Moms are amazing, and that’s why we celebrate Mother’s Day! Taking care of kids is a full-time job, but many moms have pursuits outside of child rearing. These 6 amazing women are famous for their careers, but they were also great moms!
Marie Curie was the Mother of Modern Physics
Marie Curie was fascinated by radioactivity and discovered two radioactive elements, Polonium and Radium. She was also the first woman to win a Nobel prize and the first person to ever win two (and they were in different disciplines)! Marie’s first child, Irène Joliot-Curie, showed an interest in science from an early age. When she was 17 years old, Irène helped her mom use “Little Curies”, the first portable x-ray machines, on World War I battlefields. After the war, Irène discovered artificial radioactivity with her husband, Frederic Joliot. She became the second woman to win a Nobel prize, after her mom! Marie raised her second daughter, Ève, mostly by herself, because Marie’s husband died when Ève was 2 years old. Ève decided to pursue journalism and wrote the book Madam Curie, a biography of her mom!
Abigail Adams advocated for an inclusive Constitution
Abigail Adams, the second First Lady of the United States, didn’t let anyone stop her from making waves in early America! She advocated for important causes like women’s rights in the daily letters she wrote to her husband, John Adams. In one of her letters, she wrote:
Abigail’s words didn’t secure votes for women in 1776, but American suffragettes were inspired by her writing almost 150 years later!
Madam C. J. Walker had amazing hair
She called herself Madam C. J. Walker, but America’s first self-made female millionaire was actually named Sarah Breedlove. Before she became C. J., Sarah was a single mom to her daughter, A’Leila. Sarah wanted a better life for her daughter, so she started a line of haircare products for African-American women. Women were thrilled to find products that suited their specific hair type, and her business exploded! A’Leila soon began managing branches of the ever-growing business alongside Sarah’s 40,000 employees. Sarah encouraged her workers to give their extra income to charity and generously donated part of her profit to NAACP, the black YMCA, and scholarship funds for girls. When Sarah passed away, she left a legacy of entrepreneurship, and a stipulation in her company’s charter that only a woman could serve as president! Continuing her mom’s spirit, A’Leila became the second president of the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company. It’s thanks to her that a lot of women had great-looking hair!
Indira Gandhi gave India a bright future
India’s first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi, completely turned the country’s future around! She instituted a democracy with inclusive voting rights and started the Green Revolution. With Indira’s guidance, India was able to grow its own crops rather than relying on imported grain. Indira was also a big believer in education and made sure that people from all backgrounds were able to go to school. She was also a mother to two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay. Tragically, she was assassinated in 1984, at the young age of 66. However, her son Rajiv carried on her legacy as Prime Minister after her death. That’s a powerful mother-son duo!
Sojourner Truth knew when law was in order
Sojourner’s claim to fame stems from her maternal love. She was part of a landmark case where a black woman sued a white man in court - and won! In 1826, Sojourner and her baby daughter escaped slavery by going to New York. Soon after, she discovered that her 5-year-old son, Peter, had been illegally sold to a man in Alabama. Justice had to be served, so Sojourner raised money for a lawyer, filed a complaint in court, and sued the man who bought her son. She won the case and Peter was freed! Sojourner later became a Christian pastor in New York City and toured the Northeast. She spread the gospel, shared her story, and advocated for abolition of slavery and women’s suffrage all at once!
Mary Kay Ash paved the way for women’s financial freedom
In 1963, Mary Kay Ash was working in sales at a home products company and training new employees. When one of her new male trainees got a promotion instead of her, Mary Kay quit her job right then! She and her son, Richard Rogers, opened a small cosmetics store in Dallas, Texas. Today, Mary Kay Cosmetics is a billion-dollar company! Hundreds of thousands of women work as Mary Kay consultants, selling her products on their own time and being their own bosses. Mary Kay’s ticket to financial freedom helped more women than she could have ever imagined.
These inspiring moms prove that anyone can change the world, even if you’re busy making lunches and doing seemingly endless laundry. Which team of amazing moms is your favorite? Click the blue button below to vote! 👓