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

Annie Dodge Wauneka Science 1910 Arizona 2000

Annie Dodge Wauneka

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1910 - 1997
Born In: Arizona
Achievements: Science

First woman elected to the Tribal Council, she became determined to lead the fight against tuberculosis among the Navajo. She wrote a dictionary to translate English words for modern medical techniques into Navajo, and hosted a radio broadcast in the Navajo language to explain how modern medicine could help in better care for pregnant women and new babies and other family health problems.


Kate Mullany Humanities 1845 2000

Kate Mullany

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1845 - 1906
Achievements: Humanities

Founder and organizer of the Collar Laundry Union in 1864, she led a strike of 200 laundresses in Troy, NY, which resulted in a 25% wage increase and improvement of working conditions. Her efforts to organize women in New York City and financially assist both male and female unions were rewarded when she was appointed as an assistant secretary of the National Labor Union, making her the first female to hold a national labor post.


Leontine T.C. Kelly Humanities 1920 District of Columbia 2000

Leontine T.C. Kelly

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1920 - 2012
Born In: District of Columbia
Achievements: Humanities

A Methodist bishop, Leontine T.C. Kelly was the first African American woman to be elected bishop in the United Methodist Church. She served as bishop of the California-Nevada Annual Conference and the president of the Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops. Committed to peace and justice, she was arrested several times for protesting nuclear weapons, and was one of 18 bishops who signed a letter to the Methodist Church in response to its policy toward gays and lesbians in the church.


Ida Tarbell Arts 1857 Pennsylvania 2000

Ida Tarbell

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1857 - 1944
Born In: Pennsylvania
Achievements: Arts

Writer and editor, her expose of the Standard Oil Trust in the 1904 publication The History of the Standard Oil Company prompted the federal government to prosecute and break up Standard Oil for anti-trust violations. She founded the American Magazin, authored several biographies, and, in spite of her 1912 anti-feminist book, The Business of Being a Woman, remains a role model for women and men in journalism.


Marjory Stoneman Douglas Science 1890 Minnesota 2000

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1890 - 1998
Born In: Minnesota
Achievements: Science

A journalist with the Miami News Record, she was an active leader in the Florida suffrage movement and an environmentalist credited with saving the Everglades as a national resource. Douglas authored over ten books and several plays, including The Everglades: River of Grass. After receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993 at the age of 103, she remained an active and influential environmentalist to her death.


Frances Oldham Kelsey Science 1914 Canada 2000

Frances Oldham Kelsey

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1914 - 2015
Born In: Canada
Achievements: Science

A medical and pharmaceutical researcher for the Food and Drug Administration, she refused to approve the use of thalidomide in this country, saving countless babies from terrible deformities. As a result of her testimony before Congress, the 1962 drug act was passed, giving the FDA greater control over the manufacture, testing and distribution of drugs. During a career with the FDA which spanned over 39 years, her supervision of clinical investigators has institutionalized the protection of the patient in drug investigations.


Eudora Welty Arts 1909 Mississippi 2000

Eudora Welty

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1909 - 2001
Born In: Mississippi
Achievements: Arts

One of the most significant writers of the 20th century, Eudora Welty won many notable literary prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Optimist’s Daughter. Her work is marked by what critic Jonathan Yardley called an “abiding tolerance…a refusal to pass judgment on the actors in the human comedy,” and it transcends generations and national boundaries. In 1998, the Library of America recognized her literary accomplishments by honoring her as the first living author published in the prestigious Library of America series.


Sophia Smith Education, Philanthropy 1796 Massachusetts 2000

Sophia Smith

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1796 - 1870
Born In: Massachusetts
Achievements: Education, Philanthropy

Born to a family known for its frugality and thrift, she was left at the age of 65 as the sole survivor of her immediate family, and with the funds to endow the establishment of Smith College, an institution that she hoped would provide undergraduate education for young women equal to that provided at the time for young men.


Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter Humanities 1926 Georgia 2001

Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1926 - 2023
Born In: Georgia
Achievements: Humanities

Former First Lady (1977-1981), Rosalynn Carter was an advocate for mental health, early childhood immunizations, human rights, conflict resolution, and health promotion worldwide.


Lydia Maria Child Humanities 1802 Massachusetts 2001

Lydia Maria Child

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1802 - 1880
Born In: Massachusetts
Achievements: Humanities

Author and social reformer, Lydia Maria Child spent a lifetime crusading for the abolition of slavery and supporting women’s suffrage. As the author of more than 40 books and the editor of eleven publications, she was always addressing the main issues of 19th century America.


Bessie Coleman Science 1892 Texas 2001

Bessie Coleman

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1892 - 1926
Born In: Texas
Achievements: Science

The first licensed black female aviator. She earned her international pilot’s license in 1921 and gained fame during the next five years for her air acrobatics and highflying stunts. She dreamed of starting a school to train black aviators.


Harriet Williams Russell Strong Business 1844 New York 2001

Harriet Williams Russell Strong

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1844 - 1926
Born In: New York
Achievements: Business

An inventor of water-conservation techniques, she was also a very successful businesswoman. Her water irrigation systems are credited with being one of the factors in the development of southern California as a major agricultural region.


Emily Howell Warner Science 1939 Colorado 2001

Emily Howell Warner

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1939 - 2020
Born In: Colorado
Achievements: Science

In 1973, Emily Warner became the first American female commercial airline pilot when Frontier Airlines broke the barrier against hiring women pilots. She later became the nation’s first woman airline captain, also at Frontier Airlines.


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.


Marian de Forest Arts, Humanities 1864 New York 2001

Marian de Forest

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1864 - 1935
Born In: New York
Achievements: Arts, Humanities

Founder of Zonta (1919, Buffalo, NY), a worldwide organization of women business and professional leaders dedicated to improving the legal, political, and economic status of women. Membership now runs 35,000 with 1,214 clubs in 68 countries.


Victoria Woodhull Humanities 1838 Ohio 2001

Victoria Woodhull

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1838 - 1927
Born In: Ohio
Achievements: Humanities

A 19th century reformer, Victoria Woodhull established a reputation as a radical freethinking reformer. She was a suffragist, author, political activist, and the first woman to run for President of the United States (1872).


Althea Gibson Athletics 1927 South Carolina 2001

Althea Gibson

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1927 - 2003
Born In: South Carolina
Achievements: Athletics

In 1957 Althea Gibson became the first African American tennis player to win at Wimbledon and Forest Hills. Her influence as a role model for aspiring athletes has been profound.


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.


Beatrice A. Hicks Science 1919 New Jersey 2001

Beatrice A. Hicks

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1919 - 1979
Born In: New Jersey
Achievements: Science

Engineer, inventor, and business owner, Beatrice Hicks was a pioneer in gaining recognition for women engineers at a time when less than 1% of all U.S. employed engineers were women. She was a founding member and first president of the Society of Women Engineers (1950), which now has a membership of more than 16,000.


Lucille Ball Arts, Business 1911 New York 2001

Lucille Ball

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1911 - 1989
Born In: New York
Achievements: Arts, Business

Undoubtedly one of the best known and best loved television comediennes of all time. The “I Love Lucy Show”, which began in 1951, is still shown in reruns in more than 70 countries around the world. She was a television pioneer who excelled both in the acting and the production aspects of television.


Barbara Holdridge Arts, Business 1929 New York 2001

Barbara Holdridge

Year Honored: 2001
Birth: 1929 -
Born In: New York
Achievements: Arts, Business

Barbara Holdridge is the co-founder of Caedmon Records, the first commercially successful project to record and distribute the works of living authors as well as recordings of past literary works by distinguished actors.


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 Engle Pennington Science 1872 Tennessee 2002

Mary Engle Pennington

Year Honored: 2002
Birth: 1872 - 1952
Born In: Tennessee
Achievements: Science

Chemist and refrigeration expert Mary Engle Pennington saved thousands of lives by creating national standards for milk and dairy inspection and improved the safety and convenience of refrigerated and frozen foods. She was also instrumental in developing safe and sanitary methods for the storage and handling of poultry, fish, and eggs, contributing techniques that solved humidity control problems, insulation and ventilation issues.


Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Humanities 1813 New York 2002

Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis

Year Honored: 2002
Birth: 1813 - 1876
Born In: New York
Achievements: Humanities

Born and raised in western New York, Davis headed the committee that organized the first National Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, MA in 1850. She helped found the New England Women’s Suffrage Association and established Una, one of the first women’s rights newspapers.

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