Birth Locations – Page 52 – The Exasperated Historian

760) Donatella Versace

760: Donatella Versace

Artistic Director of the Versace Group

Born: 2 May 1955, Reggio Calabria, Italy

Donatella is also the sister of founder Gianni Versace.

Donatella and her brother built the fashion house from the bottom up and after his death she was left to continue on the legacy.

Despite the siblings being almost a decade apart in age they were extremely close. Gianni and Donatella were inspired to enter the world of fashion thanks to their mother, who was a dressmaker in their native Italy.

Donatella took on the role of Vice-President in 1978, becoming Vice President of the Board and Creative Director of the brand when her brother was murdered in 1997.

In her personal life, Donatella was married for a time and has two children with her former husband; a daughter named Allegra and a son named Daniel. Donatella also suffered from drug addictions after her brother’s death, but eventual sought treatment for her issues in 2004.

Donatella’s daughter Allegra was gifted a large portion of the company in Gianni’s Will when he died, and she now serves on the board of directors, inheriting her share when she turned eighteen in 2004.

Donatella also works in various philanthropic roles. She is a patron of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and has won awards for her charitable work.

Donatella and her family reportedly did not approve of the American Crime Story season revolving around Gianni’s murder (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) nor did they have anything to do with it. In the show, Donatella is portrayed by Penelope Cruz.

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/fashion-designer/donatella-versace

https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/donatella-versace

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donatella-Versace

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/01/versace-family-american-crime-story

759) Mary Donoho

"I have no language to express my gratitude to Mrs. Donoho. I found in her a mother, a sister to condole with me in my misfortune . . . a friend . . . who was continually pouring the sweet oil of consolation into my wounded and trembling soul." -Rachel Parker Plummer

759: Mary Donoho

The First Lady of the Santa Fe Trail

Born: 24 November 1807, Kentucky, United States of America

Died: 12 January 1880, Clarksville, Texas, United States of America

Mary earned this title after becoming the first American woman to arrive in Santa Fe, New Mexico over the Santa Fe Trail. The title was falsely attributed to one Susan Magoffin for a century, until a historian uncovered evidence in the 1990’s that Mary had made the journey thirteen years earlier.

Mary’s early life was spent traveling around the southern United States, before she married, aged twenty-four, in 1831 to William Donoho. The couple had six children together.

In 1833, Mary, her husband, their nine-month old daughter, and a troop of other traders and soldiers left Independence, Missouri on a wagon train. Once the couple arrived in Santa Fe, Mary and William had three more children. These children, Susan, Harriet, and James lay claim to be the first white children born in the New Mexico Territory.

During the time the couple lived in Santa Fe, Mary was often left by herself. William traveled for work, and Mary ran a hotel, on her own, to earn money to raise their children.

After the 1837 Revolt, in which tensions between New Mexican residents and leaders from Mexico in the territory increased, William and Mary packed their belongings and their children and moved to Texas. Traveling with them were three women who had been taken captive by the Comanche, including Rachel Parker Plummer, whose memoir later led to widespread attention towards the previously virtually unknown Native Tribe.

Upon arrival in Texas, they had two more children. The couple opened another hotel, and in 1842, their daughter Harriet died. Three years later, William too died. His death was doubly unfortunate in that he died intestate, or without a will, and Mary spent the next six years battling courts for the rights to his estate and their hotel.

Finally, in 1851, William’s estate was settled. By that time, Mary’s oldest daughter had married (on her fourteenth birthday) and another daughter had died. Despite the tragedies, Mary was free to run their hotel, and the place thrived under her leadership. Travelers far and wide recognized the hotel for its excellent accommodations, food, and atmosphere. However, tragedy continued. Another daughter married aged sixteen but died twenty months later of “puerperal developments”, or childbed fever. Her infant son died soon after. Only four months later, Mary’s final daughter, aged fifteen, also married. However, she also died in childbirth complications.

Mary outlived all five of her daughters, after her eldest died at the age of forty. Mary’s estate was left to her sole surviving child, her son James. Determined not to bestow the same chaos on her sole remaining child Mary herself had inherited upon her husband’s death, Mary had written up a nine page will before her death. Historians have noted her repeated use of the word “My” throughout the document. Mary left nothing to interpretation, and ensured that, even in death, she remained in control in an era when so few women had control of anything.

One of Mary’s final wishes was for headstones to be erected for her five daughters and her husband, paid out of her estate. James obeyed his mother’s wishes and ensured his family members would never be forgotten. Curiously, James chose to create the headstones for his sisters, all with their maiden name of Donoho, and left their deceased husband’s out of the equation all together.

Five years later, Mary’s son James returned to the city of his birth with his own family. However, they arrived by train, not ox-driven wagon. While there, James was interviewed for the story later titled “First White Child Born in New Mexico”. It was this article that proved Mary was the first woman to undertake the Santa Fe Trail.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mary-donoho/

http://kelleypounds.tripod.com/old/donoho.htm

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7427717/mary-w_-donoho

758) Mary Horony Cummings

758: Mary K Horony-Cummings

Doc Holliday’s Common Law Wife

Born: 7 November 1850, Pest, Kingdom of Hungary (Present-day Nové Zámky, Slovakia)

Died: 2 November 1940, Prescott, Arizona, United States of America

Also Known As: Big Nose Kate

Original Name: Mária Izabella Magdolna Horony

Mary’s family was from Eastern Europe, though sources differ on whether she was born in present-day Hungary or Slovakia.* When she was a child her family made their way to the New World; and Mary was the oldest of seven or eight children. Both of her parents died when she was fourteen or fifteen, leaving Mary and her siblings in various foster care homes.

Mary eventually ran away, reportedly after her foster father tried to rape her. She married and had a child, but Mary's husband and baby both died within that same year.

After possibly messing around with Wyatt Earp for a while, Mary made her way to Texas and worked as a prostitute and dance hall girl where she met Doc Holliday. Reportedly, Mary (or Kate as she was more often known during her life) actually helped introduce the now famous duo. Kate continued to work as a prostitute over the years, often for Bessie Earp, Wyatt’s sister-in-law.

While their relationship was often rocky, Kate still helped Doc escape from a makeshift jail in 1877 by lighting the building on fire. She later told a historian they married in 1876, though today most believe it was never a legal union and instead a common-law one. Kate also claimed to have held up some local lawmen with her six shooter while in her nightgown on another occasion.

After they broke up, Kate headed to Globe while Doc and Wyatt headed to Tombstone, both in the Arizona Territory. Kate opened a hotel and ran it for a time, before heading south to rejoin her old flame. Once they got back together, reports started cropping up about their violent relationship again. Stories ranged from Kate shooting the mattress Doc was sleeping in, only for him to wake, grab the gun, and whack her over the head with it. The next day they were fine. Another story claims Kate had Doc arrested on false murder charges for a time.

After the fight at the OK Corral, Doc sent Kate back to Globe, fearing for her safety. The pair didn’t see one another for a few years, but when Kate heard Doc was in his final days, she claimed to have traveled to Colorado to be with him (though some sources dispute she actually made the journey). After Doc’s death, Kate left her old life behind, and took up her original name of Mary again.

In 1888, Mary married and then left that husband ten years later, claiming he was a drinker, before settling in Arizona in later life. She spent three decades working for a miner, who named Mary his sole heir. However, by the time he himself died, Mary was eighty years old. She applied for a space in the Arizona Pioneers Home in Prescott and received a spot after giving only sparse details of her life story. Other residents recognized her as the famed Big Nose Kate, and it was while living there that Mary was interviewed and gave her “official” account of her life.

Mary died just five days shy of her ninetieth birthday.

*As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Mary’s birthplace is disputed among sources. Usually the articles state she was born in Pest, Hungary, although Family Search has a baptism record from Nové Zámky in Slovakia, which seems to indicate Mary was actually born in 1849 and in the modern country of Slovakia. The baptismal record, along with records from Ellis Island, also indicate her real name was Maria, though these details may never be known for certain.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Love Untamed: Romances of the Old West by JoAnn Chartier and Chris Enss

Sources:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/85191/retrobituaries-mary-katherine-horony-independent-woman-wild-west

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Horony-1

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVN8-2YG2

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2017/09/24/graveyard-plaque-doc-hollidays-girlfriend-buried-not-stolen/698466001/

https://truewestmagazine.com/article/whatever-happened-to-big-nose-kate/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8191/mary-katherine-cummings

757) Etta Place

Comparing Ann Bassett (Left) with Etta Place (Right)

757: Etta Place

The Sundance Kid’s Wife

Born: c. 1878, Eastern United States

Death Date Unknown

Whatever Etta’s real name was, or when and where she was born, no one knows for certain today. It is believed Etta married the notorious outlaw Sundance Kid around 1901, and the now famous portrait of the two of them was taken around that time. Most believe they met when Etta was working as a prostitute in Texas.

That same year, 1901, Etta traveled to Argentina with Sundance and Butch Cassidy. Etta and Sundance traveled back and forth from the United States to South America several times over the coming years, but by 1906, Etta was back in the US for good. In 1908, Sundance and Butch Cassidy were supposedly killed in a shootout with Pinkerton Detectives who had hunted them down across international borders (though this has been disputed over time too). The following year, a woman matching Etta’s description requested a copy of her late husband’s death certificate from the Bolivian government, though she never received it. Etta Place vanishes from history after this episode, leaving more mysteries than facts in her place.

The biggest mystery of them all? Etta may have actually been the same person as another female outlaw named Ann Bassett who was also affiliated with Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, and was around the same age.

If they were in fact the same person, then Etta was born in Utah and became a famous cattle rustler in her own right outside of her association with the Wild Bunch.

In this scenario, after Sundance and Butch Cassidy died, Etta would have returned to Utah and married; settling down before dying in 1956.

There’s only one major issue with this theory: in 1903, Ann married and was known to be in the United States. Etta on the other hand was in South American with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. However, their portraits and other little tidbits due lend to some curious thoughts to ponder. A book was even published to give further credence to the theory in 1992.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Cowgirls: Women of the American West by Teresa Jordan

Love Lessons From the Old West: Wisdom From Wild Women by Chris Enss

Outlaw Women: America's Most Notorious Daughters, Wives, and Mothers by Robert Barr Smith

Sources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/etta-place/

https://historytogo.utah.gov/etta-place/

https://truewestmagazine.com/what-happened-to-etta-place/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/152908564/etta-place

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51368/mystery-ann-bassett-and-etta-place

756) Eleanore Dumont

“Will you play, monsieur?”

756: Eleanore Dumont

Madame Mustache

Born: c.1829, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America

Died: 8 September 1879, Bodie, California, United States of America

Also Spelled: Eleanor Dumont

Original Name: Simone Jules

Eleanore was one of the first known professional Blackjack players in United States history. She began by playing the precursor to Blackjack, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one), before the game evolved to the high stakes card game known around the world today.

She was caught card sharping in San Francisco and was forced to leave the city at one point. After that, Eleanore opened her own gambling den in Nevada City, California. She later opened a place in Columbia, California before leaving the business world entirely and to buy a ranch in the countryside.

Eleanore was unfortunately tricked by a conman at this point who took her money, sold her ranch, and left her with all his outstanding debts. Legend says Eleanore went after him and shot him dead with a double-barreled shotgun but never faced charges for the crime.

For the next two decades, Eleanore crisscrossed the west following the money and the card tables.

In later life Eleanore re-entered the business world, opening brothels in Bannock, Montana and Tombstone, Arizona, while continuing to run card tables as well.

Later in life, once her renowned beauty began to fade, Eleanore unfortunately also acquired the nickname of Madame Mustache. The name came about after she grew a line of hair across her upper lip; a proper mustache for an improper lady.

Eleanore’s end came in Bodie, California. She committed suicide after losing most of her money; including borrowing $300 from a friend to run her gambling table for the night. After quickly losing the lot, Eleanore quietly walked out of town, drank a vile of red wine laced with morphine, and went to sleep. Her body was discovered the following morning.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Haunted West: Legendary Tales From the Frontier (Magazine Published by Centennial Today, Fall 2020)

Love Lessons From the Old West: Wisdom From Wild Women by Chris Enss

Sources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-eleanoredumont/

https://medium.com/@hlemonroe/the-life-and-death-of-eleanor-dumont-d30b2a340b1

http://www.bodiehistory.com/madame.htm

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83718700/simone-jules

755) Jezebel

755: Jezebel

Biblical Figure

Born: Phoenicia (Present-day Lebanon)

Died: c. 843 BCE, Jezreel (Present-day Yizre'el, Israel)

For most who know their Christian religious stories, Jezebel is the “bad-girl” of the Bible. She’s been called a prostitute, a murderer, and an enemy of god. Her name is so synonymous with sin (see what I did there?) her name has inspired everything from lingerie lines to missiles to the name of the Brothel in The Handmaid’s Tale. But was Jezebel really as bad as the Bible makes her out to be?

The Bible tells us Jezebel’s husband was King Ahab of Israel.

Jezebel was a worshipper of the god Ba’al; this led to disputes between her and the Jewish worshippers of Yahweh. Israel was the Promised Land, and the Jewish people saw worshipping another deity as a sin. So, obviously, Jezebel and her husband, once he got on board, weren’t very popular with their people.

The name Jezebel translates in Phoenician (her ethnic background) to “The Lord Exists” (in reference to Ba’al) but in Hebrew it means “Without Nobility” which is strange considering her father was the king of the Phoenician cities Tyre and Sidon. The Phoenicians worshipped a large number of deities, and so when Jezebel moved to the Northern Kingdom of Israel to marry Ahab, she brought her cultural identity with her. Some believe Jezebel’s father was a priest for Ba'al, and that Jezebel may have served as Priestess for Astarte. Ba'al and Astarte were the head god and goddess of the Phoenician Pantheon.

Now, one would think, given the time period, Jezebel would have been forced to give up her gods in favor of her husband’s. This didn’t happen, as you can guess from what you’ve already read. Instead, Jezebel persuaded Ahab to tolerate her gods in favor of Yahweh. Now you see why she’s a villain, huh? Another thing to note is the religious and cultural tolerance, or lack thereof, the Israelites possessed at the time. They would have already seen Jezebel as a foreign invader simply because of her place of birth, not to mention her beliefs in her own gods and customs.

However, Jezebel cannot simply be seen as a girl trying to hang on to her own customs. According to the Bible, Jezebel also began actively trying to eliminate the followers of Yahweh, with some lines insinuating she went so far as to have them murdered. This is where the hypocrisy starts. Later on, in the Bible, a prophet named Elijah challenges Jezebel and her followers to see which deity, Ba’al or Yahweh, has more support in Israel. Ultimately, Jezebel’s supporters won out in terms of popularity, but all this did was anger Elijah. He set out and began a mass murder of all of Jezebel’s “prophets” as they’re called. Evidently murder is only okay when it’s done in the name of—well, you get where this is going.

When Jezebel hears her prophets have been murdered, she’s understandably pissed. She responds by threatening Elijah, warning him to fear for his life. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, right? Jezebel’s threat is another knock against her. Biblical wives should be dutiful and quiet, not brash and quick to anger.

In another episode, Ahab tries to acquire a plot of land beside the palace to make a vegetable garden. Evidently the man who already owned the plot didn’t want to sell it, and per the laws of the land at the time, he had every right to keep his property. Jezebel wasn’t pleased with this. Back in Phoenicia, the king’s word was law, and she probably wasn’t used to a commoner saying no to the king. Jezebel therefore takes it upon herself to have the poor man murdered so her husband can acquire the plot of land, as one does.

The next time we hear from Jezebel is after her husband’s death. Evidently Ahab and their eldest son died in quick succession, so their second son takes the throne. However, support for Jezebel’s family has waned over the years, and her son ends up dead on the field of battle after being challenged by a military leader. Before killing him, this rival military leader tells Jezebel’s son his mother is a whore and a sorceress. However, throughout the Bible, Jezebel is never shown to step out on her husband, both during his life and after his death. She’s also never shown to practice any sort of witchcraft or devil work other than worshipping her ethnic people’s gods, and yet her reputation has stuck for two thousand years.

Jezebel is seen again in the Bible soon after. The man who killed her son comes to Jezreel to finish the job. When Jezebel learns the man is on his way, she refuses to flee or run and cower. Instead, she calmly dresses herself, applies makeup, and prepares for the end. For Biblical readers, her actions may seem to indicate Jezebel was preparing to seduce her son’s murderer in an attempt to spare her life. However, Jezebel’s sharp sarcastic insults towards her son’s murderer cast doubt on that situation. She fought till the end, and after her eunuchs push her out of a window (literally), Jezebel’s body falls to the ground below. She is killed in the fall, and her body left to rot outside. Her son’s murderer goes inside and celebrates in his new home; after all, he’s now the king of Israel.

After a while, the new king orders Jezebel’s body buried. However, when his soldiers come to collect her body, they find that her body has been torn apart and eaten by dogs, as prophesized earlier on in the Bible by the prophet Elijah, remember him?

One of the few pieces of historical evidence pertaining to Jezebel is an opal seal positively identified in 2007. This seal proves Jezebel was more than just a Biblical story but was in fact a real historical figure.

Badges Earned:

Rejected Princess

Located In My Personal Library:

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan PhD

When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in Judeo-Christian Tradition by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince

Life: Women of the Bible Magazine (2021 Edition)

National Geographic History Magazine Article “Queens of the Old Testament” by Guadalupe Seijas (September/October 2021 Edition)

Sources:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/how-bad-was-jezebel/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jezebel-queen-of-Israel

https://www.ancient.eu/jezebel/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people-in-the-bible/jezebel-pagan-queen-doomed-by-prophet-elijah/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071026210336.htm

754) Pearl Hart

“I shall not consent to be tried under a law in which my sex had no voice in making.”

754: Pearl Hart

Stagecoach Robber and Bandit Queen of Arizona

Born: 13 November 1871, Ontario, Canada

Died: 28 December 1956, Arizona, United States of America

Pearl was raised in a well-to-do middle-class family in her native Canada. She received a good education and, for everyone on the outside looking in, Pearl was expected to live a good and wholesome life. That didn’t happen.

After eloping at the age of sixteen or seventeen (sources differ), Pearl left her husband and reconciled with him a few different times while having two children with him. Frederick was both an alcoholic and a gambler and lost whatever money he managed to earn as a bartender. On top of those less than delightful problems, Fred was evidently also abusive, and Pearl was looking for a way out.

Pearl decided to head West after seeing Annie Oakley and others performing at the Chicago World’s Fair. Pearl and her husband both worked various jobs at the fair, and this exhibition gave Pearl the chance to escape. The first time she left, Pearl returned to her husband after finding out she was pregnant. However, after the child was born, Pearl left once again and wound up in Phoenix, Arizona.

After a while, Fred caught up with Pearl (maybe, I’ll elaborate below) and they reconciled for a time. However, things weren’t any better than before. Pearl gave birth to a second child, this time a girl, but also learned to smoke and drink. During this time, Pearl finally found her taste of the old west she’d been looking for, only it wasn’t glamorous like she’d hoped, it was rough, dirty, and fraught with danger.

In 1898, Fred knocked Pearl unconscious and took off to join the Rough Riders in Cuba—possibly, keep reading for more information.

Pearl returned to her parents’ home in Canada, bringing along her daughter. However, she soon grew bored with the domestic Canadian countryside and returned to the Old West, leaving her children behind.

According to different sources, Pearl’s marriage was over while she was still in Canada and both her children were most likely born there. According to some other sources, Pearl’s boyfriend, a man named Dan, left to join the Rough Riders, and not her husband. These other sources also don’t say anything about Pearl being knocked unconscious. Basically, the sources are split, half and half. Some say her husband left, and others say it was her boyfriend. The important thing to take away from all of this: Pearl was alone by the time she returned to the Arizona Territory at the turn of the century, and whichever male companion she had at the time had left for Cuba.

After returning to the Arizona territory, Pearl started working odd jobs in the mining camps and began to struggle with drug issues, and according to one source, mental health problems. Also around this time, Pearl met her next boyfriend, Joe Boot.

Pearl is most known for her daring stagecoach robbery; and her official reason was to send money home for her ill mother. The idea was all Joe Boot’s. They only robbed the stagecoach after Pearl and Joe scammed several men out of their money, but the scheme didn’t earn enough cash. When the time came, Pearl cut off her hair and dressed in her boyfriend’s clothes. The pair were able to collect around $400 in cash and a revolver, before forcing the driver and passengers to continue on their way. The exact amount of money changes from source to source.

Pearl and Joe were caught a few days later, after getting lost in the wilderness. The pair were placed in two separate jails in the Arizona Territory. While staying at the jail, Pearl’s fame as a Bandit Queen quickly grew. However, she escaped with another male prisoner a few weeks later.

She was quickly caught again and brought to trial. Pearl was acquitted after she told the jury why she had stolen the money; however, she was immediately rearrested and found guilty of possessing an illegal firearm and was sentenced to five years in prison. Joe was not so lucky and earned himself a thirty-year stint for his part in the stagecoach robbery. Joe escaped prison in 1901 and was never heard from again.

After being paroled eighteen months later, Pearl moved to Kansas City, where she tried to capitalize on her "Lady Bandit" fame. This time her scheme didn’t work, and Pearl disappeared from history for a few years. The next time she cropped up, Pearl was arrested under a fake name for trying to buy stolen goods. She disappeared again until 1924, when she returned to Arizona to visit the courthouse in Florence where she was tried all those years before.

How and where Pearl died is also up for debate. Some claim it was Kansas City, 1925, others say San Francisco in 1952. The most widely accepted end for Pearl is a third story. Some say in 1955 or 56 Pearl died after marrying a rancher and living under the name Pearl Bywater, somewhere in Arizona. I personally believe she died in Arizona because that's where her gravesite lay today.

And speaking of her gravesite...

In July of 2022, my boyfriend and I stopped in and visited Pearl's final resting place. To learn more about the cemetery where Pearl is buried, and instructions on how to find and visit her, click here to read my blog post article all about the experience.

Rest in Peace, Bandit Queen.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Who Knew Women in History by Sarah Herman

More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Arizona Women by Wynne Brown

Outlaw Women: America's Most Notorious Daughters, Wives, and Mothers by Robert Barr Smith

Prisoners in Petticoats: The Yuma Territorial Prison and Its Women by Elizabeth J Klungness

Stagecoach Women: Brave and Daring Women of the Wild West by Cheryl Mullenbach

Tales Behind the Tombstones: The Deaths and Burial's of the Old West's Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen by Chris Enss

Sources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-pearlhart/

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pearl-hart-holds-up-an-arizona-stagecoach

https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/ahfsaints/id/19/

http://www.annalsofcrime.com/04-03.htm

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/12/18/female-bandit-pearl-hart/

https://nationalparktraveling.com/listing/pearl-hart-the-bandit-queen-of-yuma-territorial-prison/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20336019/pearl-hart

753) Arawelo

753: Arawelo

Queen Who is Remembered for Castrating Male Prisoners

c.15^th Century AD, Present-day Somalia, Possibly the Sanaag Region

Arawelo became queen by being the oldest child of the King who only had daughters. Evidently when the king died, Arawelo took it upon herself to become queen, without asking anyone’s permission.

She demanded there be no segregation in the roles men and women took in her country’s society amongst other “feminist” ideas. Therefore, she is also remembered as the first Feminist ruler in history. Arawelo is also said to have hired women to fill all the prominent political positions, which made her very unpopular with the men in her country.

At one time, Arawelo got in an argument with her husband on what roles women in society should have and she demanded women abandon all their feminine duties for a day forcing men to cook and clean.

Arawelo was given gifts from the actual Queen of Sheba (who ruled Ethiopia [Note: This is disputed by some because the Queen of Sheba is usually placed around the tenth century BC whereas Arawelo is around the 15^th Century AD but in either case, it’s a cool story]) for her work helping women across Africa.

One of the many legends created about Arawelo after her death is that she castrated male prisoners and hung them up by their testicles in a revenge power move because she was raped as a child.

Most of what is “known” about Arawelo for certain is up for debate. She lived so long ago, and the primary sources are so few, that most are completely contradictory of each other. What is known for certain though, is that Arawelo’s reign was one of the most prosperous and peaceful reigns in all of Somalia’s history. You’ll notice from the linked articles under “sources” just how varied and different the information on Arawelo is. Whatever the truth, today she is remembered as a badass feminist queen, and that’s really all that matters.

Badges Earned:

Rejected Princess

Located In My Personal Library:

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzi Lee

Sources:

https://culturacolectiva.com/history/somali-queen-arawelo-first-feminist-ruler

https://africanexplorermagazine.com/2019/06/19/queen-arawelo-of-somalia/

https://face2faceafrica.com/article/this-brave-somali-queen-fought-to-establish-gender-equality-in-ad-15

752) Susie King Taylor

“What a wonderful revolution! In 1861 the Southern papers were full of advertisements for ‘slaves,’ but now, despite all the hindrances and ‘race problems,’ my people are striving to attain the full standard of all other races born free in the sight of God, and in a number of instances have succeeded. Justice we ask--to be citizens of these United States, where so many of our people have shed their blood with their white comrades, that the stars and stripes should never be polluted.”

752: Susie King Taylor

The First African American Army Nurse in United States History

Born: 6 August 1848, Liberty County, Georgia, United States of America

Died: 6 October 1912, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Original Name: Susan Baker

Susie was also the first woman to openly teach former slaves in Georgia (at the age of fourteen) and the only African American woman to publish a memoir of her wartime experiences serving for the Union Army in the War Between the States.

Susie was born into slavery, and though it was illegal for a slave to be educated, she attended two secret schools taught by African American women. When she was fourteen, Susie was freed, and she used her education and ability to read to help educate other former slaves and soldiers. Susie joined the first African American regiment in the US army, where she worked as a nurse to Union soldiers for the remainder of the war. She also worked as a laundress and cook. She served for four years and three months, and never earned a penny. According to some sources, Susie even worked with Clara Barton.

Susie’s first husband died only months before their first child was born in 1866. Susie had hopes to be a teacher to the children of former slaves, but with her husband’s death and the opening of a public school, Susie had to close her own school. Unable to find work anywhere else, Susie began working as a domestic servant.

In later life she moved to Boston and remarried. While there, Susie also worked to help aid female veterans of the war and wrote her memoir.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Uppity Women Speak Their Minds by Vicki Leon

Sources:

https://www.nps.gov/people/susie-king-taylor.htm

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/susie-taylor

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/bindingwounds/pdfs/BioKingTaylorOB130.pdf

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8255625/susie-king_taylor

751) Phyllis Schlafly

“I want to thank my husband, Fred, for letting me come here...I like to say that, because I know it irritates women’s libbers more than anything else.”

“I simply didn’t believe we needed a constitutional amendment to protect women’s rights. I knew of only one law that was discriminatory toward women, a law in North Dakota stipulating that a wife had to have her husband’s permission to make wine.”

751: Phyllis Schlafly

The ERA? Who Needs That?

Born: 15 August 1924, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America

Died: 5 September 2016, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America

Phyllis is most known for her fight against the Equal Rights Amendment, but she also fought against Communism and legalized abortions.

Phyllis was known as the “First lady of the Conservative Movement” in the latter half of the twentieth century here in the United States. Her work was widespread but also drew many detractors.

Phyllis was one of two children, and her parents were hardworking and industrious. Her father was a staunch Republican, an inventor, and opponent of The New Deal, and her mother held multiple jobs over the years to help support the family. Some believe Phyllis’s ambition to ensure women were able to stay in the home if they wished stemmed from her mother. Phyllis’s mom supposedly regretted having to work six days a week; which kept her away from her family and housework.

Phyllis managed to graduate from college after three years, aged just nineteen. She had no time for a social life or friends, and instead worked nights to support her school efforts. After her early graduation, Phyllis went on to earn a master’s degree in only nine months. Surprisingly, in college, Phyllis was much more neutral in politics. She strived to work for the federal government in Washington DC, and even wrote papers supporting the United Nations. When no jobs appeared, Phyllis instead turned to working at a conservative think tank, and quickly became immersed in Republican ideals.

By 1946, Phyllis was working on congressional campaigns and was active in St. Louis politics. In 1949, she married Fred Schlafly, who was fifteen years her senior. Phyllis later said she did not promise to obey in her vows, only to cherish her husband. Once her eldest turned eighteen months, Phyllis was back on track with her hectic career, writing, campaigning, speaking, and traveling across the country. She would eventually have six kids with her husband.

In 1952, Phyllis’s husband declined to run for Congress after being asked. Phyllis ran in his stead, and though she lost in the general election, Phyllis had won in the primary. By 1958, Phyllis and Fred were actively working to educate American Catholics on the danger of Communism, brought on by the torture of Cardinal Midszenty. Four years later, she was hosting a fifteen-minute radio show called “America Wake Up.” You can guess what she wanted American’s to wake up about. Phyllis also actively campaigned for Barry Goldwater’s run for president. By 1971, Phyllis had educated herself and began the battle she is most remembered for today, stopping the ERA from being ratified and added to the United States Constitution.

In 1972, Phyllis founded a volunteer organization called Stop ERA, that eventually morphed into the Eagle Forum three years later. Phyllis’s main reasons for stopping the ERA was that she, and other women, were worried the ERA would counteract or cancel out other laws already in place to protect women; mainly the guarantee of alimony, the forceful obligation of women to provide financially for their family and forcing women to sign up for conscription. By 1973, her support skyrocketed across the country with the passing of Roe V Wade.

Phyllis was also a member of Daughters of the American Revolution and led several Republican women’s groups in Illinois. In her work for DAR, Phyllis served five three-year terms as National Chairman for the National Defense Committee. She also served as National Chairman of American History Month and National Chairman for the Bicentennial Committee. She also served two terms as regent of her chapter (Ninian Edwards in Alton, Illinois) and was an honorary chapter regent. She also worked for DAR on the state level, as State Chairman of National Defense, State Recording Secretary, and editor of the state yearbook.

One of her sons, John, was outed as being gay in 1992 by an LGBT activist. Both John and his mother Phyllis considered the act a breach of privacy, and John never condemned his mother for being against the legalization of gay marriage. One of her last political acts before she died was to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency in 2016.

Phyllis was so villainized by the left that Betty Friedan, a leader in the women's rights movement at the same time Phyllis was active, said Phyllis should have been burned at the stake for her opposition to the ERA. That’s nice. Phyllis and her followers were so powerful they have been credited with helping pave the way for the Reagan Revolution. Without Phyllis and her followers, the conservative right may have never regained power after the liberal revolution of the 1960’s and 70’s.

Phyllis’s story has been in the headlines in 2020 thanks to the FX Show “Mrs. America”, which is “supposedly” based on her life and her fight to eradicate support for the ERA. However, people who have actually studied Phyllis’s story have been quick to point out her portrayal is inaccurate at best and offensively wrong at worst. Basically, Hollywood directors and producers are trying to villainize a Conservative woman, who would have thought?!

Its no surprise Phyllis has been called a traitor to her sex for her work against the Equal Rights Amendment; but the sad thing so few seem to understand is that Phyllis wasn’t alone. She was a leader of the movement, and many women, myself included, do not want the ERA to ever pass, nor do we endorse or approve of the Feminist Movement as a whole.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/obituaries/phyllis-schlafly-conservative-leader-and-foe-of-era-dies-at-92.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phyllis-Schlafly

https://eagleforum.org/about/bio.html

https://thefederalist.com/2020/04/27/in-mrs-america-hollywood-once-again-fails-to-understand-conservative-women/

https://thefederalist.com/2020/04/24/heres-10-things-you-didnt-know-about-phyllis-schlafly/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169429833/phyllis-schlafly