Name: Anna Howard Shaw
Era: 1847-1919
Known for: Becoming the first ordained woman in the Methodist church and being a women’s suffrage leader in the U.S.
Badassery: Anna knew her stuff and went before the Methodists to be ordained, only to be rejected because she was a woman. After appearing before several committees—the Methodists even had them back then-- Anna’s exam scores were the best out of everyone.
The ordination committee, not liking this, told her to get out of the church, but Anna refused. When she transferred to another branch of Methodism and went up for ordination again, Anna outwitted the committee when they misused Paul’s words to try to keep women out. She stayed in the Methodist Episcopal Church and refused to attend any of their annual meetings. In Anna’s words, “So that’s how I was ordained. It wasn’t very glorious…it was rather like sneaking into the ministry by the back door. But if they won’t open the front door to you, what else can you do?”