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

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.


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.


Mary Breckinridge Science 1881 Tennessee 1995

Mary Breckinridge

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1881 - 1965
Born In: Tennessee
Achievements: Science

The United States foremost pioneer in the development of midwifery and provision of care to rural areas. Breckinridge founded the Frontier Nursing Service.


Elizabeth Hanford Dole Government, Humanities 1936 North Carolina 1995

Elizabeth Hanford Dole

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1936 -
Born In: North Carolina
Achievements: Government, Humanities

First woman to hold two cabinet positions as Secretary of Transportation under Ronald Reagan and Secretary of Labor for President George Bush. Dole later became President of the American Red Cross.


Anne Dallas Dudley Humanities 1876 Tennessee 1995

Anne Dallas Dudley

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1876 - 1955
Born In: Tennessee
Achievements: Humanities

Political activist central to the campaign to pass the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Serving as National Campaign Director as well as in her home state of Tennessee, she led a march of 2,000 women in the South’s first suffrage parade in 1914.


Sandra Day O'Connor Government 1930 Texas 1995

Sandra Day O'Connor

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1930 - 2023
Born In: Texas
Achievements: Government

First woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Following successes as Assistant Attorney General and State Senator in Arizona, O’Connor was elected to Superior Court and then the Court of Appeals. She was named to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Regan.


Nannerl O. Keohane Education 1940 1995

Nannerl O. Keohane

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1940 -
Achievements: Education

The first contemporary woman to head both a major women’s college (Wellesley) and a research university (Duke). Her efforts have increased minority student enrollment and improved faculty diversity.


Eileen Collins Science 1956 New York 1995

Eileen Collins

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1956 -
Born In: New York
Achievements: Science

First American woman to pilot a spacecraft. A math teacher at the Air Force Academy and test pilot, Collins served as pilot of the space shuttle Discovery during a mission to rendezvous with space station Mir. In July, 1999 she became NASA’s first female commander in space.


Patricia Schroeder Government 1940 1995

Patricia Schroeder

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1940 - 2023
Achievements: Government

Served as the senior woman in Congress, first elected in 1972 from Colorado. Schroeder worked to establish a national pro-family policy, promoting issues such as parental leave, child care and family planning.


Hannah Greenebaum Solomon Humanities 1858 Illinois 1995

Hannah Greenebaum Solomon

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1858 - 1942
Born In: Illinois
Achievements: Humanities

Club woman and welfare worker on matters relating to child welfare, she organized a nationwide Jewish Women’s Congress as part of the 1890’s World’s Fair. It later became the National Council of Jewish Women, to which she was elected its first president.


Margaret Fuller Arts 1810 Massachusetts 1995

Margaret Fuller

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1810 - 1850
Born In: Massachusetts
Achievements: Arts

Literary critic, editor, teacher and author. Fuller’s early writings inspired leaders of women’s rights. She was editor of the The Dial, a Transcendental journal, and she advocated liberation for all humanity.


Matilda Joslyn Gage Humanities 1826 New York 1995

Matilda Joslyn Gage

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1826 - 1898
Born In: New York
Achievements: Humanities

Best known as the co-author (with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony) of The History of Women’s Suffrage. She served in the National Women’s Suffrage Association and helped form suffrage groups in order to gain the right to vote for women.


Maggie Kuhn Humanities 1905 1995

Maggie Kuhn

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1905 - 1995
Achievements: Humanities

Following a forced retirement at age 65, Kuhn began work forming the Gray Panthers, an organization which addressed age discrimination and pension rights. Kuhn also addressed large public issues, including nursing home reform, forced retirement and fraud against the elderly.


Amelia Bloomer Humanities 1818 New York 1995

Amelia Bloomer

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1818 - 1894
Born In: New York
Achievements: Humanities

First woman to own, operate and edit a newspaper for women, The Lily. First published in 1849 in Seneca Falls, New York, it became a recognized forum for women’s rights issues. She often wore full-cut pantaloons under a short skirt, giving birth to the term “bloomers.”


Lillian Moller Gilbreth Science 1878 California 1995

Lillian Moller Gilbreth

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1878 - 1972
Born In: California
Achievements: Science

Industrial engineer and expert in motion studies, Gilbreth was a pioneer in the relationship between engineering and human relations. She convinced managers that worker-efficiency is the result of the quality of the work environment.

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