Awesome Stuff Women Did

Because women have done more in the past 10,000 years than just pop out babies and make sandwiches.

DISCLAIMER: We make no claim that all women featured here are saints. They did awesome stuff; the women themselves might not have been. Keep that in mind before sending angry notes.

Developed innovative yet highly controversial treatments for polio, involving prolonged applications of moist hot packs to help ease muscles, relieve pain and allow limbs to be stretched and gently exercised, at odds with the orthodox treatment of immobilisation through the use of plaster casts and splints. Vilified by the medical establishment, became a hugely popular public figure, once voted the ‘Most admirable woman in the United States’. Seen as beacons of hope by parents desperate for their stricken children and dissatisfied by existing treatments, a series of treatment centres opened across the United States throughout the 1940s. Her methods retain a place in rehabilitative medicine to this day. (Sister Elizabeth Kenny)

Developed innovative yet highly controversial treatments for polio, involving prolonged applications of moist hot packs to help ease muscles, relieve pain and allow limbs to be stretched and gently exercised, at odds with the orthodox treatment of immobilisation through the use of plaster casts and splints. Vilified by the medical establishment, became a hugely popular public figure, once voted the ‘Most admirable woman in the United States’. Seen as beacons of hope by parents desperate for their stricken children and dissatisfied by existing treatments, a series of treatment centres opened across the United States throughout the 1940s. Her methods retain a place in rehabilitative medicine to this day. (Sister Elizabeth Kenny)

Traveled to the Crimea on independently-raised funds, as racial prejudice among the War Office blocked her from being sent officially, bringing with her a knowledge of tropical medicine.  Built a hostel for sick and convalescing soldiers from salvaged driftwood, packing cases, and iron sheets, and salvaged architectural items, which was by all accounts an extraordinary success.  Left the Crimea destitute, but was so beloved by the soldiers she had helped that a benefit concert held in her honor comprised of performances byover 1,000 artists, including 11 military bands and an orchestra conducted by Louis Antoine Jullien, and was attended by a crowd of circa 40,000.  Later counted the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge, and Count Geichen (a nephew of Queen Victoria) amongst her patrons and friends. (Mary Seacole)

Traveled to the Crimea on independently-raised funds, as racial prejudice among the War Office blocked her from being sent officially, bringing with her a knowledge of tropical medicine.  Built a hostel for sick and convalescing soldiers from salvaged driftwood, packing cases, and iron sheets, and salvaged architectural items, which was by all accounts an extraordinary success.  Left the Crimea destitute, but was so beloved by the soldiers she had helped that a benefit concert held in her honor comprised of performances byover 1,000 artists, including 11 military bands and an orchestra conducted by Louis Antoine Jullien, and was attended by a crowd of circa 40,000.  Later counted the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge, and Count Geichen (a nephew of Queen Victoria) amongst her patrons and friends. (Mary Seacole)

The origin of the immortal HeLa cell line, which has been invaluable for medical research, including the polio vaccine.  20 tons of the cells are now in existence.  (Henrietta Lacks)

The origin of the immortal HeLa cell line, which has been invaluable for medical research, including the polio vaccine.  20 tons of the cells are now in existence.  (Henrietta Lacks)

Founded Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in 1907 which is now known as Seattle Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington. Currently ranked as one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Children’s serves as the pediatric referral center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. [Anna Herr Clise]

Founded Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in 1907 which is now known as Seattle Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington. Currently ranked as one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Children’s serves as the pediatric referral center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. [Anna Herr Clise]

Launched the Oxford Survey of Childhood Cancers in the 1950s, which demonstrated conclusively the link between prenatal X-rays and childhood leukaemia, although its results were resisted by the scientific establishment for decades. Studied cancer rates among workers at nuclear power plants and discovered that the risks due to radiation were far greater than previous studies had suggested. In 1986, at the age of 80, was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (the “alternative Nobel Prize”) and received a grant of $1.4 million to study the effects of low-dose radiation (the grant was raised by activists from a fine imposed on the Three Mile Island nuclear facility, not by any government; it took six years of legal struggle for the US government to release the records needed to complete the study). In 1992, was awarded the Ramazzini Prize for epidemiology. Continued publishing scientific papers into her 90s, publishing over 400 in her lifetime. (Alice Stewart) [Essentially, every time your doctor drapes you in a lead apron before taking an X-ray, or refuses to take an X-ray on a woman who might be pregnant, or is cautious about taking X-rays too often? That’s thanks to Alice Stewart.]

Launched the Oxford Survey of Childhood Cancers in the 1950s, which demonstrated conclusively the link between prenatal X-rays and childhood leukaemia, although its results were resisted by the scientific establishment for decades. Studied cancer rates among workers at nuclear power plants and discovered that the risks due to radiation were far greater than previous studies had suggested. In 1986, at the age of 80, was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (the “alternative Nobel Prize”) and received a grant of $1.4 million to study the effects of low-dose radiation (the grant was raised by activists from a fine imposed on the Three Mile Island nuclear facility, not by any government; it took six years of legal struggle for the US government to release the records needed to complete the study). In 1992, was awarded the Ramazzini Prize for epidemiology. Continued publishing scientific papers into her 90s, publishing over 400 in her lifetime. (Alice Stewart)

[Essentially, every time your doctor drapes you in a lead apron before taking an X-ray, or refuses to take an X-ray on a woman who might be pregnant, or is cautious about taking X-rays too often? That’s thanks to Alice Stewart.]

Best known for Chick’s law giving the relationship between the kill efficiency of organisms and contact time with a disinfectant (still used, as the Chick-Watson Equation).  Studied the nutritional factor causing rickets, and proving that fat-soluble vitamins present in cod liver oil, or exposure to ultra violet light, could cure and prevent rickets in children. Prior to her contributions a significant percentage of children had rickets. Served as secretary of the League of Nations health section committee on the physiological bases of nutrition from 1934 to 1937.  (Dr. Harriette Chick)

Best known for Chick’s law giving the relationship between the kill efficiency of organisms and contact time with a disinfectant (still used, as the Chick-Watson Equation).  Studied the nutritional factor causing rickets, and proving that fat-soluble vitamins present in cod liver oil, or exposure to ultra violet light, could cure and prevent rickets in children. Prior to her contributions a significant percentage of children had rickets. Served as secretary of the League of Nations health section committee on the physiological bases of nutrition from 1934 to 1937.  (Dr. Harriette Chick)

Invented the Del-Em, a device to perform menstrual extraction—a form of both menstrual control and very early term abortion, which requires no anesthetic, is controlled by the woman receiving it, and can be performed at home (Lorraine Rothman)

Invented the Del-Em, a device to perform menstrual extraction—a form of both menstrual control and very early term abortion, which requires no anesthetic, is controlled by the woman receiving it, and can be performed at home (Lorraine Rothman)

Opened the first legal birth control clinic in the U.S., and the first that was staffed entirely by female doctors and social workers, which received crucial grants from John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Bureau of Social Hygiene from 1924 onward. Introduced the diaphragm to the the U.S., smuggling them from the Netherlands. Helped organize the first World Population Conference in Geneva. Opened a family planning clinic in Harlem that sought to enlist support for contraceptive use and to bring the benefits of family planning to women who were denied access to their city’s health and social services. Staffed by a black physician and black social worker, the clinic was endorsed by The Amsterdam News (the powerful local newspaper), the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Urban League, and the black community’s elder statesman, W. E. B. Du Bois. Toured Europe, Africa and Asia in the 1960s lecturing and helping to establish clinics (Margaret Sanger)

Opened the first legal birth control clinic in the U.S., and the first that was staffed entirely by female doctors and social workers, which received crucial grants from John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Bureau of Social Hygiene from 1924 onward. Introduced the diaphragm to the the U.S., smuggling them from the Netherlands. Helped organize the first World Population Conference in Geneva. Opened a family planning clinic in Harlem that sought to enlist support for contraceptive use and to bring the benefits of family planning to women who were denied access to their city’s health and social services. Staffed by a black physician and black social worker, the clinic was endorsed by The Amsterdam News (the powerful local newspaper), the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Urban League, and the black community’s elder statesman, W. E. B. Du Bois. Toured Europe, Africa and Asia in the 1960s lecturing and helping to establish clinics (Margaret Sanger)

Co-developed a medical research method based on looking for differences in nucleic acid metabolism between normal human cells, cancer cells, protozoa, bacteria and virus, which could be utilized to develop drugs that selectively block the growth of cancer cells and of noxious organisms, forming the basis for the development of drugs against a variety of disorders including leukemia, malaria, virus infections and gout.  Won a Nobel Prize in Medicine, without having a PhD. (Gertrude Bell Elion)

Co-developed a medical research method based on looking for differences in nucleic acid metabolism between normal human cells, cancer cells, protozoa, bacteria and virus, which could be utilized to develop drugs that selectively block the growth of cancer cells and of noxious organisms, forming the basis for the development of drugs against a variety of disorders including leukemia, malaria, virus infections and gout.  Won a Nobel Prize in Medicine, without having a PhD. (Gertrude Bell Elion)