Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for her philosophy of education and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori enrolled in classes at an all-boys technical school, with hopes of becoming an engineer.Maria Montessori, founder of the Progressive Montessori School System (1870 – 1952).

At just 20 years old, Anne began teaching Helen Keller and, despite her own limited sight, helped Keller study at Radcliffe College in 1900. Thanks to Anne’s hard work and dedication, Helen became the first deaf-blind person to receive a college degree.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas to Amy Otis Earhart and Edwin Stanton Earhart, followed in 1899 by her sister Muriel. The family moved from Kansas to Iowa to Minnesota to Illinois, where Earhart graduated from high school. During World War I, she left college to work at a Canadian military hospital, where she met aviators and became intrigued with flying.

First Lady Michelle Obama, J.D., grew up on the south side of Chicago. Her father was a pump operator fighting multiple sclerosis who worked hard to save money for her to go to college. Her mother was a stay-at-home parent taking care of her and her older brother Craig.

Because of her parents’ support, Michelle went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Princeton University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She met President Barack Obama in 1988 when she returned to Chicago to join the firm of Sidley Austin. They married in 1992.

In 1996, Michelle joined the University of Chicago as an associate dean of student services. There she developed the university’s first community service program. Later in 2002, she went to work for the university’s medical center. In 2005, she became the vice president of community and external affairs.

As the First Lady of the United States, Michelle worked to improve various areas of the education sector, ranging from advocating for more school counselors to leading the initiative for better school lunches.

In 2008, as the first black first lady, Michelle set out to improve America’s youth. She started her “Let’s Move!” program in an effort to fight child obesity. In other words, she worked with a team of educators, parents, and elected officials to bring healthy and affordable food to underprivileged communities and provide better spaces to encourage students to be more active.

During President Obama’s second term, Michelle worked with the Reach Higher Initiative to help students find job opportunities, education, and life skills needed to achieve their goals. She encouraged young people to continue their education after high school.

In 2021, Michelle announced that she is “moving towards retirement.” She still gives back through her work with the Obama Foundation. The Obamas created this non-profit to further various missions, including better educational opportunities for women and people of color.

Quote Source: Final Speech as First Lady of the United States

Essie Mae Williams did not reveal her father's identity until she was almost 78 years old, after Thurmond's death at the age of 100 in 2003. Though he had little to do with her upbringing, he had paid for her college education and took an interest in her and her family all his life. In 2005, she published her autobiography, Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond, which was nominated for the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

Thorpe started teaching in 2006. She joined the International High School at Langley Park, Maryland, as an English teacher in 2018, where she was also assigned with revising the English curriculum for the 12th grade. Besides teaching, she also founded, along with her sister, the non-profit organization U.S. Elite International Track and Field.

In 2021, she was chosen from the list of 50 finalists for the Varkey Foundation's yearly $1 million Global Teacher Prize. She is the second American to win the prize.

Anna Leonowens First published in 1870, Leonowens' memoir is the true story of a proper English governess who is hired by the King of Siam to tutor his many children. A delightful portrait of an unlikely friendship between two headstrong personalities, it is also a revealing peak at two very different cultures.

Image of Charlotte Hawkins Brown from At Calm Sedalia

When the American Missionary Association decided to close the school a year later, Brown decided to create a school on her own. Coming from humble beginnings in a small blacksmith's cabin, Brown continued raising money, eventually obtaining 200 acres and constructing two new buildings for her campus. The school, named the Palmer Memorial Institute in honor of Alice Freeman Palmer, opened on October 10, 1902, and was a day and boarding school for African Americans. Brown worked tirelessly to create a safe haven for African American youth, she established the Palmer Memorial Institute's board of trustees entirely of African Americans. Brown's institute served as one of the only schools in North Carolina to offer college preparatory programs.

By the 1920s, the Palmer Memorial Institute was an established and successful boarding school attracting students from around the country, many of whom went on to become educators. Brown attracted national attention for her efforts, lecturing frequently at colleges around the country and receiving several honorary degrees. In 1941 she published The Correct Thing To Do--To Say--To Wear, committing many of her educational philosophies and maxims in print. She continued to run the school until her retirement in 1952.