10 Remarkable Women, Past and Present, Who Should Be Recognized

For centuries, history books have mostly been penned by men, and there's no shortage of celebrated, accomplished men in those texts. While men have certainly made their mark, the spotlight has often been solely on them. However, it's crucial to acknowledge the women whose achievements have also shaped history! If you're a history enthusiast, you're probably familiar with icons like Marie Curie and Amelia Earhart. But do you know about Jackie Ronne or Jennie Darlington? Or perhaps you've heard of Gerda Taro or Amelia Edwards?

In this article, we’ll highlight the stories of ten extraordinary women who left an indelible mark on history. Sadly, these women remain relatively unknown and aren't often featured in standard history lessons. But once you discover their remarkable contributions, you'll see just how much they deserve to be remembered.

10. Jackie Ronne and Jennie Darlington

In 1947, Edith 'Jackie' Ronne never expected to be traveling to Antarctica. The expedition, led by her husband, Commander Finn Ronne, was already underway when she joined him. Though she initially didn’t know what awaited her, Jackie was not only ready for the journey but also prepared to lead the group. When an accident put the team on hold, Finn went back to the U.S. to fetch a new plane for mapping tasks, leaving Jackie to guide the group in his absence.

While Finn was away, he left Jackie in charge with the responsibility of keeping the expedition on track. And she did far more than just meet expectations. By the time Finn returned weeks later, Jackie had taken full command of the operation. So impressed was he by her organizational skills that he made her the official 23rd member of the team. In a further demonstration of trust, Finn made it clear that if anything were to happen to him, Jackie would take over leadership.

In the end, Jackie became the first American woman to set foot in Antarctica and the first to spend a winter on the continent. She also made history as the first female member of an Antarctic expedition. Her leadership in managing the research team and handling public relations played a vital role in the success of the mission. But she wasn’t the only woman involved!

Jennie Darlington, the wife of the expedition’s senior pilot Harry Darlington III, also joined the team. While Jennie didn't hold an official position like Jackie, she decided to join the journey at the last minute, and her presence proved invaluable. Years later, fellow team members recalled how Jennie’s calming influence was essential in easing tensions during the challenging journey. As disagreements arose among the explorers, Jennie’s composed manner helped maintain peace and keep the mission on track.

9. Carol Kaye

Do you enjoy the Beach Boys’ music? Have you heard the iconic theme song from *Batman*? If so, you might not know that an incredible woman was behind those unforgettable sounds. Carol Kaye was the bassist for The Wrecking Crew, a legendary group of session musicians in the 1960s. While they might not be household names, The Wrecking Crew played a crucial role in the music industry, recording backing tracks and vocals for countless famous artists in major studios across the country.

Throughout her career, Carol Kaye played bass on over 10,000 songs. Among her vast contributions were the iconic *Batman* theme and much of the Beach Boys' impressive catalog. But Carol didn't stop at just playing the hits—she also wrote them! The legendary bassist crafted the rhythm for tracks like the theme from *Shaft* and provided the foundational beat for Sonny and Cher’s “The Beat Goes On,” along with countless other memorable songs.

Carol Kaye was a true natural musician, beginning her professional career at the age of 13. Even as a teenager, she was already teaching others to play guitar and bass. Although she loved both instruments, the bass ultimately brought her a breakthrough opportunity. In 1963, she was called in to fill in for a missing studio musician at a Capitol Records session. Her talent and versatility were immediately recognized by the producers, leading to a successful career that was nothing short of historic.

Carol Kaye was a consistent, dependable, and exceptionally skilled musician. For decades, she contributed to the recordings of some of the biggest names in music. Her talent was highly sought after, with the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson even calling her 'the greatest bass player I’ve ever met.' To this day, Carol Kaye remains a living legend and continues to be revered by musicians and fans alike.

8. Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka’s first female prime minister, is one of history’s most influential yet lesser-known women. In 1960, she shattered the country’s political glass ceiling by becoming its leader. This remarkable achievement came just a year after an unimaginable tragedy—her husband, the sitting prime minister, was assassinated. In the wake of his death, Bandaranaike took charge of his political party and worked tirelessly to calm the political unrest that followed.

A year later, the people of Sri Lanka showed their trust in her leadership by electing Sirimavo Bandaranaike as prime minister. Though she stepped down in 1965, her political journey didn’t end there. She returned to power in 1970 and again in 1994, serving two more terms decades apart. Throughout her career, Bandaranaike was resolute and deeply committed to her country’s well-being.

Bandaranaike’s tenure as Sri Lanka's prime minister was not without its controversies. She was known for making bold, and sometimes divisive, decisions. For example, she altered university admission policies to favor a particular ethnic group, and distanced Sri Lanka from international diplomacy, instead focusing on domestic social policies. Despite the controversies, her strong leadership resonated with the people, as reflected in her two subsequent re-elections. Notably, her daughter later followed in her footsteps, serving as both prime minister and president.

Although some of Bandaranaike’s political choices sparked debate, her legacy remains indisputable. Historian KM De Silva captured her impact: 'After her husband died, there was so much confusion, and the party was almost collapsing. She was an untried leader. But she not only survived, she sustained the party and the family in politics.'

7. Lady Mary Heath

Lady Mary Heath's life began under tragic circumstances. In 1897, when she was only a year old, her father killed her mother. He was deemed guilty but insane and committed to a mental institution. Following this trauma, Heath was raised by her strong-willed aunts, who championed her education. After excelling academically, Heath’s path took a new turn as World War I loomed on the horizon.

While most women weren’t serving on the front lines during wartime, Heath was no ordinary woman. She took on the role of an emergency dispatcher for wounded soldiers and drove an ambulance directly into battle zones. Her proximity to the war introduced her to the latest military aviation strategies, and she became captivated by the sight of high-flying planes and fearless pilots. By the end of the war, she knew exactly what her future held: to soar in the sky.

Back in those days, female pilots were rare. Heath's career began before even Amelia Earhart’s rise to fame, despite Earhart being a pioneer herself. When Heath encountered sexism and condescension during her flight lessons, she responded by pushing even harder. It wasn’t long before she was flying solo. Over the years, she shattered numerous records, including becoming the first woman to fly solo from South Africa to London. She proved that women could achieve anything men could.

At the time, women were prohibited from working as commercial pilots due to outdated beliefs that menstruation would impair their judgment. Heath, confident in her abilities, went before a male-dominated aviation board and demonstrated her flying skills while menstruating. She aced the challenge and, in doing so, cleared the way for future generations of women to follow in her groundbreaking footsteps.

6. Lhakpa Sherpa

By now, thousands of adventurers have successfully scaled Mount Everest. When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached its summit in 1953, it was a monumental achievement. Today, climbing Everest is almost like a tourist attraction for hardcore adventurers. By the end of 2021, over 6,000 individuals had made it to the top, and many have done so multiple times.

Think all the significant feats on Mount Everest have already been achieved? Think again! There’s one woman who’s leaving everyone else in the dust. Lhakpa Sherpa, a mother of two living in the United States, might seem unassuming in her simple apartment, but she’s one of the top mountain climbers in the world. In fact, she's conquered Everest more times than any other woman ever— and we mean a LOT more times!

Lhakpa’s journey took a difficult turn years ago when she met her future husband during an Everest expedition. Together, they had children, but their marriage was far from fairy-tale perfect. It became marred by domestic abuse, and Lhakpa decided to escape for the sake of her daughters. She ended up in Connecticut, taking a dishwasher job at a local grocery store. For years, she balanced washing dishes, raising her kids, and pursuing her passion for mountain climbing. Just eight months after giving birth to her first daughter, she was back climbing, and a few years later, she did it again, this time while two months pregnant with her second child.

Climbing, for Lhakpa, was more than a passion; it was her escape. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, she explained, “Climbing is my way out of washing dishes. It is the way to make a better life for the girls. I want to show the world I can do it. I want to show all the women who look like me that they can do it, too.” She continued living this powerful message, and in 2022, she triumphantly reached the top of Everest for the tenth time.

5. Gerda Taro

At the age of 23, Gerda Taro was arrested in 1933 for standing up against the Nazis. Though she was released quickly, the events unfolding in Germany were impossible to ignore. Gerda fled to Paris, where she joined other refugees seeking to escape Nazi oppression. Among them was Endre Friedmann, a Hungarian-born man with whom Gerda quickly fell in love. Together, they shared not only their love but also a fierce commitment to their beliefs, using their photography skills to document their fight.

In 1936, the couple left Paris to head for the front lines of the Spanish Civil War, where they worked as photojournalists. Together, they captured the horrific realities of war and the rising threat of fascism. While Friedman, better known as Robert Capa, was a powerful force in the field, Gerda was no less formidable. She became a true pioneer in the world of photojournalism, one of the first women to work on the battlefield as a war correspondent.

On July 25, 1937, Gerda sent another set of war photographs to newspapers for global distribution. After submitting the photos, she climbed onto a car's running board to escape the conflict. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it out in time. The car collided with a tank, and Gerda was crushed between the two massive metal structures. She passed away the next day. Capa spent the rest of his life regretting that he couldn’t say goodbye.

Her legacy endures through her work. Taro’s striking photos and her deep connection to Capa and his renowned career have made her a timeless symbol for journalists. In life, she was a pioneer, and in death, she became the first female photojournalist to die while covering a war.

4. Christine de Pisan

Christine de Pisan had a privileged upbringing. Born in 1364, her father, Tommaso da Pizzano, was a prominent royal astronomer who served King Charles V of France. This gave Christine more opportunities than most women of her time, the most significant of which was education. Her father ensured she received an education equal to that of his sons.

From an early age, Christine impressed both her teachers and family with her intellect. Even as a child, she crafted stunning long poems. However, in her time, societal norms were strict, and at just 15, Christine married. For a while, it appeared motherhood would be her destiny. She had three children and raised them for several years. But in 1389, the sudden deaths of her father and husband left Christine at a pivotal moment in her life.

In a typical situation, most women would have remarried for the financial stability that came with a husband. But Christine refused to conform to such expectations. Instead, she turned to her writing. After becoming a widow, she managed a scriptorium and began writing poems once more. She penned hundreds of poems and sent them to influential figures across Europe, hoping one would become her patron. Soon, her efforts paid off, and she received responses from several notable patrons, including King Charles VI, Phillip II of Burgundy, and Queen Isabella of Bavaria.

Alongside her poetry, Christine published some of the earliest and most vocal feminist literature. In the late 1420s, she also produced the only literary work on Joan of Arc published during her lifetime. Christine passed away in 1430, but her legacy endures even today, six centuries later, as the world’s first professional female writer and poet.

3. Jeanne Baret

By the time Jeanne Baret turned 26 in 1766, she was well on her way to fulfilling her dreams in botany. Having studied under the renowned naturalist Philibert Commerson, she was at the top of his list when he was hired for an expedition to a remote Pacific island. The only issue was that, at the time, French ships were forbidden from having women aboard. But Baret and Commerson found a clever solution: they disguised her as a man, calling her “Jean,” and she passed the inspection without being detected.

After a long voyage across the sea, the ship arrived at what is now known as Bougainville, part of present-day Papua New Guinea. The captain of the ship, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, after whom the island is named, anchored in the bay at Buka and allowed the botanists to disembark. Commerson, who had been ill for much of the journey, entrusted the leadership to Baret. Without hesitation, Baret took charge on the island and led a successful and productive scientific expedition.

However, as the journey continued, an unfortunate incident occurred. The crew of Bougainville's ship somehow uncovered Baret’s true identity as a woman. As the story goes, when the ship was heading home, it docked in Tahiti, where the natives allegedly discovered Baret’s secret and informed Bougainville. Some crew members' journals suggest this discovery actually took place earlier, while they were still in Papua New Guinea. Regardless, upon learning the truth, Bougainville's men were shocked, and they assaulted both Baret and Commerson.

When the ship docked once again, this time in Mauritius, the botanists were left stranded on the island. Shortly after, Commerson passed away there. Baret, however, had a different fate. She later married a French soldier and returned to France. Despite the hardships and tragedies of her journey, her legacy remains. Today, Baret is credited with collecting and documenting more than 6,000 plant species. The unique climate and remote location of Bougainville made these discoveries vital. For centuries, biologists have built upon Baret's groundbreaking contributions to plant science.

2. Marion A. Frieswyk

While World War II was raging in Europe and the Pacific, the United States was frantically putting together an intelligence-gathering service. Today, we know that outfit as the Central Intelligence Agency. Back then, it was called the Office of Strategic Services. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as what we know now, either.

The organization had about 13,000 employees during the war. About a third of them were women. Many worked as spies, forgers, and translators. There were some notable women in the small group. Famed cooking queen Julia Child helped develop a shark repellent for the OSS during the war! But even the culinary superstar couldn’t compare to the organization’s first female intelligence cartographer.

Her name was Marion A. Frieswyk, and she had a preternatural gift for making maps. She had been planning to be a schoolteacher in New York when the war broke out. Marion knew she had “a knack for numbers,” as she later put it. And she felt the pull to help her country while men were off fighting. So she joined the OSS. As part of her duties, Frieswyk developed 3D topographic maps of European sites based on spy and scout information. This was decades before Google Earth, of course. So Marion was working blind!

Having been given remarkably small bits of information, she had to map out terrain patterns as best she could. But she was really good at her job. She created a topographic map of Sicily that ended up being a dead-on match for the island. The Joint Chiefs of Staff used it to plan an invasion. American troops on the ground found it reliable, and their surge succeeded. She may not have been on the battlefield, but her work was critical to winning World War II. Having found her calling in life, Frieswyk stayed on with the CIA after the war ended.

1. Amelia Edwards

Like Christine de Pisan, Amelia Edwards showed a passion for writing early in life. Born in 1831, nearly five centuries after Christine, Amelia found the publishing world just as unwelcoming for women. Despite the odds, she was determined. By the age of seven, she had already submitted a poem to a literary journal.

As she matured, Amelia developed a deep love for travel writing, visiting rugged destinations all around the world. According to legend, she would often disguise herself as a man to gain access to spaces off-limits to women, such as gambling halls, brothels, and bathhouses. Edwards' storytelling prowess and keen observations soon earned her success in the literary world.

Although her early career focused on Paris, it was Egypt that cemented her legacy. A trip meant for Italy took an unexpected turn, leading her to Egypt, where she discovered her true calling. Amelia became the first woman to journey the entire length of the Nile, documenting the experience in a remarkable, detailed account that she illustrated herself with watercolor paintings. She soon viewed Egypt as the key to unlocking both the past and future.

Amelia Edwards was a passionate advocate for the preservation of Egypt's ancient artifacts. She founded the Egypt Exploration Society, which is still active today. Upon her death in 1892, she donated her extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts to University College London, a gift that helped establish their Egyptology department. Her legacy endures, as her name now graces the department’s chair. The global surge of interest in Egyptology can largely be attributed to her relentless drive and exceptional storytelling.