Discover the Women of the Hall

These are the Inductees of the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Select any of the women to discover their stories and learn how they have influenced other women and this country.

Achievements Year Born Where Born Year Inducted Last Name
Year Born: to
Birth State or Country: or
Year Inducted: to
First Letter of Last Name: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Inductee Name Achievements Born Where Born Inducted More

Antonia Novello Government, Science 1944 Puerto Rico 1994

Antonia Novello

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1944 -
Born In: Puerto Rico
Achievements: Government, Science

First woman and first Hispanic to be named Surgeon General of the United States. A pediatrician, Novello has used her position to alleviate suffering worldwide, especially for women and children.


Wilma Rudolph Athletics 1940 Tennessee 1994

Wilma Rudolph

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1940 - 1994
Born In: Tennessee
Achievements: Athletics

First American woman ever to win three gold medals in the Olympics. A track and field champion, Rudolph elevated women’s track to a major presence in the United States. She created the Wilma Rudolph Foundation to help train young athletes.


Ella Baker Humanities 1903 Virginia 1994

Ella Baker

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1903 - 1986
Born In: Virginia
Achievements: Humanities

Premier behind-the-scenes organizer and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), headed by Martin Luther King, Jr. Baker also helped establish the civil rights movement’s foremost student organization, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.


Maria Mitchell Science 1818 Massachusetts 1994

Maria Mitchell

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1818 - 1889
Born In: Massachusetts
Achievements: Science

An astronomer who discovered a new comet in 1847, Maria Mitchell was the first woman named to membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She was also a founder of the Association for the Advancement of Women.


Bella Abzug Government 1920 New York 1994

Bella Abzug

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1920 - 1998
Born In: New York
Achievements: Government

Civil rights and labor attorney elected to Congress from New York City in 1970. Abzug made her career as an advocate for women, the poor and those victimized by repression. A lifelong feminist activist, she played a major role in many national and international women’s conferences. Before her death, she chaired the Women’s Environment and Development Organization.


Grace Hopper Science 1906 New York 1994

Grace Hopper

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1906 - 1992
Born In: New York
Achievements: Science

A mathematics genius and computer pioneer, Grace Hopper created computer programming technology that forever changed the flow of information and paved the way for modern data processing. In 1952, Hopper was credited with creating the first compiler for modern computers, a program that translates instructions written by a programmer into codes that can be read by a computer. Hopper was the first woman to hold the rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy.


Muriel Siebert Business 1928 Ohio 1994

Muriel Siebert

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1928 - 2013
Born In: Ohio
Achievements: Business

First woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (1967). She was also the nation’s first-ever discount broker and the first woman to serve as Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York.


Myra Bradwell Government 1831 Vermont 1994

Myra Bradwell

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1831 - 1894
Born In: Vermont
Achievements: Government

America’s first woman lawyer. When denied permission to practice law in Illinois (despite passing the bar examination) because of her gender, she began publishing The Chicago Legal News, a very successful legal journal. When the laws changed in 1892, Bradwell was admitted to practice in Illinois and in the U.S. Supreme Court.


Linda Richards Science 1841 1994

Linda Richards

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1841 - 1930
Achievements: Science

Received the first diploma awarded by the nation’s first school of nursing. Richards dedicated her career to creating professional nurses training schools nationwide to improve both patient care and nurses’ skills.


Helen LaKelly Hunt Philanthropy 1949 Texas 1994

Helen LaKelly Hunt

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1949 -
Born In: Texas
Achievements: Philanthropy

Creative philanthropist who has used her own resources and others to create women’s funding institutions. Hunt is Co-founder of the National Network of Women’s Funds, and creator of the New York Women’s Foundation, the Dallas Women’s Foundation, and The Sister Fund, all of which provide resources to support grass roots women’s programs and projects.


Geraldine Ferraro Government 1935 New York 1994

Geraldine Ferraro

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1935 - 2011
Born In: New York
Achievements: Government

First woman nominated by a major political party as a candidate for Vice President of the United States. Chosen to serve as the running mate of Democratic Presidential Nominee Walter Mondale in 1984, Ferraro had been an Assistant District Attorney in New York and later served in the United States Congress.


Betty Bone Schiess Humanities 1923 Ohio 1994

Betty Bone Schiess

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1923 - 2017
Born In: Ohio
Achievements: Humanities

Religious leader. Schiess led the successful effort in 1974 to have women ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church in America, elevating the position of women in the Episcopal Church at all levels.


Zora Neale Hurston Arts 1891 Alabama 1994

Zora Neale Hurston

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1891 - 1960
Born In: Alabama
Achievements: Arts

Novelist, anthropologist and folklorist who contributed greatly to the preservation of African American folk traditions and to American literature. Hurston’s best known works include Their Eyes Were Watching God and her autobiography, Dust Tracks on the Road.


Anne Hutchinson Humanities 1591 England 1994

Anne Hutchinson

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1591 - 1643
Born In: England
Achievements: Humanities

Religious leader who insisted on practicing her religious faith as she chose, including holding religious meetings in her home, the first woman in the new world to do so. As a result, she was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.


Dorothy Height Education, Humanities 1912 Virginia 1993

Dorothy Height

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1912 - 2010
Born In: Virginia
Achievements: Education, Humanities

Began as a volunteer with the National Council of Negro Women. As its president and leader for forty years, she followed in the footsteps of her mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune. The NCNW represents organizations with more than four million members, works to create stong families as well as to assist young people and the needy.


Mary Putnam Jacobi Science 1842 1993

Mary Putnam Jacobi

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1842 - 1906
Achievements: Science

Physician who founded the Association for the Advancement of Medical Education of Women. Jacobi was a leader in obtaining quality medical education for women.


Gloria Steinem Humanities 1934 Ohio 1993

Gloria Steinem

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1934 -
Born In: Ohio
Achievements: Humanities

Feminist leader, writer and social activist. A founder of Ms. Magazine, Steinem also co-convened the National Women’s Political Caucus and helped create the Ms. Foundation for Women. A best-selling author, her latest works are Revolution from Within: A Book of Self Esteem for Women and Moving Beyond Words.


Helen Stephens Athletics 1918 Missouri 1993

Helen Stephens

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1918 - 1994
Born In: Missouri
Achievements: Athletics

Athlete who set a world record and won two track and field gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. As an amateur, Stephens set Olympic, American and Canadian records in running, broad jump and discus. The small-town Missouri girl went on to become the first woman owner/manager of a women’s semiprofessional ball team and a lifetime sports advocate.


Elaine Roulet Humanities 1930 1993

Elaine Roulet

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1930 - 2020
Achievements: Humanities

Crusader for some of society’s most sharply disadvantaged, children of women in prison. A Sister of St. Joseph, Roulet has created many social reform and welfare organizations. She is best known for her work at the Bedford Hills Correction Center in New York, where she enabled mothers in prison to keep their babies for a year, a program now being patterned nationwide.


Lillian Wald Science 1867 Ohio 1993

Lillian Wald

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1867 - 1940
Born In: Ohio
Achievements: Science

Nurse who organized the public health nursing service and the Henry Street Settlement in New York City to meet the needs of the urban poor. Wald created public health nursing services for many groups, and established the Public Health Nurses, known today as Visiting Nurse Service.


Mae Jemison Science 1956 1993

Mae Jemison

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1956 -
Achievements: Science

Physician, engineer and astronaut. Jemison was the first African American woman astronaut in space, traveling on the Endeavor in 1992. Jemison today works on linking space age technology with developing nations and encouraging women and minorities to enter scientific fields.


Esther Peterson Humanities 1906 Utah 1993

Esther Peterson

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1906 - 1997
Born In: Utah
Achievements: Humanities

Catalyst for change in the labor, women’s and consumer movements. The driving force behind President Kennedy’s creation of the first Presidential Commission on Women in 1962, Peterson headed the Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor. She also served Presidents Johnson and Carter, and served at the United Nations under President Clinton.


Ella Grasso Government 1919 Connecticut 1993

Ella Grasso

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1919 - 1981
Born In: Connecticut
Achievements: Government

First woman elected a state governor in her own right. Grasso was elected Governor of Connecticut in 1974, serving until illness forced her retirement in 1980. She was also a Congresswoman and advocate for women, minorities and the elderly.


Madam C. J. Walker Business 1867 Louisiana 1993

Madam C. J. Walker

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1867 - 1919
Born In: Louisiana
Achievements: Business

Sara Breedlove, a Black entrepreneur considered the first African American woman to become a millionaire. She did this by devising a hair care and grooming system for African Americans and pioneered a door-to-door sales approach. The daughter of former slaves, Walker became an advocate for positive social change as well as a philanthropist.

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