Dazzling Daughters Collection – Page 3 – The Exasperated Historian

100) Julia Grant

Courtesy of the National First Ladies Library

100) Julia Grant

Former First Lady of the United States during her husband President Ulysses S Grant’s Administration

Born: 26 January 1826, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America

Died: 14 December 1902, Washington DC, United States of America

She was a popular first lady known for her over the top entertainment and informal manner.

Julia was one of eight children and her father was a plantation owner.

She married and had four children with her husband Ulysses who came from a modest background and served in the Army before resigning in 1854.

In April 1861, at the outbreak of the War Between the States, Ulysses re-enlisted and by March 1864 was Lieutenant General of the Army of the Potomac.

Julia followed her husband whenever possible and became popular in Washington DC as a society figure.

After he was elected President in 1869 she tried for a time to let her family remain living in DC but outside the White House before eventually agreeing to move them into the White House.

She was the first first lady to receive national attention and her and Ulysses’ children became icons in the press with her daughter’s wedding being all the rage (think Kim K and Kanye’s wedding pictures in People Magazine).

Julia was nearly always photographed from the side because she was slightly cross eyed and considered corrective surgery (her husband told her not to because he liked her just as she was—but she was still uncomfortable with it—especially with the press calling her ugly).

Julia also became the first First Lady (from the United States) to write a memoir of her life for publication (finally published in 1975) after being inspired by her husband doing the same.

She was friends with Varina Davis—the former First Lady of the Confederate States of America.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal (1789-1900) by Robert Watson

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

Legends & Lies: The Civil War by Bill O'Reilly and David Fisher

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julia-Grant

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9238/julia-boggs-grant

85) Susan B Anthony

"Marriage, to women as to men must be a luxury, not a necessity; an incident of life, not all of it. And the only possible way to accomplish this great change is to accord women equal power."

85) Susan B Anthony

Social Advocate and One of the Most Famous Supporters of Women’s Suffrage

Born: 15 February 1820, Adams, Massachusetts, United States of America

Died: 13 March 1906, Rochester, New York, United States of America

Susan was also an abolitionist, temperance advocate, and equal pay and labor rights advocate. Her causes often clashed with her Quaker background, and she was often criticized and shunned by politicians and leaders, male and female alike, but this didn't deter Susan.

Susan worked closely with Elizabeth Cady Stanton—a fellow suffrage advocate.

Susan and Elizabeth were opposed to the 14th and 15th amendments on the grounds that they did not include a guarantee for votes for women (though some claim they were also biased against colored people having a vote in general).

Susan was arrested in 1872 for illegally attempting to vote. Though she was fined, Susan never paid and was immensely proud of having stood up for what she viewed as her right as an American citizen. On the anniversary of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed the right to vote regardless of sex in the United States, President Trump pardoned Susan B Anthony, and pointed out all the good she had done for women across the United States. Unfortunately, the Susan B Anthony museum "Rejected" Trump's pardon, proving just how volatile politics are in the United States at this moment. What most media outlets forget to mention is that the Susan B Anthony List was present and cheered the president on as he signed Susan's pardon.

Susan also led a march during the celebrations of the nation’s 100th birthday to protest for the rights of women’s suffrage.

Susan helped merge the two largest suffrage groups in the United States and then led them both until 1900. She lobbied Congress practically every year but still passed away long before women were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19^th Amendment.

Susan is also remembered today as being a Dazzling Daughter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

How They Choked by Kevin O'Malley

After the Fact: The Surprising Fates of American History's Heroes, Villains, and Supporting Characters by Owen Hurd

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes, and Female Firsts by Becca Anderson

No Place for a Woman: The Struggle for Suffrage in the Wild West by Chris Enss

Notorious Victoria: The Life of Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored by Mary Gabriel

Suffragists in Washington DC: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote by Rebecca Boggs Roberts

Victoria Woodhull's Sexual Revolution: Political Theatre and the Popular Press in Nineteenth Century America by Amanda Frisken

Whose Who in American History: Leaders, Visionaries, and Icons who Shaped Our Nation by John M Thompson, William R Gray, and KM Kostyal

Sources:

NSDAR’s Distinguished Daughters List

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/susan-b-anthony

https://susanb.org/her-life/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31/susan-b_-anthony

12) Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

11) Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

She was more than just a Dazzling Daughter

Born: 9 December 1906, Manhattan, New York, United States of America

Died: 1 January 1992, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America

Computer technician and admiral in the US Navy, Grace helped create UNIVAC 1 which was the first commercial electronic computer. She also helped create the naval applications for COBOL or Common Business Oriented Language.

Grace received her bachelor’s degree from Vassar College in 1928, and then received her bachelors from Yale in 1934.

In 1943 she joined the Naval Reserve and in 1944 she became a lieutenant and was sent to join the Bureau of Ordnance’s Computation Project located at Harvard. While there she worked on Mark I which was the first large-scale automatic calculator and the precursor to modern computers. She would coin the term "bug" in referencing computer issues after a moth flew into the Mark I’s inner workings. Grace retired from the Navy in 1966 before being recalled to active duty in 1967 to help standardize the navy’s computer languages. She retired again in 1986 at the age of 79—making her the oldest active duty officer in the navy (and she didn’t retire willingly—the Navy made her go).

Grace had attained the rank of Rear Admiral and was often referred to as Amazing Grace. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

Grace was also a member of NSDAR (The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution) and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

The US Navy’s official website refers to her as the Mother of Computing, and by the time she passed she had thirty honorary degrees from various universities.

She once said, "If you do something once, people will call it an accident. If you do it twice, they call it a coincidence. But do it a third time and you've just proven a natural law!"

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Time Magazine's 100 Women of the Year (Grace appears in the 1959 article, "Grace Hopper”)

Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky

Sources:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1784/grace-brewster-hopper

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grace-Hopper

https://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg70/Pages/namesake.aspx

NSDAR's List of "Dazzling Daughters"