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.
Susette La Flesche
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.