1. Which mother led a 125-mile march of child workers all the way from the mills of Pennsylvania to President Theodore Roosevelt’s vacation home on Long Island?

The feisty labor organizer, Mary Harris Jones (1830–1930), led the march in 1903. Called “Mother” Jones by everyone, her goal was to bring the evils of child labor to the attention of the president and the national press.

2. One of the most important Union spies and scouts during the Civil War was a black woman who had escaped from slavery. Can you name her?

Harriet Tubman (1820–1913). She also led over 300 people in their escape from slavery via the system of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

3. Before the 1960s, farm workers in the United States were not paid a minimum wage and had no influential representatives to fight for their rights. What part did Dolores Huerta play in changing this situation?

Dolores Huerta (b. 1930), a long-time Chicana labor activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers union in 1962. She served for over two decades as the union’s vice–president and chief lobbyist, savvy labor contract negotiator and nationwide speaker.

4. The line of beauty products she created for African-American people made her the first African-American woman millionaire in the United States. Who was she, and when did she do this?

In 1905, Madam C.J. Walker (1867–1919) began developing an effective hair lotion, and then a special comb to straighten curly hair. She eventually employed 3,000 people, mostly black women, to work in her factories and sell her line of products.

5. Her 1939 Easter Sunday concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial drew a crowd of 75,000 people. Who was she and why was she singing there?

Marian Anderson (b. 1897) had earlier been barred from the singing in the Washington’s Constitution Hall because she was black. Her open-air concert was a triumph over bigotry for this international star.

6.  She took her job as First Lady seriously, traveling the world to gather information about the problems and concerns of workers, children, minorities and the poor. She wrote a daily newspaper column and made frequent radio broadcasts. Who was this active wife of a U.S. president?

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) was America’s First Lady for 12 years. Later, she served as U.S. delegate to the United Nations and was instrumental in securing passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 7. Who printed the first copy of the Declaration of Independence that included the signers’ names?

Mary Katherine Goddard (1738–1816), newspaper publisher, had such a strong reputation in the colonies that when Congress fled to Baltimore in 1776, they trusted her with the revolutionary task of printing their treasonous documents. Goddard risked arrest by the British when she included her own name as printer.

 8.  Who was the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Islands, deposed when American business and military interests annexed Hawaii to the United States?

Queen Liliuokalani (1838–1917) also composed over 200 songs, including “Aloha Oe.” A revolution, encouraged and actively assisted by American interests backed by a U.S. Navy gunboat, established a provisional government in 1893.

 9.  She opened Hull House, a community center to improve conditions for poor immigrants, in a run-down Chicago neighborhood. The program of English language classes, childcare, health education and recreational opportunities soon inspired hundreds of other settlement houses throughout the country. What is her name?

Jane Addams (1860–1935) was one of the first in a generation of female college graduates at a time when the world was not yet ready to give educated women positions of responsibility. She won the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize for her lifetime dedication to the cause of international peace.

10. Clara Barton (1821–1912) is best known for founding the American Red Cross, but she also played a vital role during the Civil War. What did she do?

No provisions had been made for taking care of Union soldiers. Clara Barton solicited donated supplies and took them directly onto battlegrounds to get food, bandages and medical supplies to the wounded. She also helped document the 22,000 men killed or missing in action so their families could be notified.