Throughout history, women's achievements have often been downplayed or overlooked.

As part of WPLN's efforts to empower women, we aim to recognize the women who came before us.

Here's what women in the past accomplished throughout history during the month of October:

• OCTOBER 24, 1830: Belva Lockwood is born on this day; she was the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court, and she ran for president of the United States in 1884 and 1888 (technically making her the first woman to run for president, since Victoria Woodhull was under the constitutionally mandated age of 35).
• OCTOBER 23, 1850: The First National Woman's Rights Convention is held on this day in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts.
• OCTOBER 2, 1895: Ruth Cheney Streeter is born on this day in 1895; she would later become the first director of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve (USMCWR) and the first woman to attain the rank of major in the United States Marine Corps.
• OCTOBER 11, 1984: Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first U.S. woman astronaut to “walk” in space on this day in 1984 during the Challenger flight.
• OCTOBER 8, 1993: Toni Morrison became the first Black American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature on this day in 1993.

Check out WPLN's October 2024 newsletter!