Ladies for Liberty: Women Who Made a Difference in American History

“There is nothing unusual about success. I only carried out my
idea. Too many people fail because they are afraid of other peo-
ple’s opinions. This is especially true of women. The only thing to
do is go ahead.”—Bina West Miller, quoted on the website of the
Woman’s Life Insurance Society.

Bina West was seething. The young teacher from rural Michigan had been full of hope for two promising students, a sister and brother. Tragically, their mother had died and their father was forced to split them up and place them with foster families in separate cities. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, Bina had just learnt that the children’s new families had sent them out to work. The girl had been hired out as a domestic servant while the boy would be cleaning out livery stables. Their education was over. Bina was struck by the sheer injustice of their situation. If their father had died, the family would still have been together and the children in school, simply because he enjoyed life insurance

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