Women and Adversity

Women and Adversity 2025, Welcome!

WELCOME TO WOMEN AND ADVERSITY . I began writing this blog in 2014 and have never failed to find women who have overcome obstacles and, as a result, have influenced other women to overcome their o ...

Women and Adversity: Margaret E. Knight   ‘Woman Edison’ Inventor of Machines My second December repeat post is of Margaret “Mattie” Eloise Knight. She is quoted as saying, “I’m only sorry I couldn’t have had as good a chance as a boy.” Knight wasn’t like the average girl who played with dolls and wanted to be a wife and mother. Her world revolved around tools and machines. She was born in 1838 and at age 12, invented a safety device that prevented the shuttle from falling off a loom. She couldn’t patent her invention because she was too young to get a patent. Flat-bottom bags are part of our shopping experience and most of us, I’m sure, have never questioned how they were invented. Look back to Knight, who wanted to find a way to make bags easier to fold. In 1867, while working at The Columbia Paper Bag Company in Springfield, Massachusetts, she saw the machine had problems, so she invented a machine that cut, glued and folded a bag so its bottom was flat. There’s more to the story. She made a wooden model and asked machine shop worker Charles Annan to make an iron model of her design. He stole her design and had it patented. She filed a lawsuit against him and got the patent in 1871.  She and a partner then established the Eastern Paper Bag Company, acquired two more patents that made the production more efficient and then mass-produced paper bags. The machine is displayed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Among her other inventions: 1883 –  dress and skirt shield 1884 – clasp for robes 1885 – barbeque spit for cooking meats 1890 – shoe cutting machines 1894 – window frame and sash  Bio: Born February 14, 1838, in York, Maine When her father died, the family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire 1850 – Left school and began working 1867 – Moved to Springfield, Massachusetts and worked at Columbia Paper Bag Company 1880s-1890s – focused on inventing household items 2006 – Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame Knight never married. She died on October 12, 1914 at the age of 76. More information: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-lgR2EHUc biographies.framinghamhistory.org/margaret-e-knight www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/margaret-e-knight My ebooks are available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com: Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists    

Women and Adversity: Margaret E. Knight   ‘Woman Edison’ Inventor of Machines My second December repeat post is of Margaret “Mattie” Eloise Knight. She is quoted as saying, “I’m onl ...

Women and Adversity: Lorraine Hansberry, Lesbian, Playwright, Civil Rights Activist

Women and Adversity: Lorraine Hansberry  Lesbian, Playwright, Civil Rights Activist  In December I always repeat a post I think people will appreciate reading about again. Since I'm from the ...

Women and Adversity: Marlena Fejzo, Ph.D., Geneticist, One of Time’s 2024 Women of the Year

Women and Adversity Marlena Fejzo, Ph.D. Geneticist One of Time’s 2024 Women of the Year   Pregnant women can thank Marlena Fejzo (Fay⸍zō), Ph.D. for connecting their extreme nausea an ...

Women and Adversity: Janet Murguía One of Forbes 50 Over 50 President and CEO of UnidosUS

Janet Murguía President and CEO UnidosUS Janet Murguía became president and CEO of UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza, on January 1, 2005. It is the largest civil rights advocacy ...

Jacqueline “Jacqui” Patterson: A 2024 Time Woman of the Year; Received Time 2024 Earth Award

Jacqueline “Jacqui” Patterson 2024 Time Woman of the Year Time 2024 Earth Award Climate justice activist Jacqueline “Jacqui” Patterson receives dozens of accolades for her dedication to h ...

Women and Adversity: Greta Gerwig Director of Barbie

Women and Adversity: Greta Gerwig Director of Barbie Growing up I was never into dolls, although I had some, so when the movie Barbie came out, I didn’t run to the theatre even though Greta Ger ...

Women and Adversity: Ada Limón U.S. Poet Laureate

Women and Adversity: Ada Limón U.S. Poet Laureate I thought I would feature Ada Limón, the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate, to highlight National Poetry Day, which this year is October 3. Poetry is ...

Women and Adversity: Roberta “Bobbi” Cordano, President of Gallaudet University

Women and Adversity: Roberta “Bobbi” Cordano President of Gallaudet University I’ve reached into the 21st century to feature women changing people’s lives today, and I discovered Roberta ...

Women and Adversity: Elizabeth Magie Phillips Inventor of Monopoly Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie was that rare woman in the 1800s who believed women could achieve as much as men even though they d ...