We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America

My grandmother arrived at Ellis Island in 1930. When she entered New York Harbor, she was greeted by the Statue of Liberty. Think about that! A woman—Lady Liberty!—holding a torch, welcoming people like my grandmother to America's shore. What did this 150-year-old country offer a young woman? Certainly my grandmother believed there would be opportunities for women not provided for them in Ireland.

If I could travel back in time, I'd hold my scared grandmother's hand and say, "It's going to be okay. Look at this bronze plaque on the pedestal of Lady Liberty." It reads in part, "Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." I'd say, "Grandma, that was written by a young female poet. Her name is Emma Lazarus. America is the land of opportunity."

You might think my Irish grandmother's story is only remembered as part of my family history, and yet she is recorded in America's narrative. I found her name in a book at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where upon arrival in America she listed her profession as a hemstitcher. She had just $20 to her name.

The bold spirit and bravery that brought my grandmother across the Atlantic lives inside the women that we feature in this book. Each woman represents the historical significance of the period in which she lived. Some fought in wars; others fought in the courtroom or for equality in sports and business. All of them are changemakers.

For nearly three decades, I've spent my career as a journalist amplifying the stories of women. This book is an expansion of that work. It was not easy to unearth these stories of hidden heroes. Fortunately, I worked with bestselling author Kate Andersen Brower to bring them to life. Julie Morse, a senior producer at CBS News, was invaluable with research and as a thought partner. Together we spent nearly two years interviewing dozens of people and reading hundreds of books and scholarly articles. Through the process, we learned that these women are complicated. They are imperfect—but find me a person who is not. They pushed limits, they didn't take no for an answer, and they imagined a future where they had equal standing with men. Our research led us to uncover some pretty astounding women. It was a difficult process to narrow down whom to feature across 250 years of American history, where women's contributions have been not only extraordinary but often overlooked or diminished.

Mary Katherine Goddard is the only woman whose name is on the Declaration of Independence; Belva Lockwood was the first woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first to mount a full national campaign for the U.S. presidency; Susette La Flesche spent her life advocating for Indigenous peoples' rights as a speaker and writer, and as an interpreter during a landmark Native American civil rights case; Mary McLeod Bethune was a visionary educator who led the Black Cabinet during FDR's presidency and opened the first Black hospital in Florida; and Frances Perkins was the architect of the New Deal and the nation's first female Cabinet member.

Many held the distinction of being the first in their field, breaking barriers like Phillis Wheatley, the first African American woman to publish a book of poems; Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman admitted to a medical school; and Agnes Meyer Driscoll is the "First Lady of Naval Cryptology." One of them was not just the first, but to this day is the only: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, awarded by the president of the United States.

Through this journey, I developed a personal connection to each of these women, a sense of admiration for what they endured and for the courage it took for them to keep going in the face of adversity, discrimination, and hatred. I hope they inspire you the way they inspired me.

Our goal is not to deliver a full biography of the women we are showcasing but to paint a picture of their grit and determination to be treated equally—not just under the law but by society. We wanted to highlight women who pushed America to live up to its founding promises: liberty, equality, and the pursuit of happiness.

We relied on historians who have made it their life's work to rediscover these women. But we are not historians. So if something or someone is missing, I hope that you too will help share their stories. We didn't include every famous woman you've heard of; there's no chapter on Abigail Adams, though she is a widely influential founding mother. But there is a chapter on Abigail's friend Mercy Otis Warren, an Anti-Federalist who wrote the first history of the Revolution. Many women throughout history exemplify America's values, and we couldn't possibly write about all of them. We wanted, as much as possible, for each profile to feel like a gem we were uncovering—something new, and valuable, with a significant history worthy of discovery.

Each of us plays a role in the arc of history. I love that phrase. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." King often used the quote, which had its origins in the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement. The push for civil rights was a continuation of those earlier social justice movements. By examining American history, we see how progress and transformation take place. It can be agonizingly slow. These women have been central to bending that arc toward justice. Throughout this process, when I felt discouraged by challenges in my own life, these women filled me with a sense of grit and resilience. My hope is that you, too, are inspired by their lives.