Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825-1921)

Antoinette Louisa Brown, later Antoinette Brown Blackwell, was the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the United States. She was a well-versed public speaker on the paramount issues of her time and distinguished herself from her contemporaries with her use of religious faith in her efforts to expand women's rights. She was also known for her science based refutation of Darwin's gender bias in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex with her book The Sexes Throughout Nature.