Frances Marion, the Original Screenwriter | Episode 118

Frances Marion was, at the height of her career in the early 20th century, one of the highest paid people in Hollywood. A prolific and powerful writer, she is credited with creating the job of screenwriter as we know it in Hollywood. She was besties with Mary Pickford, Marie Dressler, and one of the most trusted scenarists in the industry for decades. Even once her career began to decline, the name Frances Marion was respected and revered by Hollywood's biggest creators for years to come.

Public Figure, Artists, Founders, Firsts, HerstoryGWBB PodcastDecember 28, 2020Frances MarionComment

Wilma Mankiller: Chief, Activist, Visionary | Episode 115

Wilma Mankiller was an activist and tribal politician, the first woman to be elected to the position of Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She faced several health crises and through it all worked tirelessly for the betterment of the Nation, published several books, and even received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama. This woman was a powerhouse and an absolute legend.

Public Figure, Fighters, Activist, Firsts, Politics, Native AmericanGWBB PodcastDecember 1, 2020Wilma MankillerComment

Mary Church Terrell, Civil Rights Wunderkind | Episode 114

Mary Church Terrell was the child of former slaves and an activist all her life. She was one of the first Black women to earn a college degree in the U.S, she traveled the world, she was at one time the president of the NACW (National Association of Colored Women), and, in her 80's, inspired the supreme court case that would make Brown V. The Board of Education possible. She was always looking for opportunities to inspire Black and white people to action for civil rights, and was an important figure in the movement up until the moment of her death in 1953. Mary Church Terrell was a good witch and bad bitch whose work in her era made a lot of other activism possible today.

Public Figure, African American, Fighters, Activist, FirstsGWBB PodcastNovember 23, 2020Mary Church TerrellComment

Maria Andreu, First Hispanic Woman to Serve in the U.S. Coast Guard | Episode 110

Though there's not much known about her, Maria Andreu has the auspicious honor of being the first Hispanic woman to serve in the US Coast Guard. As a lighthouse keeper hailing from the United States' oldest settlement, St. Augustine, Florida, Maria Andreu kept the beacons lit and tended to wounded sailors, an important job that kept people ships from dashing to pieces on the rocks. Did we mention she got the job at the ripe age of 58 in the year 1859? This week, Deanna tells us about Maria Andreu and the history of lighthouses and their keepers in the US!

Public Figure, Latinx, Military, FirstsGWBB PodcastSeptember 30, 2020Maria AndreuComment

Fighting Shirley Chisholm | Episode 109

Shirley Chisholm was the first Black American to run for president of the United States, campaigning on a platform of inclusivity and equality. While she didn't win that election, she remained a tireless public servant, fighting for her constituents in Congress for two decades. She fought racism and sexism every step of the way, and she did it in a way that could bring the house down. She wasn't known as Fighting Shirley for nothing!

Public Figure, Fighters, Firsts, PoliticsGWBB PodcastSeptember 23, 2020Shirley ChisolmComment

Lady Catherine Moon | Episode 107

You’ve probably never heard of Gratton Catherine Lawder Moon, aka Lady Moon, but you’re gonna be real glad to rectify that with today’s episode! An Irish orphan who made her way to Fort Collins, Colorado, Gratton was a rambunctious party girl with a reputation that earned her the name “Cussing Kate”. Throw in an aristocratic husband, a lot (and I mean a lot) of whisky, some horses and ranches, and 21 flea-ridden dogs, and you’ve got the start of Lady Moon’s incredible story of making it in the Old West.

FirstsGWBB PodcastAugust 19, 2020Lady Moon, Lady Catherine MoonComment

Norma Smallwood, the First Native Woman to Win Miss America | Episode 106

As a woman of Cherokee descent, the beautiful Norma Smallwood was the first Native woman to win the Miss America pageant - all the way back in the 1920's! After her win, she lived a glamorous life and was adamant about the cost and worth of her time, ensuring she was paid for appearances and lived a comfortable life. To understand Norma's win and the life and scrutiny she endured afterward in the press, Deanna and Hannah talk about the history of beauty pageants and how they've evolved into one of America's most American past times.

Firsts, Native American, Public FigureGWBB PodcastAugust 12, 2020Norma SmallwoodComment

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, The Activist Princess of India | Episode 102

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was an Indian Activist who worked alongside Mahatma Gandhi and used her privileged status and upbringing as a princess to shine a light on the atrocities of British colonial rule and helped usher India into a new era of government independent from Britain, revolutionizing the country's health as India's first Minister of Health. She was tireless, ambitious, and utterly invested in making life better for everyone, not just the upper class. She was a true Good Witch.

Asian, Public Figure, Revolutionaries, Firsts, ActivistGWBB PodcastMay 27, 2020Quarantine, Amrit KaurComment

Chien-Shiung Wu, First Lady of Physics | Episode 101

Chien-Shiung Wu was a groundbreaking Chinese American physicist who made several remarkable contributions to the study of physics during the span of her career and was the only woman in a top scientific role within the top-secret Manhattan Project. She did work integral to a study that later won the Nobel Prize - though she, in typical misogynistic fashion, was not honored alongside her male partners. Still, she continued to make huge strides for physics and women in STEM until her death, and is still celebrated as one of the great minds of physics.

Asian, Public Figure, STEM, FirstsGWBB PodcastMay 20, 2020Quarantine, Chien-Shiung WuComment

Vicki Manalo Draves, The First Female Asian American Olympic Champion | Episode 100

For AAPI History Month we're talking about 1948 Olympic athlete Vicki Manalo Draves, who was the first American woman to win gold medals in both the 10 meter platform and three meter springboard events. Despite the prejudice and racism she experienced as the daughter of aFilipino father and British mother, Vicki powered through, trained her butt off, and became a badass record-breaking Olympic champion.

Public Figure, Asian, Firsts, SportsGWBB PodcastMay 7, 2020Quarantine, Vicki Manalo DravesComment

Susan La Flesche, First Native American Woman to Earn a Medical Degree | Episode 95

Warning! If you're not interested in historical content relevant to our current coronavirus outbreak, then maybe pass this one by. But if you're curious to hear about where the term "Typhoid Mary" originates, this is the episode for you. Mary Mallon was an Irish immigrant who got work as a cook in the kitchens of affluent American families in the late 1800's. At the time, typhoid fever was an illness caused by salmonella bacteria that affected primarily the poor - people living in unhygienic slums and close quarters. Mary became one of the first known asymptomatic carriers of a disease, who spread the disease everywhere she went, blissfully unaware of the danger of her presence.

Public Figure, Native American, Saints and Saviors, STEM, FirstsGWBB PodcastMarch 25, 2020Quarantine, Susan La FlescheComment

Dorothy Arzner, The First Female Member of the Director's Guild | Episode 93

Dorothy Arzner was a silent and sound film director in the late 20's and 30's, and has more directing credits than most female directors to this day. She was the first female member of the Directors Guild of America, she was the first person, man or woman, to have a credit as "Editor" in a film, she invented the boom microphone, and to top it off, and the list goes on. To make her legacy even more incredible, she was also an incredibly well-dressed butch lesbian woman. Dorothy Arzner paved the way for many of today's filmmakers, man and woman alike.

Public Figure, Artists, FirstsGWBB PodcastMarch 11, 2020Dorothy ArznerComment

Madam C.J. Walker, America's First Self-Made Black Millionaire | Episode 89

Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove on a sharecropping in the post-Civil War South. She found her entrepreneurial calling when she met Annie Turbo Malone and tried her revolutionary hair products. From there, Sarah married the well-connected C.J. Walker and became Madam C.J. Walker, the name with under she marketed her own revolutionary hair products for African American women. And her products remain on shelves to this day!

African American, Firsts, Public FigureGWBB PodcastFebruary 12, 2020Madam C.J. WalkerComment

Sana Amanat, The Modern Marvel Who is Reshaping Representation in Comics | Episode 73

Sana Amanat joined Marvel Comics in 2009 after working for two years at Virgin Comics, a short-lived indie publisher that folded in 2008, after having only just launched in 2006. Marvel saw something special in her, and for good reason - as the VP of Content and Character Development at Marvel, she launched Ms Marvel, one of their most popular series, and is systematically helping to update Marvel characters from misogynistic dreams to feminist heroes and icons. And she is nowhere near done.

Artists, Public Figure, FirstsGWBB PodcastAugust 21, 2019Sana AmanatComment

Margaret Cavendish, Philosopher, Writer, Creator of Science Fiction | Episode 71

Margaret Cavendish was known during her time as a duchess during the Reformation and Restoration as a shy, kooky philosopher with her head in the clouds. But the truth is, Margaret Cavendish is responsible for science fiction as we know it today, thanks to her philosophical novella about a woman who is whisked off to another dimension, where humans and animals co-exist in harmony under the rule of a benevolent empress, and airships cloud the sky. Margaret was deeply curious and devoted her life to writing, philosophy, and science, long before society stopped frowning on such activities. She was a seriously good witch who marched to the beat of her own damn drum!

Artists, Public Figure, Royals, FirstsGWBB PodcastAugust 14, 2019Margaret CavendishComment

The ENIAC Six: The Inventors of Computer Programming | Episode 70

During World War 2, scientists developed a machine called THE ENIAC that they thought might be able to take the burden of computing intricate ballistics computations off of the human "computers", usually women, hired for the task. The problem was, they needed someone to program the machine, and that had never been done before. Enter the ENIAC programmers - six women computers hired to take on the task of programming the very first machine computer. Little did they know the impact this job would have on society, and the pure fact that a group of six women quite literally invented computer programming was lost to history - until now. Their names are: Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Snyder Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Frances Bilas Spence, and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum.

The Transgender Spy of 18th Century France, Chevaliere d'Eon | Episode 64

The Chevaliere D'Eon was a woman in 18th century France (historically known as Chevalier d'Eon) who, born as a man, was a soldier, a lawyer, and a spy for King Louis XV for many years before publicly declaring herself a woman, which was accepted as truth by the public. She acquired feminist works and did swordplay demonstrations in her heavy dresses. She lived as a woman for thirty three years in post-revolutionary France.

Public Figure, LGBTQIA+, Military, Firsts, ArtistsGWBB PodcastJune 12, 2019Chevaliere d'Eon, Chevalier d'EonComment

Christine Jorgensen, the First American Transgender Celebrity | Episode 63

Christine Jorgensen was born George Jorgensen and the first American woman to undergo sex reassignment surgery. She went as far as Europe to receive confirmation from doctors there that her belief she was a woman was not a psychiatric disorder. She got it - and the surgery - and came back to the US a celebrity.

Public Figure, LGBTQIA+, Military, Firsts, ArtistsGWBB PodcastJune 5, 2019Christine JorgensenComment

Queen Liliʻuokalani: The First Queen and Last Regent of Hawai'i | Episode 61

Queen Lili was the first queen to rule Hawai’i alone - she also happened to be Hawai’i's last monarch before the US stole the country from the Native Hawaiians in a violent and illegal coup, and annexed it as a territory and later state of the US. She was a songwriter and a pacifist and though she did not have much time on the throne, she was and continues to be beloved by her people.

Public Figure, Firsts, Royals, Politics, AsianGWBB PodcastMay 22, 2019Lili'UokalaniComment

Asian-American Women Take Flight: Katherine Cheung and Hazel Ying Lee | Episode 60

Anna May Wong is considered Hollywood's first Asian American movie star. Despite being forced to portray racist roles in the films Hollywood was peddling at the time, Anna was persistent about pursuing roles that could satiate her desire to play three dimensional Asian characters on the screen, traveling across Europe and China in an effort to find herself and roles she might actually enjoy playing. Anna May Wong was and is an inspiration to some of the best actresses and filmmakers working today, including Lucy Liu, who received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to Anna May Wong's on May 1, 2019, making her the second Asian actor on the Walk.