March is Women’s History Month, and at Private Prep, we’re celebrating by uplifting the stories of women throughout history and today who have advocated for education reform and provided critical innovations to ensure the survival of the American education system. The expertise, contributions, and accomplishments of these amazing women have served as major catalysts for positive change in education, and we are endlessly grateful to them!
Lucy Wheelock (1857-1946)
The Savior of Kindergarten
Although kindergarten is common across the U.S. today, its existence was once hotly debated by the education industry—and the practice likely would have died out entirely, if not for Lucy Wheelock, a passionate educator born in 1857. Wheelock was a kindergarten teacher herself, president of the International Kindergarten Union, and a fierce advocate for early childhood education, calling it, “the greatest cause that can be served.”
To ensure kindergarten’s survival, Wheelock coauthored a groundbreaking report that helped bridge the gap between educators with polarized ideas of which education and play activities were most appropriate in kindergarten classrooms. She also worked to create free kindergartens in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Boston.
Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952)
Inventor of the Montessori Approach
Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for the self-motivated philosophy of education that bears her name. The now-famous Montessori Approach is a system for teaching young children in which the children themselves motivate the lessons. Rather than adhering to high-pressure traditional schooling methods with grades and tests, Montessori schools encourage kids to move freely through individualized instruction, a strategy that has shown to cultivate that elusive quality, an intrinsic motivation for learning.
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (1875 – 1955)
Trailblazing Advocate for African American Education
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, stateswoman, humanitarian, and civil rights activist. McLeod Bethune’s accomplishments are many, but here are just a few: she founded the National Council for Negro Women in 1935; led numerous African American women’s organizations, including the National Association for Colored Women; was appointed as a national advisor to FDR; founded the Federal Coucil on Colored Affairs, also known as the Black Cabinet; and is known as the “First Lady of Negro America” and the “Female Booker T. Washington.”
Determined to support the education of Black youth, Mcleod Bethune is well-known for starting a private school for African-American students in Florida, which later became Bethune-Cookman University. This college, which she founded, continues to set standards for today’s Black colleges.
Helen Keller (1880 – 1968)
Inspiring Educator and Advocate for the Disabled
Helen Keller was an American educator and author who was blind and deaf. After losing her sight and hearing during an illness in her infancy, Keller barely communicated at all until she met her first teacher, Anne Sullivan, at the age of seven. From Sullivan, Keller learned language, including reading and writing. Keller went on to attend Radcliffe College at Harvard University and became the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor’s degree. She was a fierce advocate for the disabled, and her advocacy was crucial in removing the disabled from asylums and placing them in schools where education and compassion might transform their lives. Keller also co-founded the ACLU, and her story has been made famous by the film and stage play The Miracle Worker.
Patsy Mink (1927 – 2002)
Co-author of Title IX
Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink was an American attorney and politician from Hawaii and a third-generation Japanese American. Mink originally wanted to go to medical school but was denied because of her gender. Then, after completing law school, she struggled to find work because she was a mother. So instead, Mink pivoted, becoming the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Congress, where she served 13 sessions in the House of Representatives. As a Congresswoman, Mink co-authored Title IX, legislation that today works to combat the very discrimination Patsy faced. She was also instrumental in helping pass the Women’s Educational Equity Act in 1974, which gave funding to help end discrimination in education programs.
Michelle Obama
Global Advocate for Education for Girls
During her tenure as First Lady, Obama launched Let Girls Learn, a U.S. government initiative aimed at helping adolescent girls attain a quality education. Though it’s been proven that educating girls leads to economic and social development, resulting in more stability in countries around the globe, 62 million girls are not in school globally. Obama worked at the national level to empower girls to seek out the education they deserve and grow into tomorrow’s leaders.
Malala Yousafzai
Founder of the Malala Fund
Malala grew up in Mingora, Pakistan. When she was 10, the Taliban took control and forbade girls from going to school. In 2012, Malala spoke out publicly on behalf of girls and their right to learn, making herself a target. On her way home from school, a gunman boarded her school bus and shot her. She awoke 10 days later in England. Since then, she has dedicated her considerable energy to fighting for girls’ education around the globe. In 2020, she graduated from Oxford University, and continues to fight to ensure that every girl receives a free, safe, and quality education through her organization the Malala Fund.
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project
Nikole Hannah Jones is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, a MacArthur Fellow, and creator of the acclaimed 1619 Project who champions education reform. Specifically, Hannah-Jones works through the 1619 to revolutionize, deepen, and complexify the history education that students receive in public schools. She also covers racial injustice for The New York Times, and has spent years chronicling the way official policy has created—and maintains—racial segregation in schools, making a powerful case for greater educational equity.
Dr. Bettina L. Love
Pioneer in Abolitionist Teaching
Dr. Bettina L. Love is a Professor in Education at the University of Georgia, where she has been a pioneer in establishing abolitionist teaching, which focuses on restoring humanity for children in schools. Her writing, research, teaching, and educational advocacy meet at the intersection of education reform, anti-racism, queer studies, and carceral studies. She works with activists, communities, and school districts to build civically-engaged schools that love and affirm queer, Black, and Brown children. To learn more about Dr. Love, see our Pride Month post on Queer Excellence in Education.
Interested in learning more about how women have shaped today’s educational landscape? Check out our article on impactful women university presidents.
