Anne Henrietta Martin was born in Empire, Nevada, and grew up in Reno. Graduating from Bishop Whitaker’s School for Girls at 19, she went to study history at the University of Nevada and then for a second B.A. and M.A in history from Stanford University. In 1897, at 22, she founded Nevada State University’s history department, heading the department for two years before resuming her studies at Columbia University, Chase’s Art School in NYC, the University of London, and the University of Leipzig. Then, she worked as an art history instructor at the University of Nevada for several years. In 1909, at 34, Martin took a leave of absence and traveled to Asia and Europe. While in England, she became associated with leaders of the suffrage movement, joined the socialist Fabian Society, and became an active member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), working alongside Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst. She organized meetings and street protests and published short stories and political articles under the pen name of Anne O’Hara. In the fall of 1911, she returned to Nevada, joined The Equal Franchise Society, and was elected as its president the following year. Under Martin’s leadership, the campaign for women’s rights prospered. She went on a speaking tour throughout the state, convincing male voters to enfranchise women. Her goal was achieved on November 3rd, 1914, when women’s suffrage passed by popular vote in Nevada. Following her success, she was asked to join the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) but left for the more militant organization of the National Woman’s Party, elected as its first national chairman in 1916. In addition to this position, Martin served as president of the Nevada Women’s Civic League and the delegate to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. At 43, Martin decided to exercise her new right and became the first woman to run for US Senate. She ran as an independent candidate representing Nevada in 1918 and 1920, addressing various social topics, such as labor issues and the nationalization of railroads and other public utilities. Though she lost twice, she did win 18% of the vote in 1918 and 20% in 1920. In 1921, Martin moved to Carmel, California. For the next 30 years, she advocated for social causes, women’s equality, and farmers’ markets, believing it would benefit both consumers and laborers by eliminating the cost of middlemen. She died at the age of 76. Read more...

Thocmentony, “Shell Flower,” was her given name in the Northern Paiute tribe in the Humboldt Lake area in Nevada. When she was six years old, she moved with her family near Stockton, California, and, at 13, she and her sister went to live with a settler family at Carson City, Nevada as a companion for the family’s daughter. There, she established her English and adopted the name Sarah. When she returned to California two years later, she shortly attended a convent school before she was forced to leave due to complaints from parents of white students. During the Paiute War of 1860, Native Americans and settlers were frequently attacking one another. Winnemucca and her family members escaped to San Francisco. In the next five years, the family made a living by performing on stage as the “Paiute Royal Family.” In 1868, Winnemucca, among 500 Paiute survivors, moved to Fort McDermit military camp, where she began to use her skills as an interpreter. Three years later, the tribe relocated to the new Malheur Reservation in Oregon; there, she worked as an interpreter and as an assistant teacher at the local school. During the Bannock War in 1878, Winnemucca’s father, among other tribe members, had been taken hostage. She volunteered to save them and went to scout the Bannock territory. She covered more than a hundred miles before she located the Bannock camp, releasing the prisoners and gathering valuable intelligence for the US army. Afterward, she became a close associate of the commanding General, assisting with other missions that required her talents as scouter and interpreter. At the end of the war, the Paitus tribe was forced to move to the Yakama Reservation, suffering neglect and deprivation. Outraged by the reservation conditions, for the next five years, Winnemucca advocated and delivered hundreds of speeches regarding the injustice against Native Americans. She campaigned for the cause wherever she could, addressing army officers, senators, and legislators and securing thousands of signatures for a petition granting reservation lands for the Native Americans. Sadly, her efforts were fruitless. During her lecturing tour, she met Elizabeth Peabody and Mary Peabody Mann, who encouraged her to assemble her speeches into a book. In 1883, she published her autobiography “Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims,” becoming the first Native American woman to publish a book and the first to secure her copyright registration in the US. Her writings were a rare and valuable description of the life of the Northern Paiute and the impact of the white settlers on them. In 1884, at the age of 40, Winnemucca returned to live in Nevada, where she and her brother established a school for Paiute children, teaching them Native American culture and languages. Three years later, the school was shut down due to an act that ruled that Native children can only study in English schools managed by settlers. In 1887, after her second husband died, Winnemucca moved to live with her sister in Henry’s Lake, Idaho. She passed away four years later at the age of 47.   Dive deeper into the inspiring story of Sarah Winnemucca with our fun and engaging printable worksheet! Available now on Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers. Read more...