Maria Stewart was the earliest known American woman to lecture in public on political themes and leave http://www.answers.com/topic/extant copies of her texts.
Maria Gomez was a wonderful woman and she helped the people of El Salvador. She taught them to read and write . She help with everything really a total heroin in my books.
She's best know for her philosophy and the Montessori method of education, which is an alternate educational method for children. It's used a lot today all around the world.