Ms. Magazine | We've Got You Covered | Spring 2013

Ms. Magazine | We've Got You Covered | Spring 2013: This early incident foreshadowed McCormick’s lifelong commitment to women’s equality: She became a pioneering feminist philanthropist, singlehandedly funding the research and development of the birth-control pill. And she wasn’t the only woman of her time opening her purse for women’s rights. A century ago, women of means with a political or social-improvement agenda often put their money where their mouths were. Whether their wealth came through inheritance, business success or divorce settlements, women philanthropists played important roles in shaping America’s reform movements in education, health, welfare and, especially, women’s voting rights.