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

Susette La Flesche Humanities 1854 Nebraska 1994

Susette La Flesche

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1854 - 1903
Born In: Nebraska
Achievements: Humanities

Member of the Omaha Tribe and a tireless campaigner for native American rights. La Flesche was the first Native American published lecturer, artist and author. She helped change national perceptions about the rights of Native Americans.


Louise McManus Science 1896 1994

Louise McManus

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1896 - 1993
Achievements: Science

First American nurse to earn a Ph.D. Louise McManus was central to the establishment of schools of nursing in colleges and universities, providing the fundamental basis for nursing science growth.


Sarah Winnemucca Humanities c.1844 Nevada 1994

Sarah Winnemucca

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: c.1844 - 1891
Born In: Nevada
Achievements: Humanities

Paiute leader who dedicated her life to returning land stolen by the government back to the tribes, especially the land of her own Paiute Tribe.


Catherine East Humanities 1916 1994

Catherine East

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1916 - 1996
Achievements: Humanities

“The midwife of the contemporary women’s movement,” as described by Betty Friedan. East was a key staffer on President John F. Kennedy’s first-ever Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in the 1960s. East persuaded Friedan and others to create the National Organization for Women to lead the drive to eliminate gender discrimination.


Frances Wisebart Jacobs Philanthropy 1843 Kentucky 1994

Frances Wisebart Jacobs

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1843 - 1892
Born In: Kentucky
Achievements: Philanthropy

The driving force behind the concept of today’s United Way, founder of the Frances Jacobs Hospital (National Jewish Hospital for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine), an educator and philanthropist.


Charlotte Perkins Gilman Arts 1860 Connecticut 1994

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1860 - 1935
Born In: Connecticut
Achievements: Arts

Philosopher, writer, educator and activist who demanded equal treatment for women as the best means to advance society’s progress. Her landmark Women and Economics (1898) argued that until women gained economic independence, real autonomy and equity could not be achieved.


Jane Cunningham Croly Arts 1829 England 1994

Jane Cunningham Croly

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1829 - 1901
Born In: England
Achievements: Arts

Journalist and driving force behind the American Club women’s movement that inspired thousands of women into a wide range of social reform activities. Probably the nation’s first woman syndicated columnist, Croly was also the founder of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.


Fanny Wright Humanities 1795 Scotland 1994

Fanny Wright

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1795 - 1852
Born In: Scotland
Achievements: Humanities

First American woman to speak out against slavery and for the equality of women. An inspiration to Stanton, Anthony and other women’s equality advocates, Wright wrote and spoke out publicly for equal rights for all at a time when women were not accepted in such roles.


Nettie Stevens Science 1861 Vermont 1994

Nettie Stevens

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1861 - 1912
Born In: Vermont
Achievements: Science

Research biologist who identified that the “X” and “Y” chromosomes determined the sex of humans, ending scientific debate as to whether sex was determined by heredity or other factors. Stevens was a biology professor at Bryn Mawr College throughout her career.


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.


Constance Baker Motley Government 1921 1993

Constance Baker Motley

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1921 - 2005
Achievements: Government

Attorney and jurist who, after performing landmark work with the NAACP with Thurgood Marshall and others, became the first African American woman elected to the New York State Senate. Motley was the first woman and African American to become Manhattan Borough President; she was the first African American women named to the federal bench.


Rosalyn S. Yalow Science 1921 New York 1993

Rosalyn S. Yalow

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1921 - 2011
Born In: New York
Achievements: Science

First American woman trained in the U.S. to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Known for pioneering the use of radioisotopes to analyze physiological systems, Yalow made possible very detailed analysis of blood chemistry, saving lives and allowing for proper doses of medication.


Marian Wright Edelman Humanities 1939 South Carolina 1993

Marian Wright Edelman

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1939 -
Born In: South Carolina
Achievements: Humanities

Attorney and civil rights advocate who founded the Children’s Defense Fund, the nation’s strongest advocacy group for children. A passionate champion for youth, Edelman’s organization works on health care and assistance for homeless children.


Faye Wattleton Humanities 1943 Missouri 1993

Faye Wattleton

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1943 -
Born In: Missouri
Achievements: Humanities

Nurse who was the first woman since founder Margaret Sanger, and first African American to become president of the Planned Parenthood Foundation. Wattleton developed Planned Parenthood into an influential nationwide organization.


Gloria Yerkovich Humanities 1942 Unknown 1993

Gloria Yerkovich

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1942 -
Born In: Unknown
Achievements: Humanities

Founder of CHILDFIND, a nationwide organization which helps locate missing children. Yerkovich developed the program after her own daughter was abducted. Her concept was the prototype for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.


Ellen Swallow Richards Science 1842 1993

Ellen Swallow Richards

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1842 - 1911
Achievements: Science

The nation’s first professional woman chemist, an important figure in opening careers in science to women. By applying scientific principles to domestic life, Richards became a leader in the new disciplines of sanitary engineering, nutrition and home economics.


Mary Lyon Education 1797 1993

Mary Lyon

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1797 - 1849
Achievements: Education

Founded the first college for women, Mount Holyoke (1837). Mount Holyoke became the model for institutions of higher education for women nationwide. Lyon based her school on sound finances and high quality education in all disciplines, encouraging and educating women to reach beyond teaching and homemaking.


Dolores Huerta Humanities 1930 New Mexico 1993

Dolores Huerta

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1930 -
Born In: New Mexico
Achievements: Humanities

Co-founder (with Cesar Chavez) of the United Farm Workers of America, the nation’s first successful and largest farm workers union. The UFW is dedicated to helping immigrant / migrant people of all ages. Huerta is known as a brilliant organizer, speaker, lobbyist, political strategist and human rights advocate.


Alice Evans Science 1881 1993

Alice Evans

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1881 - 1975
Achievements: Science

Scientist who found the organism which caused undulant fever, a killer disease. Evans’s discovery led to mandatory milk pasteurization, saving countless lives worldwide. An outstanding scientist, she also advocated women entering the scientific professions.


Shirley Chisholm Government 1924 New York 1993

Shirley Chisholm

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1924 - 2005
Born In: New York
Achievements: Government

First African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Chisholm was also the first African American woman to receive delegate votes for the presidential nomination of a major party. A member of Congress for many years, she was also an educator and writer.

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