Famous for her Progressive Era exposes, journalist Elizabeth Seaman Cochrane wrote under the name of Nellie Bly. Struggling to find work as a writer to support herself and her mother and siblings, she read an article in the Pittsburgh Dispatch called "What Girls Are Good For" which dismissed the qualifications of women workers. She wrote an angry letter to the editor as a response, signing it "Lonely Orphan Girl" -- and the editor thought enough of her writing to offer her an opportunity to write for the paper. Read more:

• Nellie Bly

March is celebrated in the United States and in some other countries as Women's History Day. International Women's Day is also celebrated in March; Canada celebrates Women's History Day in October.

Why not share some ideas about what you've done in the past, or ideas you have for honoring women's history, so that others might be inspired by your idea? Whether it's a simple project like reading a relevant story to your child or baking a cake to take to work, or a more complicated project like organizing a luncheon or getting a speaker, here's a way that you can share your story with others:

• Celebrating Women's History Month (or International Women's Day)

You may have heard of Zora Neale Hurston or Bessie Smith -- but do you know of Georgia Douglas Johnson? Augusta Savage? Nella Larsen? These -- and dozens more -- were women of the Harlem Renaissance.

• African American Women Dreaming in Color
• List and Biographies: Women of the Harlem Renaissance
• Timeline: African American History and Women, 1920s

As late as the 1960s, women's rights advocates were still fighting to end sex discrimination in jury selection. Ending sex discrimination in jury selection was an important goal of second-wave feminists. Read more about this issue: Ending Sex Discrimination in Jury Selection

Diane Arbus was known for her photographs of unusual subjects, those society considered outcasts or abnormal. She had a very successful career as a fashion photographer before moving on to focus on what she called "the losers of the world." Her life was cut short at age 48 when she committed suicide. Read more: Diane Arbus | Diane Arbus Quotes

February is Black History Month, and this week's Wordless Wednesday image is of one of the best-known women of the civil rights movement.

Related articles:

• About This Picture

More Wordless Wednesday:

• Wordless Wednesday - Women's History in Pictures
• Wordless Wednesday around About.com
• See more Wordless Wednesday images on the Net

More About Rosa Parks:

• Rosa Parks
• Rosa Parks Quotes
• Rosa Parks Being Fingerprinted 1956
• Rosa Parks on Montgomery Bus
• Rosa Parks Picture - 1964

This week's special quote collections include three African American women writers whose perspective on race inspired both black and white Americans.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Quotes (1825-1911)
Gwendolyn Brooks Quotes (1917-2000)
Lorraine Hansberry Quotes (1930-1965)

Oprah Winfrey, born January 29, 1954, has been in the news this week, with a story about a newly-discovered half-sister. Oprah lived on her grandmother's farm until she was six, then until fourteen with her mother in Milwaukee, then in Nashville with her father. Oprah Winfrey, with her Harpo Productions and The Oprah Winfrey Show, became the first African American woman to be a billionaire. She's ending her show after this year, and focusing business efforts on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Read more about Oprah Winfrey: Oprah Winfrey.

Picture: Getty Images / Jason Merritt

Christa McAuliffe was a civilian mission specialist aboard the Challenger Space Shuttle, and died with the rest of the seven member crew when Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986. Read more: Christa McAuliffe - Teacher in Space

Picture courtesy of NASA

On January 28, 1960, Zora Neale Hurston died in poverty and obscurity. It took Alice Walker's interest to help new generations discover this folklorist and writer of the Harlem Renaissance: Zora Neale Hurston