Feminism - Lighting the Way, Historic Women of the SouthCoast

Photograph Of Laurina Andrade - An Older Woman With Her Dark Hair Pulled Back. She Is Wearing A White Shirt And A Jacket, And Holding A Pair Of Glasses.

Laurinda C. Andrade

From immigrant textile mill worker to Ivy League student to pioneering New Bedford educator, Laurinda C. Andrade (1899-1980) overcame barriers of tradition, poverty, language, and discrimination to establish the first high school Portuguese language department in the United States at New Bedford High School.

Harriet Jacobs

Writer, abolitionist and educator, Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897) is the only African American woman known to have left writing documenting her enslavement.

Mary Rotch

A leading intellectual and deep religious thinker, Mary Rotch (1777-1848) remained true to her belief in the Light Within.

Rosetta Douglass

Abolitionist and social reformer Rosetta Douglass (1839-1906) continued a family legacy of activism that began in New Bedford with her father, Frederick Douglass.

Cecil Clark Davis

Her portraits won prestigious awards, her travels included battlegrounds, and her feminism was pervasive.