Harriet Chalmers Adams

Harriet Chalmers Adams (1875–1937) was a renowned American adventurer who traveled over 100,000 miles — at a time when most women were not exactly encouraged to leave the living room. She photographed and wrote about every single mile of it, captivating audiences worldwide through publications like National Geographic, the New York Times, and Harper's.

If that wasn't enough, Harriet also worked as a war correspondent during WWI — and was the only female journalist permitted to visit the trenches. The only one. While everyone else was told "no," Harriet apparently smiled, picked up her camera, and walked straight in. We don't know exactly how she pulled that off, but we have a feeling it involved a very convincing argument and excellent posture.

Here's the part that really gets us though: after blazing every trail she could find, Harriet turned around and held the door open. In 1925 she co-founded the Society of Woman Geographers — because what's the point of getting somewhere first if you don't help the next woman find her way too?