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
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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

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.


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.


Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle Athletics 1905 New York 2003

Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle

Year Honored: 2003
Birth: 1905 - 2003
Born In: New York
Achievements: Athletics

In 1926, Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, setting a new time record that would stand for the next 35 years. Ederle’s accomplishment was a milestone as it expanded opportunity for other women in athletics.


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.


Oveta Culp Hobby Government 1905 1996

Oveta Culp Hobby

Year Honored: 1996
Birth: 1905 - 1995
Achievements: Government

Shaped the development of two major government institutions as first Director of the Women’s Army Corps and first Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She was the first female to attain the rank of United States Colonel and the only woman to serve in President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s cabinet.


Bertha Holt Humanities 1904 Iowa 2002

Bertha Holt

Year Honored: 2002
Birth: 1904 - 2000
Born In: Iowa
Achievements: Humanities

A pioneer in international adoption, Bertha and her husband adopted 8 Korean children in addition to their own 6 children. The Holt Adoption program, later called Holt International Children’s Services, was established in 1956 to help those interested in inter-country adoptions.


Mary Steichen Calderone Education, Humanities 1904 France 1998

Mary Steichen Calderone

Year Honored: 1998
Birth: 1904 - 1998
Born In: France
Achievements: Education, Humanities

Pioneering sex educator and acknowledged “mother of sex education.” She established the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States, which established sexuality as a healthy entity. Dr. Calderone was President of the SIECUS board, as well as author and co-author of several books, professional journals and magazine articles.


Margaret Bourke-White Arts 1904 New York 1990

Margaret Bourke-White

Year Honored: 1990
Birth: 1904 - 1971
Born In: New York
Achievements: Arts

Trailblazing photographer, recording the Depression, London in the Blitz, Stalin and the Kremlin, World War II and more as the paramount photographer for Life, Fortune and other publications.


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.


Clare Boothe Luce Arts, Government, Humanities, Philanthropy 1903 New York 2017

Clare Boothe Luce

Year Honored: 2017
Birth: 1903 - 1987
Born In: New York
Achievements: Arts, Government, Humanities, Philanthropy

She was instrumental in the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission and later established an endowment for what has become one of the single most significant sources of private support for women in science, mathematics, and engineering.


Barbara McClintock Science 1902 1986

Barbara McClintock

Year Honored: 1986
Birth: 1902 - 1992
Achievements: Science

Geneticist who pioneered work in maize genetics and the complex mechanisms which control and regulate cell development. McClintock helped to advance scientific understanding of this important field. In 1983 she received the first unshared Nobel Prize in medicine ever awarded to a woman.


Dorothy H. Andersen Science 1901 North Carolina 2001

Dorothy H. Andersen

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1901 - 1963
Born In: North Carolina
Achievements: Science

Pediatrician and pathologist who was the first to identify cystic fibrosis and developed a simple, definitive diagnostic test for the disease.


Margaret Mead Science 1901 1976

Margaret Mead

Year Honored: 1976
Birth: 1901 - 1978
Achievements: Science

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.


Helen Hayes Arts 1900 1973

Helen Hayes

Year Honored: 1973
Birth: 1900 - 1993
Achievements: Arts

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.


Helen Brooke Taussig Science 1898 Massachusetts 1973

Helen Brooke Taussig

Year Honored: 1973
Birth: 1898 - 1986
Born In: Massachusetts
Achievements: Science

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.


Margaret Chase Smith Government 1897 Maine 1973

Margaret Chase Smith

Year Honored: 1973
Birth: 1897 - 1995
Born In: Maine
Achievements: Government

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.


Marian Anderson Arts 1897 Pennsylvania 1973

Marian Anderson

Year Honored: 1973
Birth: 1897 - 1993
Born In: Pennsylvania
Achievements: Arts

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.


Amelia Earhart Science 1897 Kansas 1973

Amelia Earhart

Year Honored: 1973
Birth: 1897 - 1937
Born In: Kansas
Achievements: Science

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.


Florence B. Seibert Science 1897 1990

Florence B. Seibert

Year Honored: 1990
Birth: 1897 - 1991
Achievements: Science

Scientist who made it possible to test for tuberculosis and who pioneered safe intravenous therapy. Siebert also devoted many years to cancer research.


Dorothy Day Humanities 1897 New York 2001

Dorothy Day

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1897 - 1980
Born In: New York
Achievements: Humanities

Widely considered one of the great Catholic lay leaders of the 20th century. As co-founder of The Catholic Worker, Day spearheaded the movement that continues to promote pacifism, civil rights, and relief for the homeless.


Catherine Filene Shouse Arts, Philanthropy 1896 Massachusetts 2007

Catherine Filene Shouse

Year Honored: 2007
Birth: 1896 - 1994
Born In: Massachusetts
Achievements: Arts, Philanthropy

Known for her visionary work in education, arts, politics and women’s affairs, Catherine Filene Shouse was the first woman to receive a Masters Degree in Education from Harvard University and the first woman appointed to the Democratic National Committee in 1919. Ten years later, she launched the Institute for Women’s Professional Relations. An ardent supporter of the arts and arts education, Catherine Filene Shouse founded and was the major benefactor of the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia – the first and only national park dedicated to the performing arts. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald R. Ford in 1977.


Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori Science 1896 Czech Republic 1998

Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori

Year Honored: 1998
Birth: 1896 - 1957
Born In: Czech Republic
Achievements: Science

First American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in science. Cori, along with her husband and Bernardo Houssay of Argentina, received the award in 1947 “for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen.” Their work, the first bioengineering of a large biological molecule in a test tube, became the foundation for our understanding of how cells use food and convert it to energy.


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.


Dorothea Lange Arts 1895 New Jersey 2003

Dorothea Lange

Year Honored: 2003
Birth: 1895 - 1965
Born In: New Jersey
Achievements: Arts

Lange was a pioneer in documentary photography, remembered for her wide-ranging photographs of Americans during the depression and the Japanese-American internment during World War II, and for her later work in Asia. She put a human face on political issues of the day, such as poverty and social injustice. Lange was the first woman awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in photography in 1940.

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