Standing on Her Shoulders

Standing On Her Shoulders A Celebration of Women

BY MONI CA CLARK- RO BINSON

ART BY LAURA FREEMAN

To those who came before me: Phyllis, Kathleen, Verna Pearl, Ruth, Dolly, and Lena And to those who came after me: Madeleine and Beatrice — M.C.R. For my Angels, Jacqui and Roberta — L.F. Laura Freeman’s illustrations were rendered digitally. ! e book was typeset in Adobe Caslon Pro, which was designed by Carol Twombly in 1990–a revival of letterforms originally drawn by William Caslon. Book design by Brian LaRossa. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Text copyright © 2021 by Monica Clark-Robinson. Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Laura Freeman. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. Made in North Point, Hong Kong. 137 ISBN-13: 978-1-338-75294-6 ISBN-10: 1-338-75294-4 SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012

Standing On Her Shoulders

A Celebration of Women

BY MONI CA CLARK- RO BINSON ART BY LAURA FREEMAN

SCHOLASTIC INC.

Come sit with us, child, we have stories to tell. Listen closely. You come from a deep, deep well. Our mothers and all those who’ve gone before, paved a freer path and opened a wider door.

There’s surely still plenty of work to do, but there’s much to learn from what they went through.

For we are standing on the shoulders of the strong, smart, sage, and soulful ones who have gone before us.

Think of the one who mothers you. She’s with you, even when you are apart. You are forever a piece of her heart. Speak her name. And the ones who came before her, generations strong. Their words sing of grit and love — your family song.

You are standing on their shoulders.

Think of the legends whose lives made way for yours. Though years have passed, each story, each name endures. When you speak their names, they live on in YOU. You are standing on their shoulders, too. 12

Freedom seekers, truth speakers, fierce women, brave and wise, justice burning in their eyes.

Warriors in the fight, marching for their right, believing in a day when women would have a say. 17

Champions of equality, challengers of authority, peaceful freedom fighters, brave and bold bus riders.

Magic-believers, dream weavers. Revolutionary minds, their works echoing through time.

Leaders of a new team, dreamers of a new dream, women fighting for their right, athletes of grace and might. Speak their names.

Keen and curious explorers, refusing to take orders. Women who dared to defy, showing girls another way to f ly.

We are standing on their shoulders.

When we remember them and speak their names, we respect the struggles they overcame.

We are grateful for the freedoms they’ve given. We stand on the shoulders of powerful women. Women who were little once . . .

Just like you.

When we speak, whisper, sing, and shout their names, we honor their lives and the rights we gained. We are ALL standing on their shoulders.

Who will stand on YOURS?

A THLETE

Serena Williams !"#! – is a professional tennis player who has won dozens of Grand Slam titles and four Olympic gold medals.

Megan Rapinoe !"#+ – is a professional soccer player and the co-captain of the gold medal–winning United States Women’s National Team.

Simone Biles !"") – holds the record for the most combined World and Olympic medals in gymnastics. She is currently America’s most decorated gymnast.

A THLETE

A RTIST

Chloe Kim $%%% – became the youngest woman to win an Olympic gold medal in snowboarding, at age seventeen. She currently holds the World Championship title in the half-pipe category.

Mary Cassatt !#&& – !"$' was an Impressionist painter famous for painting intimate portraits of the bond between mother and child.

F rida Kahlo !"%) – !"+& was a Mexican painter known for un * inching self-portraits, including works painted after accidents that caused her great pain.

A RTIST

P OLITICIAN

Georgia O ’K EE F F E !##) – !"#' was a celebrated Modernist artist who painted the world around her, from desert * owers to city skylines.

Faith Ringgold !"(% – is an artist, civil rights activist, and author, best known for presenting stories through quilted works of art.

Hillary Clinton !"&) – has held several US public roles, including First Lady, US senator, and secretary of state. In 2016, she became the , rst woman to win the popular vote in a presidential election.

P OLITICIAN

A CTIVIST

Deb Haaland !"'% – is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna and one of the , rst two Native American women elected to the US Congress.

Shirley Chisholm !"$& – $%%+ was the daughter of West Indian immigrants and the , rst African American woman elected to the US Congress. In 1972, she was the , rst Black candidate to run for a major party’s nomination in the presidential election.

Fannie Lou Hamer !"!) – !")) was a civil rights and voting rights activist and an outspoken founding member of several civil rights organizations.

A CTIVIST

Rosa Parks !"!( – $%%+ was a civil rights activist famous for her strategic refusal to give up a bus seat in the “whites only” area of a city bus, spurring the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Mary Church Terrell !#'( – !"+& was one of the , rst Black women to earn a college degree. She was a su - ragist and a founding member of the NAACP.

Jane Addams !#'% – !"(+ was an activist and social worker who co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union. She was the , rst American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

A CTIVIST

E DUCATOR

Harriet Tubman !#$$ – !"!( was a former enslaved woman who led 70 enslaved people to freedom as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She also led raids that freed more than 700 enslaved people during the Civil War.

Sojourner T ruth !)") – !##( was an orator, abolitionist, and su - ragist who gave a famous speech titled “Ain’t I a Woman” at a women’s rights conference in Ohio.

Septima Poinsette Clark !#"# – !"#) was an activist and educator who created “citizenship schools,” helping hundreds of thousands of Black citizens in the South learn to read and become legal voters.

A UTHOR

Maya Angelou !"$# – $%!& was a poet, author, and performer, most famous for her autobiography I KnowWhy the Caged Bird Sings.

Zora Neale Hurston !#"! – !"'% was an anthropologist and author who wrote about the African American experience. Her most famous novel was ! eir Eyes Were Watching God.

Louisa May Alcott !#($ – !### was an abolitionist, feminist, and author. She wrote twenty novels, including the beloved Little Women series.

E XPLORER

Sacajawea !)## – !##& was a Lemhi Shoshone woman who was captured as a young girl and forced to marry a French-Canadian man. Later, she famously accompanied Lewis and Clark on their westward expedition as an interpreter and guide, carrying her young son the entire time.

Bessie Coleman !#"$ – !"$' was an airplane pilot who was both the , rst African American and Native American woman to hold a pilot’s license.

Nellie Bly !#'& – !"$$ was a journalist who pioneered an investigative type of reporting, most famously taking a record-breaking solo trip around the world in 1889.

S CIENTIST

Y nés Mexia !#)% – !"(# was a Mexican American explorer and botanist who traveled the world cataloguing plants, including 500 new species.

Harriet Chalmers Adams !#)+ – !"() was an explorer and journalist who traveled the world extensively and wrote about her explorations for National Geographic.

Author’s Note When I was preparing for the birth of my second daughter, a wise woman friend of mine told me to imagine the expanding circles of women behind me, supporting me. I imagined my friends, my elders, and my ancestors. I imagined the famous women throughout history who broke through walls and changed the world. I imagined, too, the daughter who would soon be born. This image of that unbroken chain is what f irst inspired Standing On Her Shoulders . Though we still have far to go in our efforts at true equality, how very far we have come! The freedoms we enjoy today were hard-won by those in the past. They may not have been perfect, but they were the f ierce warriors we needed. Remembering their lives and speaking their names is the least we can do to honor their legacy. One of my goals as a woman, mother, and writer is to be a strong set of shoulders for the future to stand on. Together, we are stronger and smarter and braver and kinder than any one of us is alone. We are what the world needs. You are exactly what our future needs. Author’s Acknowledgments As always, I rely on the brilliant women of my critique group, especially my dear Heather and Amelia. I’m grateful for the support of my family — My parents, Greg, Maddie, Bee, and Josh, among others. Thanks for believing in me.

Illustrator’s Note It was an honor to be asked to illustrate Standing On Her Shoulders . It was a long time in the making, but I loved this beautifully written manuscript as soon as I read it. One of the best things about this wonderful job that I do is that I am constantly learning new things. As the editors suggested women to include in my illustrations, I found myself researching and learning more about some of the inspirational women I already knew of and meeting some really amazing women from history I had never even heard of ! I hope this book inspires kids to do their own research and learn more about these women, especially those not so widely known, women like Mary Church Terrell and Ynés Mexia. I thought I was familiar with Maya Angelou’s work, but before starting on this book, I had no idea that she used to be a dancer. I love f inding out things like that! My pictures tell the story from the perspective of three generations of a small family who pass women’s history (along with the history of their own family) down to their daughters. I hope it inspires you to do the same.

Illustrator’s Acknowledgments Thank you to all the women on whose shoulders I’ve stood. It’s because of you that I’ve realized my dreams.

Thanks also to my wonderful agent, Natalie Lakosil, and both of the terrif ic Scholastic editors who worked on this book, Orli Zuravicky and Katie Heit.

We are all Standing On THeir Shoulders. Who will stand on yours?

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