Great Heroes

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Sarah Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca was the daughter of the Chief of the Paiutes tribe, who became a writer and educator who advocated for Native rights, and in the 1870s served as an army scout and an interpreter, and even spoke with President Rutherford B. Hayes, though promises he made to her tribe were never honored. In 1883, she published Life Among the Piutes [sic] in which she called out white people for their own savagery, reappropriating the term often used toward Natives. She also spoke out against sexual assault and corrupt government policy, speaking on the lecture circuit and becoming a prominent and outspoken advocate for Native peoples.

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Johan van Hulst

 

In 1942 and 1943, Dutch educator Johan van Hulst arranged for the transport of some very precious cargo. It was passed over a hedge, hidden in basket and sacks, and then whisked out of Amsterdam by bicycle. The cargo wasn’t food or supplies: It was Jewish children, smuggled and saved by van Hulst and his colleagues during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

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Miep Gies

Anne Frank didn’t hide herself. Hermine “Miep” Santruschitz Gies is the woman who helped protect her and her family from the Nazis for over two years during World War II. She is also the woman responsible for saving Anne’s diary after the Franks were arrested.

 

“Permanent remorse about failing to do your human duty, in my opinion, is worse than losing your life.” — Miep Gies

Edited September 18, 2020 by moment

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Malala Yousafzai

When she was still a young girl, Malala stood up against the Taliban in Pakistan, insisting that girls be allowed to receive an education. In 2012, she survived a shot to the head by a Taliban gunman and went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights advocacy work.

 

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” — Malala Yousafzai