The History Chicks : A Women's History Podcast

Gertrude Jekyll could turn her hand to anything; deeply involved with the Arts and Crafts movement, she mastered dozens of specialties in her quest to explore the relationship between human lives and their environments. As her eyesight failed, she turned to large scale endeavors, and changed how the world thought about gardens; turning them from formal displays into living, breathing works of art. She used color, texture, and shape like a painter on a large, ever-changing canvas. Gertrude’s innovations within her finished gardens - and decades of written work - made her an inspiration for generations of gardeners and landscape architects. And she became one of the most influential garden designers of all time.

In this revisit from 2019, we wonder: was Annie Londonderry a flim-flam artist or a true pioneer? Maybe both? Her trip around the world on a bicycle may have been controversial - but she was always up for both an adventure and a tall tale. For information and to register for the recently opened spots on our upcoming (as in early October, 2026, it's coming up fast) Field Trip to Italy, or any of our upcoming Field Trips, visit ⁠Like Minds Travel!⁠ For links and codes to all our generous advertisers, please visit our website, ⁠TheHistoryChicks.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Hall wanted to be a diplomat, but the State Department kept shutting doors in her face …and then she lost her leg in a hunting accident, which seemed like she’d reached a dead end. Never one to accept defeat, she learned how to walk again on a wooden leg nicknamed “Cuthbert,” and headed straight into the world of espionage. Once she got to France, she ran circles around the Nazi intelligence services during WW2. The Gestapo actually called her “the most dangerous Allied agent in France”; her actions, and those of her compatriots, changed the course of the war.

Rosa Bonheur was a wild, animal‑obsessed kid who drew before she could read, and knew she was meant for the world of art from an extremely young age. She didn’t set out to shock anyone; she simply refused to be anything but herself, and the world eventually had to adjust to her. She famously wore trousers (with official police permission) so that she could study horses in stockyards and slaughterhouses, and in order to to venture up rugged mountain ranges to collect more inspiration. She turned that dedication to pure research into some of the most influential paintings of her time.

Mercy Otis Warren’s life is one long argument for the idea that political courage isn’t just found on battlefields or in legislatures; it’s found in writing, in conversations, in friendships, and in the willingness to speak plainly (and loudly) when power grows dangerous. She believed deeply that liberty required constant vigilance, and that ordinary people, especially women, have a role to play in creating the nation’s conscience.