[mrgoldenbrown]

>to imply that these women should not have been forgotten because of their race and gender seems silly to me. we don't generally remember people because of their race or their gender, we remember people primarily for unique/influential/pivotal actions.

That is not what science and history tell us. It may be what folks want to believe, especially folks who like to think they live in a meritocracy. Both history and science show that men get more credit than women, for example. Professors get higher ratings from students, job applicants get more callbacks and higher offers, researchers get more papers accepted by journals, etc. All have been the subject of recent studies showing that, a given resume, paper, or performance will get better outcomes if it's attached to a male name rather than female.