Edith Kanaka’ole (also affectionately called “Aunty Edith”), a native Hawaiian composer, chanter and dancer, was a champion for the preservation of native Hawaiian culture and arts. Kanaka’ole lead the highly celebrated dance school, Hālau o Kekuhi, where her legacy as a Kumu Hula, or chief practitioner of traditional Hawaiian dance and culture, took flight.
American philanthropist. At the age of nineteen, she founded the Home for Friendless Women and Girls in New York City, and later established a refuge shelter there.
American writer whose 1825 novel, “The Rebels, a Tale of the Revolution,” was very popular.
Irish doctor and Member of Parliament
As ATU secretary, Cossey was a leading advocate of higher wages for women. When she retired in 1945 she left behind a strong union which was the oldest surviving women’s union in New Zealand.
Irish feminist, journalist, anti-vivisectionist, and philanthropist
Ngāti Toa leader, peacemaker, composer of waiata
Although she worked tirelessly to complete the work of the nineteenth century feminists in attempting to remove so-called women’s disabilities, Ellen Melville represented a new breed of feminism. She was an independent professional woman who vigorously sought full participation in public life. She encouraged other women to follow her and to form strong women’s societies, which would take women’s concerns into the arena of public affairs. Melville was one of the key figures in the revival of the feminist movement in the twentieth century.
Irish senator, social campaigner, and architect
Irish medical doctor and suffragist