Frustrated with the underrepresentation of female figures in history, SPARK, an activist organisation for girls aged 13 to 22, has created a new app to put women’s achievements back on the map. Literally.
Women On The Map has plotted the campaigns, successes and significant findings of historical figures all over the world (28 countries so far and counting), and will send you a notification each time you pass through an area of note.
‘It connects women’s stories to specific landmarks, so that wherever you are in the world, you could get an alert on your phone saying “hey, did you know that a woman once did a really cool thing right nearby?” SPARK executive director Dana Edell told Time.
The app has been created with the help of Google, after SPARK initially contacted the search engine’s HQ to complain about the lack of women celebrated by its famous doodles.
Google invited SPARK to join its mapping app Field Trip, and the rest as they say, is the ongoing celebration of awesome women in history.
The app is currently focusing on the stories of incredible women often neglected by history books, but plans to include as many accounts of female heroism as possible.
‘We didn’t want to start with women who everyone had heard of,’ explains Dana. ‘We want the project to expand what it means to be part of history, so that girls, boys and people of all ages can see that the world was created by more than just white men.’
You can also nominate a woman yourself, by sending a 300 word piece to firstname.lastname@example.org, describing why you believe the figure should be included, and how she influenced those around her.
Pic: Members of the WRAC (Women's Royal Army Corps) make Christmas pudding for 800 people at the WRAC Depot, Guildford, Surrey; December 1957