Discover the Women of the Hall

One of the nation’s earliest and most effective advocates for better care of the mentally ill. When Dix saw that such people were badly treated in institutions, she lobbied nationwide for humane treatment and reform.

Trailblazing anthropologist whose book, Coming of Age in Samoa, caused scientific and social rethinking of adolescence. Mead’s career included the study of numerous tribes as well as extensive and innovative field work.

Influential letter writer who urged her husband, President John Adams to “Remember the Ladies” and permit women to legally own property. She identified this major obstacle to women’s equality, which was overcome years later.

One of the century’s premier athletes. Zaharias won track and field gold medals at the 1932 Olympics. She later became a golf champion and founded the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Zaharias inspired generations of women to develop athletic skills.

First African American singer to perform with the Metropolitan Opera. An international star, Anderson was a brilliant musician whose talents helped shatter the color barrier for other African American performers.

Physician pathologist who specialized in industrial diseases. Hamilton helped save workers’ lives by forcing reforms in the workplace and protection from dangers such as lead poisoning.

First American woman awarded an M.D. Blackwell founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and the Women’s Medical College, after having been banned from hospitals in New York. She paved the way for women in medicine.

Abolitionist born a slave in Maryland. Fleeing north to freedom, Tubman joined the Underground Railroad as a “conductor” who led people through the lines to freedom. Credited with saving more that 300 people from slavery, she became known as “Moses.” During the Civil War, Tubman organized former slaves into scouts and spy patrols, and after the war worked to help needy African Americans.

A major actress in all entertainment areas, from live theater to films and radio. In 1955, New York’s Fulton Theatre was renamed in her honor to commemorate a distinguished 50-year career.

The first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and the first to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. Earhart was a strong individual who inspired other women to take risks in non-traditional arenas.

Suffragist and reformer. Stanton noticed from her earliest years that women were not treated equally with men. In 1848, she and others convened the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, bringing 300 individuals together, including Frederick Douglass. Stanton determined that the right to vote was the key to women’s equality. Throughout her life and partnership with Susan B. Anthony, she wrote and argued brilliantly for women’s equality through the right to vote.

Trailblazing First Lady and wife of President Franklin Roosevelt. She spent her adult years working in politics and social reform. Her warmth and compassion inspired the nation, and she later became U.S. Delegate to the United Nations. The U.N. Declaration of Human Rights was largely her work, and she chaired the first-ever Presidential Commission on the Status of Women (1961).

Zoologist whose concern over the damaging effects of pesticides and other poisons on the environment led to her groundbreaking work, Silent Spring. Carson’s book was a catalyst for the environmental movement of today.

The women’s movement’s most powerful organizer whose lifetime of dedication, and work with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, paved the way for women’s right to vote. Her words “Men their rights and nothing more; women their rights and nothing less,” expressed the ongoing struggle for equality.

American impressionist painter who captured the soul of family life, women, children, interiors and gardens. A friend and student of the great Impressionists of Paris, Cassatt powerfully influenced American art.

One of the world’s greatest poets. A New England woman who spent much of her life in one small community, her world vision and innovative style has had a lasting impact on literature.

First woman graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the first woman to teach there. A talented anatomist and researcher, Sabin performed pioneering work in embryology, the lymphatic system and tuberculosis.

Author and lecturer. An illness at the age of 19 months left her deaf, blind and mute. Through the work of teacher Anne Sullivan, she learned to overcome these daunting handicaps and became a powerful and effective national spokesperson on behalf of others with similar disabilities.

Social reformer and peace activist who created Hull House in the slums of Chicago, starting an American settlement house movement to provide help for the poor. A lifelong activist, Addams fought child labor, infant mortality and dangerous workplaces. Founder of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, she won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1931.

Founder of the American Red Cross, Barton ministered to injured soldiers during the Civil War and became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield.” Devoted to the organization, she later took to the field, providing relief in the Spanish American War at the age of 77.

African American teacher who, with only $1.50, began a school to help educate young African American women. After developing it into a college, she became a powerful leader, and through her leadership of the National Council of Negro Women, worked to end discrimination and increase opportunities for African Americans.

Beginning her political career by assuming her deceased husband’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, she ran for and became a U.S. Senator from Maine. Margaret Chase Smith served four terms and was an advocate for a strong national defense.

Novelist whose writing evoked two different cultures, American and Asian. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth and was later the first American woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her body of work.

As Chief of the heart clinic at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, she developed a pioneering operation in 1944 which solved the often fatal “blue baby” (children born with an anatomical heart defect) problem, saving countless infants.