Badass Women of America
This podcast is about the women in history who broke barriers and made history yet you probably have never heard of them. Join us each week for a new episode about a woman or women who fought in wars, were amazing explorers, were pioneers in aviation – women who weren’t in our history books. These were exciting, brave, adventurous women who helped shaped this country. Join me, Kit and my friend Sherlock, as we share the exciting stories of these women whom you will want to know. These are the Badass Women of America.
Episodes
66 episodes
Prohibition and a Famous Woman Bootlegger
Prohibition began in Maine in 1851, way before federal prohibition in 1920. Mainers had to live with this ridiculous law for 82 years. But they found their way around it. The only thing that prohibition accomplished f...
Women Who Joined the Navy in 1917 During WWI
Who knew?! The first women to enlist in a branch of the Armed Services were Yeoman for the US Navy in 1917 during WWI.Over 11,000 women joined the Navy to work in areas like communications, decoding and encoding messages, designing...
Groundbreaking Women Doctors of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Most people think there were only a few women doctors in the 1800s and early 1900s but there were thousands.These women found a way around the restrictions of acceptable behavior for women during the Victorian era to pursue their dreams ...
Mary Willard - "Lady Sherlock" of Forensic Science in 1930
It had to start somewhere and it started with Mary Willard - Forensic Science - the beginning of CSI.Mary was an assistant professor of chemistry at Penn State University in 1930 when she was first asked to assist with a criminal case.&n...
Frances Glessner Lee - The Mother of Forensic Science
Without a medical degree, Frances, at the age of 53, changed the course of crime scene investigation and forensic pathology in the United States.She was a pioneer in standardizing the methods used in assessing clues of a crime, training ...
The Story of Dr. Esther Lovejoy - First Woman Doctor in Oregon - 1894
Esther Lovejoy was one of the pioneering women in the medical field in the late 1890s until her death in 1967. She not only traveled all over the world helping the sick and injured; not only changed laws regarding health codes but s...
The Real Reason Ruth Handler Created "Barbie"!
Barbie is not a bimbo! Ruth's intention for creating the Barbie doll was so that girls could role play who they could be as adults. She wanted the girls to see that they had choices to be whatever their imaginations created.J...
The Woman Who Took Down the Biggest Mob Boss in New York in 1936!
Her name is Eunice Carter and she should be in our history books.First Black woman to receive a law degree from Fordham University.First African American woman prosecutor in the United States.First Black woman in the...
Unsung Heroes - Women Who Went to War Without Guns During WW2, the Korean War and Vietnam
They were called Donut Dollies, a name that doesn't represent who they were or what they did.Thousands of women volunteers from WW2, the Korean War and the Vietnam War risked their lives to bring a little piece of America to the soldiers...
Women Gangsters of the 19th Century!
We think that all women in the 1800s were demure housewives and mothers but there were some women who took America by storm with their criminal enterprises.In this episode Kit and Sherlock cover three notorious East Coast women gangsters...
Emma Gatewood - First Woman to Complete a 2,050 Mile Hike in 1954 - alone!
The Appalachian Trail is a brutal 2,050 mile hike that travels through 14 states and takes 4-6 months to complete.Only 20% of hikers that start the trek actually finish.Emma Gatewood started her journey when only 6 people before h...
"Radium Girls" - The job was deadly but they didn't know it.
We go to work thinking we're safe. That's what women who worked in the paint factories were told in the 1920s. It was a lie. These women were exposed to high levels of radiation without their knowledge. Their stor...
"Hello Girls" - Women Who Worked on the Front Lines Were Instrumental in the Success of WWI
223 young women volunteered in 1917 to be sent to the front of WWI to revolutionize military communication.These women connected over 26 million calls in 20 months working near the front lines with a speed six times faster than...
Women Digging for Gold During the Gold Rush of the 1800s!
We think it was only men who dug for gold and made or lost a fortune during the multiple gold rushes throughout America in the 1800s but that's not true.Thousands of women got "gold fever" and set out to claim their fortune. ...
Women Who Helped Launch the Space Program at NASA -1940s-1970s
Women behind the scenes is where all the action and work took place at NASA.Men at NASA didn't want to have anything to do with computers. They considered complex calculations to be "women's work" so they passed the task of learnin...
Women Human Computers from 1870-1970
American women were not only instrumental in computing complex mathematical calculations for scientific research starting in the 1870s, they were instrumental in launching the space program that we know today.Join Kit and Sherlock for an...
Iditarod - Fun or Cruel for Dogs?
The Iditarod is the annual dog sled race held in Alaska since 1973.We applaud the women who have competed in this race against all odds while being discouraged by men and encouraged by women.However, we bring light to the cruelty ...
Daisy Bates - Important Civil Rights Leader!
You may not know Daisy Bates but we all should celebrate the contribution she made to the Civil Rights movement and especially the historic event in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.She tore down the wall of segregation in schools in the So...
Little Rock Nine - Who were they?!
The Little Rock Nine were nine black teenagers who changed history.They bravely went against the hordes of white people trying to keep them from entering an all white high school in Little Rock Arkansa in search of a better education.
Fanchon Blake vs LAPD
Fanchon Blake was a Major in the US Army during WW2. After the war she joined the LAPD where she was restricted from not only using her skills as a Major but was sometimes reduced to custodial work.When she objected to the rule tha...
Phillis Wheatley - Extraordinary Black Slave Poet Who Is Still Studied Today
Do you want to know about extraordinary black women in the history of America?Here's your chance. Phillis Wheatley proved herself to be a one-of-a-kind American extraordinaire. Her journey starts in West Africa, is tran...
Sanora Babb vs Steinbeck Part 2
We promised you in the previous episode that we would offer proof that Steinbeck used the notes of Sanora Babb from interviews with Dust Bowl migrants to write The Grapes of Wrath. Did he miraculously write The Grapes o...
Sanora Babb vs Steinbeck - Part 1
It's difficult to sum up Sanora Babb's life. Raised in poverty, didn't attend school until age eleven, became Valedictorian of her high school class, became a journalist good enough to receive a job offer from the Los Angeles Times in ear...
Two Women Who Changed History
In 1968, Diane Crump was the first woman to be granted a professional jockey license and in 1970, the first woman to compete in the Kentucky Derby.She fought through crowds of protesters to get to the track.In 1955, Clau...
True Story of Sarah Rector - Child Oil Magnate
Sarah Rector was only 11 years old when oil was discovered on property she owned.Born in 1902, Sarah was a descendant of a freed black slave in the Creek Native American tribe. Therefore she was entitled to a land allotment on Indi...
