Champions of Change: 25 Women Who Made History

By Naomi Watkins, Katherine Kitterman and Brooke Smart

Stories of powerhouse women who pushed for justice in politics, medicine, art, music, religion, tribal leadership, and more.

In fighting to pass the 19th Amendment, brave suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Emmeline B. Wells fought to end laws and take down barriers that prevented them from voting. Champions of Change introduces young readers not only to Anthony and Wells, but also to a diverse group of firsts and freedom-fighters in America’s fight for equality, such as:

• Zitkala-Sa, co-founder of the National Council of American Indians
• Martha Hughes Cannon, America’s first female state senator
• Hannah Kaaepa, an advocate for Hawaiian women’s rights
• Barbara Toomer, who was jailed 35 times for protests that led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act
• and the women of the Kanab Town Council, one of the first all-female city councils in the country.

This timely collection of mini biographies highlights 25 champions for justice, includes colorful portraitures of each, and presents actual photos of the individuals.

Naomi Watkins, Ph.D. is an educational consultant, women’s advocate, and community builder. A former middle school English teacher, she specializes in curriculum development and school district consulting. She has been published in international journals such as The Reading Teacher, Journal of Children's Literature, TESOL Journal, and Middle School Journal.

 Katherine Kitterman is the historical director for Better Days 2020, an organization that explores stories of women who shaped Utah’s history. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in American History at American University in Washington, D.C., where she has worked to bring history to life at the Smithsonian Institution, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Woodrow Wilson House.

Brooke Smart is an illustrator based in Sandy, Utah, with a BFA in Illustration from Brigham Young University. Her illustration clients include the New York Times, Gathre, Better Days 2020, Bravery Magazine, and private commissions. Brooke recently won honorable mention in the 2016 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Portfolio Showcase in New York City.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781423652649

Book preview

ChampionsChangeCover.jpgPhoto of title image.Photo of logo.

Digital Edition 1.0

Text © 2019 Naomi Watkins and Katherine Kitterman

Illustrations © 2019 Brooke Smart

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Published by

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

1.800.835.4993 orders

www.gibbs-smith.com

Cover design by Nicole LaRue, Small Made Goods

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018968414

ISBN 13: 9781423652649 (ebook)

Photo of dedication.

Contents

Foreword by Shannon Hale

Introduction

Mary Isabella Horne

Bold Speaker and Organizer

Sarah M. Kimball

Strong-Minded President

Susan B. Anthony

National Campaigner for Women’s Rights

Emmeline B. Wells

Suffrage Leader and Newspaper Editor

Fanny Brooks

Always the Business Woman

Chipeta

Wise and Influential Advisor

Jennie Froiseth

Women’s Club Founder and Anti-Polygamist

Emma J. McVicker

Education Pioneer

Seraph Young

First Woman to Vote

Zitkála-Šá

The Red Bird Activist

Franklin S. Richards

A Defender of Equal Voting Rights

Emily S. Richards

Standout Suffrage Supporter

Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon

First Female State Senator

Hannah Kaaepa

Advocate of Hawaiians’ Rights

Kanab Town Council

The Petticoat Government

Lovern Robertson & Minnie Quay

The Silent Sentinels

Mignon Barker Richmond

Community Builder with Heart

Ivy Baker Priest

Treasurer of the United States

Annie Dodge Wauneka

Public Health Promoter

Alice Kasai

Believer in the Equality of All

Helen Papanikolas

Groundbreaking Historian and Folklorist

Mae Timbimboo Parry

Master Storyteller and Matriarch

Barbara Toomer

Powerhouse in the Disability Rights Community

Olene Walker

Much More than a Governor

Becky Lockhart

An Iron Lady

Timeline Dates

Additional Champions Of Change

Selected Sources

Acknowledgments

Foreword

by Shannon Hale

Newberry Honor Award-winning author

Growing up as a girl in the 1980s, I was desperate to know more about women in history. In school and in church, almost all of the great and important people we learned about were men. I absorbed these stories and lessons, and in my own fragile heart I often wondered, do girls actually matter at all?

As I grew older, these questions only got louder. In high school, history focused on the doings of men, with barely one class period brushing over the women’s suffrage movement. In English class we studied novels written by men; in science we studied the discoveries of men; in Drama we performed plays written by men. I had a mind and a desire to use it, but I felt deeply unsure that as a girl, there was a place for me in this world.

I clung to the few women in history I learned about—Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria. I revered these women and longed to be like them. Women of power. Women who did things. But they were royalty from long ago and far away, so unlike little Utah girl Shannon. I could barely imagine stretching myself far enough to make room for the potential I felt blooming inside me.

I would have cherished stories of women closer to home, women who believed in equality, women who worked diligently to secure rights for all. Women who believed that girls do matter. Women like Emma McVicker, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, Zitkála-Šá, and Mignon Barker Richmond, who I’d never heard of before this book, despite the fact that we attended the same high school.

It’s vital for girls to read stories about all kinds of women—to hear about women in leadership, women in education, women who pushed boundaries and blazed trails. Reading these kinds of stories helps girls recognize more possibilities for their own lives. It’s also vital for boys to hear stories about all kinds of women—to grow up seeing and knowing that girls and women can be leaders and role models. Stories help us gain more empathy for others while enlarging our own lives. I know I will be sharing these stories with my son and my