Virginia Johnson, of Masters & Johnson, pushed for a better life and ended up revolutionizing the way the world looked at-- and practiced-- sex. She wasn’t a physician or an academic. She was simply a woman who wasn’t afraid to give her perspective on sex, in a field full of men who already thought they… Continue reading Virginia Johnson
Category: Women
Betty Grable
Conn and Lillian Grable had a pact - no more children. It was 1916 - Marjorie was 6 and their little son John had just died. But when Lillian found herself pregnant again she was not going to give up her baby- no matter what Conn said. Lillian's dream was to be a dancer. She… Continue reading Betty Grable
Carrie Nation
When Carrie Nation read Jeremiah 1:10 in her Bible, she wrote "SMASHING" next to it. Jeremiah wrote, "I have this day set thee over the nation and over the kingdoms to root out and pull down and to destroy ..." and Carrie read, "pick up an axe and smash up bars." Carrie Moore was born… Continue reading Carrie Nation
Woman receives honor for orphanages
Springfield News-Leader, 11:00 PM, Sep. 18, 2011, by Claudette Riley Historical marker will remember care of Civil War orphans. The orphaned children of Civil War soldiers were fed, loved and looked after in a series of Springfield homes operated by Mary Whitney Phelps. This month, the Civil War Orphans' Home historical marker -- honoring Phelps'… Continue reading Woman receives honor for orphanages
The Mysterious Tale of Patience Worth
by Jean Schiffman San Francisco Arts Monthly September 2011 Vol. 21 No. 3 Seances were held; novels, poems, short stories and plays were published, all of which were supposedly dictated by the garrulous Patience, a 17th-century English immigrant to America. (No proof was ever found that such a person existed.) Pearl and her husband, John… Continue reading The Mysterious Tale of Patience Worth
Laura Ingalls Wilder
If you were in elementary school in the past thirty years, chances are you read about Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her Little House books have impacted thousands of kids - the easy to read stories sweep readers away to Laura's childhood as a pioneer on the frontier. She wrote the books in Mansfield, Missouri. Laura came to Missouri… Continue reading Laura Ingalls Wilder
Book Review – Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend
by James D. McLaird, University of Oklahoma Press, 2005 Most biographies of well-known figures tend to fall into two categories: those that build their subject up, and those that tear them down. That makes it all the more refreshing to read a book like James D. McLaird’s Calamity Jane, which simply looks on in fascination… Continue reading Book Review – Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend
Olive Boone
"I was married on the 26th of September, 1799. On the first of October, without any company but my husband, I started to Missouri, or Upper Louisiana. We had two ponies and our packhorse. [We arrived] in St. Louis the last of October. We went to St. Charles County and located about twenty miles above St.… Continue reading Olive Boone
Clara Stover
This Valentine’s Day, the odds are good that you’ll succumb to the temptations of a Missouri Woman. And they’ll probably be in a heart-shaped box. Starting from next to nothing, chocolate queen Clara Stover went on to redefine how the world says “I love you”. She was born Clara Lewis, in rural Iowa in 1882. … Continue reading Clara Stover
Calamity Jane
Martha Canary never set out to become a legend. But when you're a boastful, fun-loving drunk, things... just sort of happen. Canary, better known as Calamity Jane, is another Missouri woman whose fictional life overshadowed her real adventures. She never served as an army scout, never fought Indians, and never rescued any stagecoaches. What she did do was hold… Continue reading Calamity Jane
Missouri Women 