Two hundred and fifty years ago, a nation came into being… Will we remember the “founding feminists” who planted these democratic seeds?

Intro essay by Janell Hobson
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Nettrice Gaskins, “Founding Feminists” (2026)

FEMINIST 250: Founding Feminists is an online initiative from Ms. reflecting on the semiquincentennial of U.S. democracy from a feminist perspective, launched during Women’s History Month on March 2, and continuing through April 16, with a commemorative section in the Summer 2026 print issue. The series explores how feminist histories laid the foundations that shaped 250 years of ideas about equality, freedom and social justice.

Support feminist journalism—the heart of democracy, now and for the next 250 years. Donate to Ms. magazine today.

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When faced with acknowledging histories of women whose very existence were impossible (our own included), we must endeavor to create a world in which such lives (even those already lived) are possible indeed.

Dana Elle Murphy

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Women as life givers, like Sky Woman, are the foundation to nurturing a healthy world.

Michelle Schenandoah

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Abolition democracy bequeathed a legacy of activism to modern American feminism. It is a legacy inextricably linking race with gender, in the political sphere and beyond.

Manisha Sinha

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From the very beginning, the struggle over liberty has included people who lived at the edges of gender and sexual norms.

Jen Manion

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The lesson for our own moment is not one of reverence, but of responsibility. The American Revolution is an unfinished project.

Charles Upchurch

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Black women made clear, daily, that remaining in bondage was not their preferred state.

Vanessa M. Holden

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Fifty years from now
Mother Earth’s wounds start to heal
Our world unites

Hillary Graham

Fifty years from now
Renewable energies
Flow freely for all

Bella Roth

Fifty years from now
Violence will not exist
Deep wounds start to heal

Daiyi Chen

Fifty years from now
Women redefine themselves
Boundaries fade out

Xiaowen Tan

Fifty years from now
Sisters strong, healthier, more
Power held in hand

Yanru Yang

Fifty years from now
Feminists are ev’rywhere
Democracy blooms

B.F. Free

Fifty years from now
Woman’s voice rings through the sky
Peace flows like water

Alyssa Prather

Fifty years from now
Women mend the shattered world
Justice walks their way

Raneem Afifi

Fifty years from now
Peace unfolds across the land
Oppression is dead

J.H.

Fifty years from now
We’ll achieve equity with
Tubman’s face on gold

Corell Jones

Fifty years from now
we sisters sow joy, futures
devour rotting pasts

Joey Lusk

Fifty winters white
cold endings melt, drip green spring
Sisters sip, bloom time

Joey Lusk

The haiku is a poem that originated within Japanese culture and is arranged in three lines (five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five syllables in the third). Originally written to celebrate nature and the seasons, haiku poems have since expanded to other subjects.

As part of Founding Feminists, we invite you to imagine the past, and the future, through this form. Reflect on the women and gender-nonconforming people who shaped the nation’s democratic foundations, or begin with our opening line, “Fifty years from now…” to envision what freedom and equality might look like in the next chapter of this ongoing experiment.

Submissions will be moderated for appropriate language and proper formatting.

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  • On the Issues with Michele Goodwin

    Founding Feminists: 250 Years of an Unfinished Revolution (With Janell Hobson)

    In this episode:

    Two hundred and fifty years ago, a small group of men declared that “all men are created equal,” casting a vision of liberty that has shaped the American imagination ever since. But even… Read more