Today in Mighty Girl history, Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts in the United States, was born in 1860. Born in Savannah, Georgia, Low, known as "Daisy" to friends and family, spent much of her early adulthood traveling extensively and exploring the world. In 1911, she discovered a new passion when she met former English General Robert Baden-Powell who had recently founded the Scouting movement in the UK. Baden-Powell has also recruited his sister Agnes to organize the Girl Guides and new scout troops were springing up across England.

Inspired to bring the new movement to America, Low returned to the US in 1912 and made a historic call to her cousin, Nina Anderson Pape where she stated: "Come right over! I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!" The two women recruited girls from throughout Savannah and, on March 12, 1912, held the first meeting of the American Girl Guides. By 1913, the group was thriving with Low as president, and the organization's name was changed to "Girl Scouts." Continue reading → Continue reading

"One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap." – Ida B. Wells

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ida B. Wells, the courageous African-American journalist, anti-lynching crusader, women's rights activist, and civil rights pioneer. Wells was born into slavery in 1862 and freed at one year of age by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. She became politically active in civil rights issues from a young age.

In one famous instance as a young woman in Memphis, she was ordered to give up her seat on a train to a white man and move to the smoking or "Jim Crow" car. Wells refused and was forcefully dragged from the train. She then took the unheard of action of hiring an attorney and suing the railroad; she won her case in the local court though the Tennessee Supreme Court eventually overturned it. This experience further ignited her desire to work against the injustices faced by women and people of color.

Wells became a well-known journalist and, after three friends were lynched by a mob, she launched a global anti-lynching campaign to raise awareness of the social injustice. She was one of only two African American women to sign "the call" to form the NAACP in 1909 and worked tirelessly throughout this period for women's suffrage. In the final years of her life, she became disenchanted with the nominees to the state legislature so, in 1930, she ran for the Illinois State Legislature, becoming one of the first black women to run for public office in the United States. Continue reading → Continue reading

This week marks the anniversary of amazing feats by three trailblazing women. On July 5, 1916, sisters Augusta and Adeline Van Buren set off on an incredible journey and began the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour across the U.S. by two women on solo motorcycles. They rode 5,500 miles in 60 days often over unpaved roads while traveling from NYC to Tijuana, Mexico.

The entrance of the U.S. into WWI inspired the sisters' feat as they sought to prove that women could ride as well as men and were capable of serving as military dispatch riders. The women dressed in military-style leggings and leather riding breeches which were taboo at that time for women and, as a result, they were arrested several times along the way for wearing men's clothing. Yet, these two inspirational trailblazers were undaunted. As Augusta famously once stated, “Woman can if she will.” Continue reading → Continue reading

Wangari Maathai was a highly accomplished Kenyan environmentalist who has been the subject of a number of recent stunning picture books. After training as a biologist in the U.S., Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental and women's empowerment organization that trains women in rural Kenya to plant trees in order to combat deforestation. Since its founding in 1977, her organization has planted over 40 million trees and trained over 30,000 women in trades that provide them with income and preserve the country's natural resources. Maathai's efforts effectively transformed the landscape of Kenya and raised countless women out of poverty. For her great contributions, Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 -- becoming the first African woman to do so.

In the past several years, four picture books have been released on the life and work of Maathai. All four are beautifully illustrated and trace her life from her early girlhood days to her founding of the Green Belt Movement and the impact her work had on the land and people of Kenya. Continue reading → Continue reading

Each May the United States celebrates the history and culture of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. In honor of this month, A Mighty Girl has created a new special feature on the Top Asian Pacific American Mighty Girl Books. And, just as Asian and Pacific Islanders are a very diverse group, encompassing people who originate from the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, the reading selections in this collection are equally diverse.

Thematically, the books range from those which focus on the experience of 2nd or 3rd generation Asian-American youth to others which address of the challenges of more recent immigrants. Books from this former group often confront issues such as dual identities, cultural clashes between family and societal expectations, and body image, and include many teen-oriented titles like YELL-Oh Girls!, Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies), Born Confused, Monsoon Summer, and April and the Dragon Lady. The selections focused on more recent immigrants address many of the challenges this population experiences such as cultural disorientation, teasing or bullying, and language struggles. Great options for younger readers include The Name Jar, My Name is Yoon, and Good-Bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong. Older readers might appreciate Tangled Threads: A Hmong Girl's Story, Kira-Kira, A Jar of Dreams, Inside Out and Back Again, Blue Jasmine, Children of the River, A Step From Heaven, and Ask Me No Questions. Continue reading → Continue reading

In honor of Mother's Day this coming weekend, we've selected My Name Is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream? by Jennifer Fosberry as this week's A Mighty Girl's top book pick. This beautifully illustrated picture book follows young Isabella as she spends the day imagining herself as different... Continue reading

To honor the late civil rights legend Coretta Scott King on the 85th anniversary of her birth today, A Mighty Girl has created a special feature on U.S. civil rights history focused on the contributions of women and girls to the struggle for racial equality. Long active in civil rights activism... Continue reading

In honor of Earth Day, A Mighty Girl would like to recognize two of the greatest female environmentalists of the 20th century -- Jane Goodall and Rachel Carson. Jane Goodall is a British primatologist and the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. She is especially well-known for her work running... Continue reading

Even for non-sports fans it would have been hard to miss the excitement around Baylor's women basketball team victory over Notre Dame last week. With this victory, the Baylor women not only won the national championship but became the first N.C.A.A. basketball - in either the women's or men's divisions... Continue reading

Amalie Noether was a groundbreaking 20th century mathematician who Albert Einstein called "one the most 'significant” and “creative' female mathematicians of all time." Although Noether made tremendous contributions to theoretical physics and abstract algebra, even among the scientific community Noether is virtually unknown today. Unfortunately, this type of obscurity is... Continue reading