A little girl from Oklahoma dared to dream big. Young Betsy Herring was an energetic tomboy and such a whizz in school, her second-grade teacher looked her in the eyes and said, “When you grow up, if you really want to, you can do something.”
Elizabeth Warren won a debate scholarship to Georgetown University, became a professor at Harvard Law School, and worked to reform Wall Street to save middle class families from bankruptcy. She went on to became the first female senator from Massachusetts and a presidential candidate with a plan for everything. What does it take to run for president? Fame, money, hard work, but most of all, a willingness to fight for what you believe in.
Florence Price's was the first African American female composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra in the US. In fact, she composed over 300 compositions. Born in Little Rock in 1887, Florence was only three when she began piano lessons with her mother. By age 18, she had earned two degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music. To pursue her career as a composer, Florence faced a daunting battle on three fronts: she was an American, she was a woman, and she was Black. By combining elements of Classical music with African American folk songs, dance rhythms, spirituals, and jazz, Florence Price’s music bursts onto the concert stage as truly American and uniquely her own.
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When Clara was just 19, her dad plotted to separate her from her boyfriend, Robert. He sent her away to distant Paris to arrange and perform her concerts all on her own. He expected her to fail, but Clara did just fine. In fact, she became the most famous female pianist of the nineteenth century, performing her own compositions. Eventually, she got to marry Robert, but only after taking her own father to court. Do you ever wonder why pianist play from memory? Clara was the first to do it. Read on. Clara will surprise you.
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