Joan of Arc (1412 – 1431) helped the French defeat the English, was burned
at the stake in 1431
Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603) great Queen of England, during her reign
there were great achievements in writing and peace in England
Pocahontas (1595 - 1617) saved Captain John Smith’s life
Abigail Adams (1744 – 1818) wife of President John Adams, mother of
President John Quincy Adams, influential in beginnings of US as a nation, supporter of
women’s rights
Martha Jefferson (1748 - 1782) wife of Thomas Jefferson
Betsy Ross (1752 - 1836) American seamstress, according to legend she made the
first American flag
Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley "Molly
Pitcher" (1754 - 1832) brought watr to the soldiers in the field, when her
husband was injured on a Revolutionary War battlefield, Molly took over his gun
Deborah Sampson (1760 – 1827) fought in the Revolutionary War, pretending
to be a man
Sacagawea (1787? – 1812) guide and interpreter for Lewis & Clark
Expedition
Sojourner Truth (1797 – 1883) African American who spoke out against
slavery and for the rights of women
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896) wrote "Uncle Tom’s
Cabin" about slavery in the south, sold over 500,000 copies in the US, helped to
bring the nation’s attention to the horrors of slavery
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 – 1902) leader in women’s rights movement
Lucy Stone (1818 – 1893) one of the first women in the United States to
earn a college degree, graduating first in her class from Oberlin College in 1847,
organized the first national women’s rights convention
Susan B. Anthony (1820 – 1906) formed the National Woman’s Suffrage
Association, pioneer in the fight for Women’s Rights, first woman to have her picture
on an American coin (silver dollar)
Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910) nurse, worked on the battlefield during
the Crimean War, considered the founder of modern nursing
Harriet Tubman (1820 – 1913) born a slave, abolitionist, conductor on the
Underground Railroad, led over 300 slaves to freedom
Clara Barton (1821 – 1912) nurse during the Civil War, founded American Red
Cross
Elizabeth Blackwell (1821 - 1910) first woman physician (doctor), founded the
New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857, founded Women’s Medical College in
1867
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) famous American poet
Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) famous author, wrote "Little
Women" and "Little Men," worked to get voting rights for women
Mary Cassatt (1844 – 1926) famous for her paintings of women and children
Edmonia Lewis (1845 - 1900?) first African American artist acknowledged as a
sculptor
Carry Nation (1846 – 1911) famous for her work to ban alcohol
Susie King Taylor (1848 - 1912) African American Civil War nurse, author of
"My Life as with the 33rd United States Colored Troops."
Charlotte E. Ray (1850 - 1911) first African American woman to get a law degree
Juliette Gordon Low (1860 – 1927) founded the American Girl Scouts
Annie Oakley (1860 – 1926) famous woman sharpshooter, star of Buffalo
Bill’s Wild West Show
Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses (1860 – 1961) popular
American painter, sold her first painting when she was 78 years old
Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman (1864 – ) pen name "Nellie Bly"
famous for her articles exposing the conditions in mental hospitals and her article about
her trip around the world in 72 days
Beatrix Potter (1866 - 1943) British author and illustrator
Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) famous scientist, won two Nobel prizes, famous
for her work with her husband on radioactivity, discovered radium and polonium
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867 - 1957) American writer, author of "Little House
on the Prairie" books
Gail Laughlin (1868 - 1952) attorney and Women's Righs Activist
Mary Francis Winston Newton (1869 - 1959) first American woman to receive a Ph.D.
in mathematics
Ida B. Wells (1869 - 1932) African American editor and co-owner of the Memphis Free
Speech, published "A Red Record" documenting the lynching of African Americans
Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952) first woman to graduate from the University of
Rome's Medical College, famous for her work in the education of young children
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 – 1955) dedicated her life to improving
educational opportunities for African Americans, founded school for African American girls
Mary Emily Sinclair (1878 - 1955) American mathematician, full professor at
Oberlin College
Helen Keller (1880 – 1968) overcame blindness and deafness, graduated from
Radcliffe, gave many speeches on behalf of the physically handicapped and wrote several
books
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962) married to President Franklin
Roosevelt, traveled for him during WWII, Chairman of the United Nations Human Rights
Commission
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887 – 1986) American artist, famous for her
paintings of flowers
Bessie Smith (1894? - 1937) African American jazz and blues singer
Amelia Earhart (1897 – 1937?) first American woman to fly across the
Atlantic Ocean alone, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while trying to fly around the
world
Margaret Chase Smith (1897 - 1995) the first woman to serve in
the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. In 1964 she became
the first woman to be placed in nomination for the presidency of the
United States at a major party convention.
Margaret Mead (1901 – 1979) American anthropologist, famous for her study
of how culture influences personality, lived in Samoa and studied the people there
Marian Anderson (1902 - ) first African American woman to sing a leading role at
the Metropolitan Opera in New York
Clara McBride Hale (1905 - ) founder of Hale House, home for children's with
AIDS
Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964) marine biologist, science writer, her work
helped ban a chemical called DDT that was killing millions of birds and fish
Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954) Mexican painter, wife of famous artist Deigo Rivera
Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997) Indian Nun, received the Nobel Peace Prize for her
work in Calcutta, India with the Missionaries of Charity
Mahalia Jackson (1911 – 1972) one of the greatest gospel singers of all
time, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration
Rosa Parks (1913 - ) American civil rights leader, famous for refusing to give
up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (1914 – 1956) won two gold
medal in the 1932 Summer Olympics, later became a professional golfer and won the US Open
three times
Beverly Cleary (1916 - ) children's author
Indira Gandhi (1917 - 1984) Indian politician and Prime Minister, assassinated
Pearl Bailey (1918 - 1990) Tony Award winning American singer, Goodwill
Ambassador to the United Nations
Eunice Shriver (1921 - ) American famous for her work with Special Olympics
Sarah Vaughan (1924 - 1990) African American jazz singer
Betty Maria Tallchief (1925 - ) Native American, Prima Ballerina with the New
York City Ballet, founded Chicago City Ballet, wife of George Balanchine
Coretta Scott King (1927 - ) carried on the fight for civil rights following the
assassination of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King
Mary Tyler Moore (1927 - ) television actress
Althea Gibson (1927 - ) first African American to play at Wimbledon
Shirley Temple Black (1928 - ) American child star and US Ambassador to Ghana
Liz Claiborne (1929 - ) fashion designer
Joan Ganz Cooney (1929 - ) children's television creator and
producer, created "Sesame Street," The Electric Company" and
"3-2-1-Contact"
Anne Frank (1929 - 1945) Dutch author of "Anne Frank's Diary"
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930 - ) first woman to serve as associate justice on
the US Supreme Court
Jane Goodall (1934 - ) famous for her study of chimpanzees
Barbara Jordan (1936 – 1996) first African American from a southern state
to serve in the US House of Representatives, first African American to serve a keynote
speaker at the Democratic National Convention
Jane Fonda (1937 - ) Oscar winning actress in 1971 for "Klute," spoke
against US involvement in the Vietnam War and wrote books and made fitness videos
Judy Blume (1938 - ) author of children's books
Wilma Rudolph (1940 - ) won three Gold Medals in track & field in the 1960
Summer Olympics in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter relay
Billy Jean King (1943 - ) American tennis star, helped improve Women's
Professional Tennis
Gabrielle Kirk Mcdonald (1944? - ) president of International War Crimes
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Wilma Mankiller (1945 - ) first woman to be named Chief of the Cherokee Nation
Hillary Rodham Clinton (1947 - ) activist for health care and children's rights,
wife of President William Jefferson Clinton
Phyllis Tucker Vinson (1948 - ) African American television programmer
Sally K. Ride (1951 - ).first American woman in space
Chris Evert (1954 - ) ranked #1 in Woman’s Tennis five years in a row, six
time winner of U.S Open Tennis Tournament, first player in woman’s tennis to win a
million dollars
Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ) talk show host, movie actress and producer