of critical race theory Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law, and a lecturer on civil rights. She now teaches at Columbia Law School. 

Texts:

• Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out

• Overpoliced and Underprotected

• The Race Track: How the Myth of Equal Opportunity Defeats Racial Justice