Let’s celebrate Women’s History Month with first lines from books by or about women of history. First Lines is a series of blog articles posted once a month.
The first line of a story, we’re told, must hook the reader. Implied is that the reader will not buy the book if the first line isn’t great. These entries are from Amazon, my personal library, or other online booksellers. Do these first lines hook you? Do you want to read more?
None of it turned out as he had imagined. He blamed this on his own distraction, which kept him from looking too closely at the details when his agent found the place.
In 1943, Mass Transportation magazine published an article entitled “Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees.” It provided “insights” into the psyche of the working woman of the day…
Sayyida al-Hurra was so revered that no one knows her real name. The name by which she is referred to is actually more of a title: al-Hurra means “free woman” and was often given to a woman in power, which she was.
There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. Usually these titles are pulled at random. They are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.
Do You Want to Read More?
Did you enjoy this list? Check out previous First Lines posts. Please take a moment to share in the comments below— Which ones spoke to you? Did you buy it? Or recommend your favorite book about women from history.
Sylvia Rivera (far right in illustration above) hated labels almost as much as she hated discrimination. Of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent, she lived alone on the streets from the tender age of eleven. Despite her hard life, she rallied, protested, caucused, and got beaten and arrested for the inclusion and recognition of transgender individuals. Some call her the Rosa Parks of the Modern Trans movement.
Early Life
Born to a father from Puerto Rico and a mother from Venezuela in New York City on July 2, 1951, assigned male at birth, her parents named her Ray. Her birth father disappeared early in her life.
Rivera’s mother remarried. The marriage was rocky. Rivera’s stepfather threatened to kill Rivera, her mother, and her sister. At twenty-two years of age, her mother committed suicide.
Rivera was three when she went to live with her grandmother. Her grandmother voiced disapproval of Rivera’s mixed background (Venezuelan and Puerto Rican) and darker skin color. When Rivera began experimenting with clothing and makeup, her grandmother berated and beat Rivera for behavior that was too effeminate for a boy. Her grandmother’s disapproval and beatings increased after Rivera’s step-father took her half-sister away.
They shuffled Rivera between her grandmother’s home, Catholic boarding schools, and friends’ homes. She started wearing makeup to school in fourth grade. Bullied and mocked, she was the victim of many playground fights and even school suspensions.
Her uncle had her earn extra money with sex work. It’s no wonder that by the age of eleven, Rivera ran away from home, never to return.
Life On the Streets
In New York City, 42nd Street was “home to a community of drag queens, sex workers, and those who were hustling inside and outside of the gay community of New York in the early 1960s.” Rivera ran from home to this area. Here, a group of young drag queens adopted her. They taught her how to eke out a living with sex work and live on the streets, often changing sleeping location every night. Like many young homeless queer youth and older LGBT people in New York City, Rivera and her friends hung out in places they could feel safe and part of a community. Most of those places were Mafia-run bars.
In 1963, twelve-year-old Rivera met Marsha P. Johnson, an eighteen-year-old, “African American self-identified drag queen and activist battling for inclusion in a movement for gay rights that did not embrace her gender.” Rivera said Johnson was like a mother to her.
Fighting for Transgender People
The Riot
The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar in Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan. It was a place where young men hustled and people from all over the city hung out after work and on weekends. The Inn is famous for being the setting for what’s now known as the Stonewall Inn Riot on June 28, 1929.
Rivera’s presence and involvement in the Stonewall Inn Riot, like Stormé DeLarverie, is debatable. Some sources quote her as saying she didn’t throw the first Molotov cocktail, but threw the second one. Many sources cite she refused to go home or go to sleep for seven days because she didn’t want to miss a minute of the revolution.
After the Riot, Rivera laid low for a few months. When she heard about newly formed activist groups, such as the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), she enthusiastically tried to get involved. But her gender identity troubled the members of those groups.
Exclusion and Discrimination
The first Pride Parade happened in 1970, but the organizers discouraged trans people, including Rivera, from joining the parade. Rivera was passionate about equal rights for trans individuals but faced relentless discrimination, even from the gay community.
In 1971, Rivera and Johnson started the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group focused on giving shelter to queer, homeless youth. They hustled the street to rent a building they named Star House. It provided a safe space to discuss transgender issues. They fed, clothed and sheltered “our other kids.” Though short-lived (STAR died by 1973), 19-year-old Rivera was a like mother to those kids.
Determined, Rivera fought against discrimination. She even attempted, in a dress and heels, to climb through a window into a “closed door council meeting” discussing trans and gay rights. It wasn’t the only time she was arrested, fighting for inclusion.
Discouraged
Finally allowed to take part in the 1973 Gay Pride Parade. Officially, she could not speak. Outraged, she grabbed the mike and said,
If it wasn’t for the drag queen, there would be no gay liberation movement. We’re the front-liners.” She was booed off the stage.
She fought for trans inclusion in the GAA’s campaign to pass New York City’s first gay rights bill. (It passed in 1986, disappointingly without including trans individuals’ rights.)
Discouraged by rampant discrimination, Rivera attempted suicide. Johnson brought her to the hospital and helped her get well. After that, Rivera left the city, her activism limited to low-key events in her area.
Return to Activism
Rivera returned to the city in 1992, after Johnson’s body was found floating in the Hudson River. She and the gay rights movement (expanded to include trans and others) reconciled. In 1994, she honored in the 25th Anniversary Stonewall Inn march.
She started Transy House, modeled after STAR, in 1997.
Her determination remained. “Before I die, I will see our community, given the respect we deserve. I’ll be damned if I’m going to my grave without having the respect this community deserves. I want to go to wherever I go with that in my soul and peacefully say I’ve finally overcome.” She continued working up to her death.
Death
With her partner, Julia Murray, at her side, Rivera died from complications of liver cancer at 50.
Legacy
Recognized after her death, Silvia Rivera has a street bearing her name near the Stonewall Inn in New York City. LGBT community organizations across the country and the world pay tribute to her. In 2015, they hung Rivera’s portrait in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., making her the first transgender activist to be included in the gallery. The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) continues her work to secure the rights of gender non-conforming people. And the number of tributes continue to grow.
Rivera experienced abandonment, abuse, homelessness, drug addition, and incarceration. Poor, trans, a drag queen, a person of color, and former sex worker, she embodied “otherness” and fought discrimination her entire life. Metaphorically, she sat at the front of the bus and earned the honorific, the Rosa Parks of the Modern Trans movement.
What did you know about Silvia Rivera before reading this post?
For the past four years, this blog has featured brief biographies of women. Each woman featured shows strength, but it’s not necessarily physical strength. If it’s not physical strength, how do you recognize a strong woman?
Daring greatly is being brave and afraid every minute of the day at the exact same time.
Brene Brown
She doesn’t wait to be saved or given permission to act.
Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
Mother Teresa
Sensitive, kind, and dedicated to serve others, Mother Teresa was a strong woman. She acted on her convictions and founded the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa and her missionaries cared for people dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, ran soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children’s and family counseling programs, as well as orphanages and schools. She put her own health at risk and worked tirelessly to help those in need.
Strong women challenge themselves.
Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.
Oprah
America’s most decorated gymnast, Simone Biles is physically small, but she didn’t let that stop her. Her strength isn’t only physical. A focused and dedicated athlete, she challenges herself and works hard to achieve her goals.
Strength can be mental, emotional, or physical. Physical strength isn’t necessary to be a strong woman. But women can also be physically strong.
A strong woman speaks her mind.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
Maya Angelou
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, is confident, assertive, and full of personal charisma. She does not shrink herself to fit the roles or expectations of others. Vice President Harris speaks her mind and does not back down when others attempt to diminish her.
She can make choices against convention
It’s ok to care about what other people think, but you should give a little more weight to what you, yourself, think … The habit of thinking is the habit of gaining strength. You’re stronger than you believe.
Nnedi Okorafor
Strong women know others might judge them for choosing a career that goes against what is “feminine.” They also know that others do not determine their self-worth. They find their self-worth inside themselves.
She can say no.
We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome.
Isabel Allende
Rosa Parks was soft-spoken, sweet, and small in stature. Some described her as timid and shy. But in 1955, Rosa said no. She refused to give her seat up for a white man. She might have been ‘timid and shy’ but she was a strong woman.
A strong woman seeks the right attention
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Though she was a shy and retiring person, Eleanor Roosevelt gave 348 press conferences as First Lady. She stepped into the role of First Lady and used her position and her voice to help others. Eleanor was a United Nations delegate, a human rights activist, a teacher, and a lecturer who averaged 150 speaking engagements a year throughout the 1950s.
She frees herself from the victim mentality
Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.
Carol Burnett
Outgoing, enthusiastic Oprah Winfrey is idealistic and has the interpersonal skills to make others want to join her to make things happen. She had plenty of reasons to see herself as a victim, but she changed her life. And she works to change the life of others.
Her Strength May Not be Recognized
One small crack does not mean that you are broken. It means that you were put to the test, and you didn’t fall apart.
Linda Poindexter
Strength is not always visible. Others may refuse to see it. Sometimes you may have difficulty seeing past your perceived flaws or the insults and injuries life has dealt you.
The broken heart still has heart beats. Though you may feel like death, you are stronger than you think.
Qwana M. BabyGirl Reynolds-Frasier
Strength is contagious
Learn about the strengths of the women before you and around you. Surround yourself with strong women. Find mentors and be a mentor.
Fight and push harder for what you believe in, you’d be surprised, you are much stronger than you think.
Lady Gaga
How do you recognize a strong woman? Sometimes you need to look in the history books. Sometimes you need to look in the mirror.
It takes a strong woman to face a world that doesn’t value her gender. Some are strong enough to make the world see her, to value her. Historical labels for those who were born one gender but identified as another included monstrous, perverse, or insane. We may never know their truth. Only the tip of hidden history, this is an introduction to unconventional women of history no one taught you about.
Eleanor Rykener
December 1394 court records documented the arrest of Eleanor Rykener (also known as John Rykener) London during December 1394 for a sex act with a man while dressed as a woman. She wore women’s clothing and worked as an embroideress, prostitute, or barmaid. Records are incomplete. But to many Rykener was a trans-woman. Wikipedia has a short and fascinating article on Eleanor.
Moll Cutpurse
Mary Frith or Moll Cutpurse (c. 1584–1659), royalist, pick pocket, fence, and pimp, had a “boisterous and masculine spirit.” She wore britches, smoked a pipe, carried a sword, and drank in taverns. Learn about Moll.
Declared a boy at birth, Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont (1728-1810) was the son of a minor aristocrat. His family secured him a position in civil service. He rose quickly through the ranks. Then he left France as a diplomat and a spy. When he returned to France, it was as a celebrity, a writer, and a woman. Was it a trick to save his life or his true gender? Read more about d’Eon.
Charlotte Cushman
Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876) was an American actress. Some described her as a woman of weird genius, somber imagination, great sensibility.
Jane Adams
Jane Adams (1860-1935) was a social reformer and lesbian suffragist, social worker, activist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
Alan L. Hart
Alan L. Hart (1890-1962), a radiologist, physician, tuberculosis researcher, and writer. Hart discovered how to use x-rays to detect tuberculosis. When he was born, doctors identified him as female and named Alberta Lucille Hart. Besides helping thousands with tuberculosis, he was one of the first female-to-male transgender persons to undergo a hysterectomy in the United States and lived the rest of his life as a man. Oregon Encyclopedia can tell you more about Hart.
Stormé DeLaverie
Stormé DeLaverie (day-la-vee-ay) (1920-2014), was an entertainer, bouncer, activist, and drag king.
Look for Hidden History
The saying goes that the winner writes the history books. It’s up to us to uncover the hidden history, to learn from the truth, and to grow into better people and better nations. Strong women have been around since the dawn of time. Some of those strong women were unconventional women of history no one told you about. This is a short list. There are many, many more. It’s up to you to overcome prejudice, step out of your comfort zone, and learn. You might surprise yourself and admire some of these women.
It was an age where women couldn’t vote, non-whites rarely went to school, and the American government said Native Americans weren’t citizens. The odds were against Susan LaFlesche Picotte. Some of her own people rejected her learning and caregiving. But she persisted. She earned a degree in medicine and worked tirelessly to improve her tribe’s health and welfare. Read about the amazing first Native American woman doctor and her people.
Susan LaFlesche, Public Domain
Adapt to Survive
Omaha Chief Big Elk visited Washington D.C. in 1837. There he saw a coming flood that would wipe out his people. He warned them they needed to adapt to survive.
He chose a man with a similar vision to succeed him as chief of the Omaha Tribe. Joseph La Flesche, Susan’s father, was of French and Indian descent.
Chief Joseph LaFlesche (Iron Eyes) was one of the seven Omaha chiefs who signed treaties ceding over 90% of the tribe’s land to the U.S. government in 1854.
Chief LaFlesche made a bold push for assimilation. But not everyone in the tribe wanted to assimilate. The tribe split into two parties.
On June 17, 1865, Susan was born the youngest of three daughters to Chief LaFlesche and his wife Mary, (One Woman).
Public Domain
She grew up in a log cabin in the Village of the Make-Believe White Men. Her parents taught her native traditions and heritage. But they refused a tribal name and tribal markings for her.
At eight, Susan stayed at the bedside of an elderly woman in agonizing pain. They sent a messenger for the white agency doctor four times. Each time the doctor promised he’d come soon, but he never did. The woman died. It was an episode that affected Susan for the rest of her life.
“Do you always want to be simply called those Indians, or do you want to go to school and be somebody in the world?”
Susan attended the Mission School on the Omaha Reservation until she was fourteen.
Then she was sent to the Elizabeth Institute for Young Ladies in New Jersey. At seventeen, she returned home and taught at the Quaker Mission School for two years. While working there she met and cared for the ethnologist, Alice Fletcher. Fletcher encouraged her to go back east and get a medical degree.
Higher Education
And Susan did. In 1884, she enrolled at the Hampton Institute, one of the nation’s first and finest schools of higher education for non-white students. The resident physician there, Martha Waldron, was a graduate of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP). Waldon encouraged Susan to apply to WMCP. Alice Fletcher helped Susan secure scholarship funds from the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs and Connecticut Indian Association, a branch of the Women’s National Indian Association.
We who are educated have to be pioneers of Indian civilization. The white people have reached a high standard of civilization, but how many years has it taken them? We are only beginning; so do not try to put us down, but help us to climb higher. Give us a chance.
Susan finished WMCP’s three year program in two years. She graduated at the top of her class of thirty-six people. After a year’s internship in Philadelphia, she returned home.
In 1889, she was 24. She could not vote and as an Indian, she could not call herself a citizen but she was a doctor.
Susan served as one of the reservation physicians. It was rare to be a Native American and a doctor. Susan was the first Native American Woman to hold the position.
She opened her office in the government boarding school. Tribe members filed in. So many insisted on seeing only Dr. Susan that the white male doctor quit. That made Susan the only physician for more than 1,300 people on a reservation stretching over 450 square miles. She became their doctor, their translator, lawyer, accountant, priest, and political liaison.
Susan made $500 per year and had to buy her own supplies when the Bureau of Indian Affairs ran out. She made another $250 per year from the Women’s National Indian Association for her work as a medical missionary.
At first she made house calls on foot, later on horseback, and still later in her buggy. She often encounter Omahas who rejected her diagnosis and her learning. Some rejected her care simply because of tensions created by her father.
For years this amazing Native American woman doctor fought epidemics of smallpox, influenza, and diphtheria. She got the Office of Indian Affairs to ban liquor sales within towns inside the reservation. She taught proper hygiene and encouraged the use of screen doors to keep out disease carrying flies. And she discouraged communal drinking cups, and the mescal used in religious ceremonies.
In poor health, she resigned in 1893 to recover and to care for her sick mother.
Marriage
In 1894, Susan married Henry Picotte, a Yankton Sioux who worked with Wild West Shows. They moved to Bancroft, Nebraska where she set up a private practice. She served both white and non-white patients.
She had two sons whom she occasionally took with her on house calls.
My office hours are any and all hours of the day and night.
Susan returned to Washington D.C. in 1910 to present an argument to the Office of Indian Affairs. She argued that most of the Omaha tribesmen could manage their own affairs but the Indian Office had stifled them to the point they could not protect themselves from fraud.
She continued to work with the tribe. Her dream was to build the first hospital on the reservation not funded by the government. And in 1913, that hospital opened its doors.
Death and Legacy
Susan La Flesche Picotte passed away on September 18, 1915.
Public Domain
After her death, they renamed the hospital Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital. It served patients for an additional thirty years, then closed its doors. It is now a museum and became a national historic landmark in 1993. They hold an annual festival there every year in her memory.
Final Words
The society and government and conditions were against Susan LaFlesche Picotte. A strong woman, she became a doctor anyway. What amazing strength she had to spend her lifetime relentlessly fighting for better health and living conditions for her people. She was the Amazing First Native American Woman Doctor.
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