Abigail Smith was born and raised in Massachusetts. Her father was a liberal minister, her mother was a member of the famous Quincy family mother, and she had two sisters. At a time when women were not allowed to receive a formal education, she was homeschooled and satisfied her appetite for knowledge at the family’s library, forming progressive views. After a two-year courtship, she married John Adams, a country lawyer, and became his closest advisor and partner. They settled in the house John had inherited from his father in Braintree, MA. When his practice expanded, John had to frequently travel while Abigail managed their finances, investments, household, and growing family. For a while, they even moved to Boston next to his practice. Between 1784 and 1788, Abigail joined John in his diplomatic missions in Paris and London. On March 4th, 1797, John became the second president of the United States, and she was the first lady. They lived in the Presidential Mansion in Philadelphia and later in the White House in Washington, DC. She was a politically active first lady, made frequent public appearances, and was involved in the decision-making process, paving the way for future first ladies to be proactive figures. When John lost presidential re-election, the family retired to Peacefield in Quincy in 1800. During his frequent travels before and during the presidency, the couple corresponded in more than 1100 letters, where Abigail demonstrated her talent for writing and opinionated spirit. In one of those letters, she urges her husband to consider women’s rights in the new legislation after independence, warning that if not given equal representation: “women will rebel.” He dismissed her suggestion by writing back that it makes him laugh, but her words “remember the ladies” became an iconic feminist slogan. Before her death, she wrote a will favoring her female relatives. It was an act of protest against the laws prohibiting married women from owning assets. Read more...

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born into a wealthy New York family of Italian origin, and was raised in a strict Catholic education. Her dream was to become an actress, but she got nervous in auditions, and ended up getting a 3-second extra gig in The Sopranos TV series. As a plan-B she decided to invest in her music career, which started with playing classic piano from age four. She adopted the nickname “Lady Gaga” given to her by friends based on the 80’s hit song “Radio Ga Ga”. The stage-name allowed her to reinvent herself as a new and extravagant character with uncompromising confidence in her unique personality, expressed in language and appearance. Her musical talent was complemented, and at times overshadowed by her stylish outfits and stage design. She became “the biggest pop star in the world”, a provocative fashion icon, most wanted paparazzi target and social media magnet with more than 30 million followers. She explains that the idea behind her total persona is to create “shock art cultural commentary pieces” – expressing a critical opinion on contemporary society, like the chase after fame. Lady Gaga spoke out about her personal experience of being sexually assaulted and suffering from a mental health disorder, to raise awareness of what later became the #MeToo campaign. She co-wrote and released 7 albums and won more than 100 international and national awards. She featured in the Guinness World Records book as the Most Searched-For Female on the Internet. After a decade of intense music creation she got a leading role in the film “A Star Is Born”, which she wrote original new hits to, coming full circle with her initial desire to be an actress. Read more...

Jackie Kennedy, aka Jackie O, was born as Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1929 to a wealthy New York family. She started writing and publishing at an early age, and at 12 she won the Vogue magazine contest to work in Paris, but had to decline it due to her mother’s opposition. A few years later, she lived for a period in Paris while studying for her B.A. in French Literature. At 22 she started working for Washington Times-Herald, publishing a column of photo-interviews with city residents. Among her interviewees was John F. Kennedy (JFK), whom she married at the age of 24 years old. In 1960 John was elected as the 35th US president, and 31 years old Jacky Kennedy became one of the nations’ youngest First Ladies. Her time in the White House was marked by high publicity. She restored the residency and later hosted a televised tour, which was watched by 80 million viewers and won her an Emmy Award. Her main contribution was in raising the recognition of the arts in the White House – hosting jazz and ballet performances, appointing the first in-house curator and establishing a Fine Arts Committee. She also made a notable contribution to the fashion world, presenting new trends such as the pillbox hat, oversize sunglasses, and headscarves. Her marriage to Kennedy was notoriously clouded by his infidelity, as was the case with her parents’ marriage. At 34 she lost both her newborn child to lung disease and her husband in a historical assassination. Five years later she married Greek Aristotle Onassis, one of the wealthiest men in the world, who was 23 years older than her. Her nickname then changed to Jackie O. She spent her last two decades as an editor in American publishing houses, and died of cancer at 64, then buried beside her first husband in Arlington National Cemetery. Read more...

Born in Churchville, New York as Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard, and moved from one place to another with her family, until they settled in Evanston, Illinois, where she attended the North Western Female College. After graduation, she began a teaching career, and at the age of 32, she was appointed the president of Evanston College for Ladies. Two years later she was named the first Dean of Women at the university, but she resigned after only one year due to confrontations with the University President, to whom she was engaged a few years earlier. At the time, women began to oppose alcohol consumption in purpose to reduce domestic violence. Willard, dedicated to the cause, became a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and served in various positions in the organization, including the first Corresponding Secretary, the Head of the Publications Department, and the President of the National WCTU, a position she served for 19 years until her death. Under Willard’s presidency, the WCTU grew to be the largest women’s organization at the time, encouraging women to be involved in local and national politics and supporting social change. With the assistance of her personal secretary, Anna Adams Gordon, Willard promoted the temperance goals by giving speeches throughout the country, advocating for women’s rights, the suffrage movement, labor reform, and education. When Willard was 49 years old, she joined the International Council of Women meeting, where they established the National Council of Women. Later on, she was appointed as the first president of the organization. She also took part in the establishment of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. In 1898, while preparing for a trip to Europe, she caught the flu and died in her sleep when she is 59 years old.   Read more...

Born in Cedarville, Illinois. As a teen, inspired by reading Dickens and by her mother’s kindness to the poor, Addams had a dream to do good in the world and to become a doctor. After graduating from Rockford Female Seminary, she attended the Woman’s Medical College of Philadelphia but had to quit after one year due to health problems. After returning from a two years tour in Europe, Addams felt useless and unsure of her future and sank into depression. At the age of 27, accompanied by several friends, Addams traveled to London to visit the first settlement house, a non-class community house, where people live, earn an education and get health care. Two years later, Addams and her partner, Ellen Gates Starr, founded a settlement house in Chicago, called Hull House, which eventually became a research and education center, with activities and services. At its height, Hull House was the residence of about 25 women and was visited by 2,000 people on a weekly basis. In addition to her activities at Hull House, Addams worked with other reform groups to achieve social improvements, including factory inspection, an eight-hour working day for women, justice for immigrants and the black community, women’s suffrage, research on the causes of poverty and crime, and the establishment of the first juvenile-court law. At the age of 45, Addams began serving on Chicago’s Board of Education, and five years later she became the first female president of the National Conference of Social Work. As a pacifist and peace activist, during WW1 she lectured on peace and ending the war, served as chairman of the International Congress of Women, and later as the president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1931, in recognition of her work, Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American woman that won this prize. Read more...

Born as Chaya Rubinstein in Krakow, Poland, to a Jewish family, and was the eldest of eight daughters. At the age of 24, with some faulty English, empty pockets, and 12 jars of face cream her mother put in her suitcase, she immigrated to Australia. It is told that her fair skin and stylish clothes drew the attention of the local ladies who took an interest in her beauty routine. Rubinstein had a sharp sense for business and saw her opportunity right there. She began selling the facial cream jars and searched for a way to produce more until she found it. With her unique business instinct, she opened her first beauty salon in Melbourne, and the place was such a huge success that another one was opened in Sydney. Realizing the importance of advertisement, Rubinstein was the first to sell her products with pseudo-scientific claims, a business move that made her fortune. Within five years, she earned enough to expand and decided to move to London. There, she established one of the first ever cosmetic companies. Her enterprise was extraordinary since banks didn’t loan money to women at that time, only she didn’t need assistance, she owned her own self-made fortune. After moving to New York, she opened, in 1915, the first salon there, one of many to be opened in the following years, turning her business into a multi-million dollars’ worth of shares. She was known to have a sharp tongue and speak her mind, and her main rivalry was with Elizabeth Arden, both were powerful personas, successful entrepreneurs and businesswomen. Rubinstein’s prime exclusive salon was opened in the 5th avenue with a spa, a restaurant, and a gym, luxurious furniture and art, a new concept at the time. She adored fine arts and was acquitted with some of the top artists in that era, such as Salvador Dali from whom she ordered a portrait and design of a powder box. She shared her fortune and was a philanthropist who founded the Helena Rubinstein Foundation to fund health, medical research, and rehabilitation organizations. She donated to the America Israel Cultural Foundation and established the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion of Contemporary Art in the Tel Aviv Museum. In 1965, she died of natural causes. Read more...

In her short life, she captured the American dream when transformed her life from an illegitimate child into a movie star and a national sensation. Her mother named her Norma Jean, and soon after the birth suffered from a nervous breakdown and was admitted into a mental institution. The newborn girl was shuffled between 12 foster homes, marrying at 16 to avoid going to an orphanage. When she worked in a war factory at 19, a photographer captured her while shooting an article about working women. That image surfaced and opened the doors for her modeling and acting career, which she dreamed of since age 5. Her success wasn’t immediate, but she kept on pushing – as she is said to have been “raised on a steady diet of rejections.” In an early stage of her career, she took on the stage name Marilyn and her mother’s maiden name Monroe. At 22 she got her first film role in a musical. When she “made it” to a movie star status – the fame was extreme. Some of the indicators of her popularity were a crowd of 4,000 people who came at 3 am to see her shoot a scene in New York, or being invited to sing for the president’s birthday rally in Madison Square Garden. Her film career lasted about a decade and included 33 credited films, some of the most popular are “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “The Seven Year Itch,” “Some Like It Hot,” and “Don’t Bother to Knock.” She married two more times, both to famous men, both ending in divorce: baseball star Joe DiMaggio and play-writer Arthur Miller. Shortly after her 36 birthday, she was found dead in her bedroom with an empty bottle of sleeping pills next to her. She is still celebrated in the global culture as an icon of sexuality, beauty, and fame. Even though she capitalized on her image, she was critical of being treated as a commodity: “The trouble is, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate being a thing.” Read more...

Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, to a family of abolitionist and transcendentalists, a movement that encouraged the perfection of the individual. She was homeschooled by her father, who was a teacher. During Alcott’s childhood, her family moved to various places. When in Harvard, they tried to establish a utopian community called ‘Fruitlands,’ and when moved back to Concord, they helped hide fugitive slave that escaped via the Underground Railroad. From a young age, Alcott helped to support her family and worked in various jobs, such as a teacher, governess, seamstress, domestic helper, and writer. When she was only 17 years old, she wrote her first book. At first, she published under the pen name Flora Fairfield, and later as A. M. Barnard. She published poems, thrillers, short stories, and juvenile tales. During the American Civil War, Alcott volunteered as a nurse in the Union Hospital at Georgetown, DC. Her experiences in the hospital inspired her to write “Hospital Sketches,” the book which made her famous. After Alcott accepted an editorship at a girls’ magazine, she was asked to write a book especially for girls, and that resulted in the first part of ‘Little Women,’ inspired by her relationship with her three sisters. She was an enthusiastic supporter of women’s rights, wrote for a women’s rights periodical, encouraged women to vote, and an abolitionist. When the state of Massachusetts passed the law allowing women to vote, she was the first women to register. During her lifetime, Alcott published more than 20 books and almost 300 literary works, in them, she challenged social norms addressing women’s issues and encouraged her readers to do so as well. Read more...

Born Juliette Margikk Kinzie Gordon in Savannah, Georgia, to a well-established family and was affectionately called “Daisy.” In 1911, she met with the founder of Boy Scouts and was inspired to establish the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912, a movement she originally initiated with the name “Girl Guide,” similar to the one in England at that time. Gordon Low set herself a mission to assure girls in their capability, power to contribute to society, and to become self-sufficient. Her goal was to teach them skills, empower them, and help to “build their character.” The girls were taught to manage a household and care for livestock, but also practiced knot tying, map reading, first aid, and drilling, signaling, and camping. The first troop was of only 18 girls and was culturally and ethnically diverse, breaking the social conventions back then. Not only did the movement reach out to all girls from all backgrounds, but it also welcomed girls with disabilities which were often isolated. Low strove for the cause with determination and enthusiasm, and had a vast network of supporters. With her natural talent for public relations, she used those sources to raise funds to open more Girl Scouts programs across the nation and eventually worldwide. By 1925, there were over 90,000 active Girl Scouts in the US, and based on the girl scout organization, in 2019, there are 2.5 million(!) Girl Scouts — 1.7 million girl members and 750,000 adult members working in the USA. And always “Girl Led.” Juliette Gordon Low died of breast cancer in 1927. She kept her illness a secret and continued to present “business as usual” throughout her struggle. Her home, now called “Birthplace,” was bought by the Girl Scouts, became a museum of the movement, and is run by them to this day. The house is a registered national landmark. Read more...

Isadora Duncan was an avant-garde dancer with a novel freestyle which became today’s modern dance, who lived an extraordinary life in all aspects. She was born in 1887 in San Francisco, California, to a family with great appreciation and love of the arts. Her siblings became artists as well. After her parents got divorced, her mother moved the family to Oakland and worked as a seamstress and piano teacher to support them. Since the family was very poor, Duncan began teaching dance lessons to children in the neighborhood throughout her teenage years. Her unique style was already evident in those early years teaching improvisation and freestyle dance. At 19, she started her career as a professional dancer but quickly found that her vision of the art of dance collided with the strict rules of formal dance. From her point of view, the movements of the classical ballet were unnatural, with their exact, pre-written, none fluid, rigid moves. That’s in addition to the uncomfortable corsets and point shoes which were even less natural to the body and its nature. In her vision, each step and movement must be born from the other in an organic succession. Her dancing defined the force of progress, change, abstraction and liberation. The concept of the natural movement of the body was the main key of her unique style, a concept she was willing to take to the edge, and which earned her the fortune and fame she is remembered for to this day. In 1898 she moved to London, where she began performing privately for the wealthy. Her earnings enabled her to rent a studio and develop a grander stage performance. From London, she moved to Paris, and there she attended the Louvre and the Exposition Universelle of 1900. Those experiences had inspired her greatly. The Louvre for its ancient Greek art exposition was a milestone in her vision, and the loosened Greek robe and bare feet became her most identifiable trademark and affected the future of dance. From there on Duncan traveled across Europe and the Americas, performing in her innovative style and developing its technique. Though she became popular and successful, she sought to accomplish her true mission to educate the young. In 1904 she opened her first school in Berlin, and there she taught her vision of dance to young women. Six of her students became the “Isadorables” dance group and continued her legacy. She also adopted them, and they all took her last name. In 1914, Duncan returned to the US and established a school in NYC. She died in 1927 in Nice, France in a strange accident when her scarf became entangled around the open-spoke wheels and rear axle, pulling her from the open car and breaking her neck. Read more...