Natalie de Blois was born in Paterson, New Jersey, her father was a civil engineer, and her mother was a teacher. From an early age, she had an interest in buildings, and by the age of 10, she decided to become an architect. In junior high school, she refused to participate in a cooking and sewing class mandatory for girls. instead, with her parents’ support, she took mechanical drawing classes, the only girl in the class. After high school, she attended the Western College for Women for a year, which allowed her to enroll in architecture studies at Columbia University. To pay for her tuition, she worked as a draftsperson and taught drafting to fellow students. At 23, de Blois moved to NYC and began working at Ketchum, Gina, and Sharpe, but was fired nine months later because she rejected one of her male colleagues’ courting. She then joined Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), where she started at the technical lettering and later became the first woman at the firm to hold the senior designer position. Her first lead project was the Terrace Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, which received national publicity for its modernism. Afterward, she was assigned to various major projects, including the Union Carbide Building, the Pepsi building, and the Connecticut General campus. Although she had great success and gain respect from other architects, she still suffered from harsh sexism, been excluded from office lunches, and even once asked not to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony because “she looked pregnant.” At 42, de Blois got divorced and moved with her four sons to Chicago to work at the local branch of SOM. Within two years, she was named an associate partner. As a woman surrounded by men, as well as a single mother, de Blois was well aware of the bias against female architects, and in 1973 she co-founded the Chicago Women in Architecture – an organization that advances the status of women in the profession. Throughout her career, she spoke out of the importance of recognizing women as just architects, rather than “female architects,” and she promoted an initiative for the American Institute of Architects to interview female students across the country. At the age of 54, she moved to Houston, Texas, where she joined Neuhaus & Taylor firm. Her largest project there was the Fifth Avenue Plaza in downtown Seattle, which at the time was the tallest private office building in the city. A few years later, she began teaching at the University of Texas School of Architecture as a faculty member. In 1993, at the age of 72, she retired from teaching. A year later, she also gave up the practice and returned to Chicago. She passed away when she was 92 years old. Read more...

Born in Soochow, China, in 1894. She was sent to the US by her parents to receive a better education. At the time, only a few women were studying in universities, and even less so minority women. By 1918 she received a PhD in nutrition and chemistry from the University of Chicago. She worked as a researcher in several institutes and hospitals in the US and considered a pioneer in her field. Wang participated in many civic efforts in Chicago; her most known one was the foundation of the Chicago Chinese Women’s Club in 1937, which she kept active for over a decade. The club did well in fundraising, as well as in helping the American efforts in World War II, and in promoting women’s civil rights. Chi Che Wang Playlot Park in Chicago was named in her honor in 2004. It is located less than two miles from the research headquarters at Children’s Memorial Hospital, one of the places where Wang worked and promoted science. Read more...

When Gwendolyn Elizabeth wrote an assignment in school, her teacher thought it was too good to be true and accused the young learner of stealing the piece of writing. Her parents encouraged her to pursue her talent, and she would be excused from washing the dishes if she was busy writing. Her first poem was published at the age of 13. She later published more than 20 books of poetry and non-fiction, a novel, children’s books, and two autobiographies. Her writing reflects on black consciousness – strengthened by attending black writers conference at Fisk University in 1967, with special interest in the everyday life of her urban community. She received 50 honorary degrees and made several “firsts”: when she was 33 years old, her second book won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry; She was a poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, the first black woman to hold that position; And a poet laureate of the State of Illinois. Since moving to Chicago as an infant, she stayed there for all her life, being influenced by the city and contributing to it. She was passionate about education and committed to making poetry inclusive – visiting schools, reading in hospitals and prisons. To support beginning writers she initiated and self-funded literary contests. She was married and had two children. 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.   Dive deeper into the inspiring story of Jane Addams with our fun and engaging printable worksheet! Available now on Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers. Read more...