Pride Month is a time to honor the achievements and contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals who have made a lasting impact in various fields. Here are only a handful of LGBTQ+ figures in STEM fields that made history that teachers can share in their classrooms.
Jane Addams
Jane Addams was a progressive social reformer and activist, being on the frontlines of the settlement house movements, became the first woman president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, was an officer in the women’s suffrage movement, headed the Women’s Peace Party, and help found the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. For all of her efforts and change, Addams was the first American Woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
Read more about Jane Addams here: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/jane-addams
Frank Kameny
Frank Kameny was a soldier in World War 2, afterwards taking advantage of the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) to graduate from Harvard University with a PhD in Astronomy. With his PhD, Kameny traveled across America, teaching at various colleges and universities, before eventually being hired by the Army Map Service to create astronomical maps. Facing discrimination due to his sexuality, Kameny became an LGBTQ+ activist, helping found the Mattachine Society, served as a paralegal in discrimination cases, influencing gay Americans rights in the military, and revoked homosexuality’s classification as a mental illness. Read more about Frank Kameny here: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/frank-kameny-wwii-veteran-patriot-and-lgbtq-activist
Lynn Conway
Lynn Conway revolutionized microchip design while being a trailblazer for transgender rights. Conway has been called the hidden hand in the 1970s chip design movement that made today’s consumer electronics and personal computing devices possible. Early in her life, Conway was one of the first Americans to undergo a modern gender transition, becoming an outspoken advocate for transgender rights in women in STEM fields. She held five U.S. patents and honorary doctorates and was a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Read more about Lynn Conway here: https://news.engin.umich.edu/2024/06/the-legacy-of-lynn-conway-chip-design-pioneer-and-transgender-rights-advocate/
Sara Josephine Baker
Dr. S. Josephine Baker expanded the scope of public health care as the first director of New York’s Bureau of Child Hygiene from 1908 to 1923. In 1917, she became the first woman to earn a doctorate in public health from the New York University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College. In 1907, Dr. Baker was made assistant commissioner of health, working on a number of high-profile health issues including smallpox vaccination. Within a year, Dr. Baker was appointed director of the city’s new Bureau of Child Hygiene, where she developed programs for midwife training, basic hygiene, and preventive care. By the time Baker retired in 1923, New York City had the lowest infant mortality rate of any major American city.
Read more about Dr. S Josephine Baker here: https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_19.html
What other Pride Figure that you look up to in a STEM field? Let us know in the comments!
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