Giving Compass' Take:

• These women have made massive strides in the field of education. 

• What is the best way to honor their legacy? How can philanthropy support girls and women through education? 

• Find out how to narrow the gender wage gap and create opportunity for women.

These women educated black students after the Civil War, took in millions of immigrants despite anti-newcomer sentiments, and advocated for women’s right to higher education when major universities shut them out.

Many female teachers have altered the lives of millions of students, but history has hardly remembered their names. That’s why, in honor of National Women’s History Month, The 74 created a special series profiling women who helped change the face of U.S. education.

“There are hundreds of thousands of women in education who have made a huge difference for American children and adults who will never get named,” said Ann Marie Ryan, associate professor of education at Loyola University Chicago.

We couldn’t tell all their stories in one month. But here are five trailblazing educators we think you should meet:

  1. Patsy Mink, Title IX Champion
  2. Ella Flagg Young, First Female Superintendent
  3. Fanny Jackson Coppin, Post-Civil War Champion of Black Students
  4. Lucy Wheelock, Kindergarten’s Hero
  5. Catholic Nuns, Educators of the Marginalized

Read more about each of these trailblazing and inspirational women by Kate Stringer at The 74