Eleanor Holmes Norton was the first woman appointed to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and continues to fight for DC statehood in her third decade as a congresswoman.

Sister Margaret Traxler was a Catholic feminist nun and a civil rights activist who marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the famous march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

Bernice Johnson Reagon is a renowned composer, historian, musician, and activist.

Loretta Ross is an academic and activist who has dedicated many years to advocating for women’s rights and reproductive justice.

Mary Treadwell was a notable DC-based activist and community organizer. Treadwell is most noted for co-creating Youth Pride, Inc., a job-training program that assisted inner-city youth. She also advocated for the decriminalization of abortion.

As a teenager, Barbara Johns helped organize a strike that eventually led to the desegregation of schools in the United States.

Sister Marjorie Tuite, O.P. was a Catholic feminist nun who fought for gender equality, especially within the Catholic Church.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (commonly referred to by her initials, AOC) is the youngest woman and youngest Latina to ever serve in the United States Congress.

In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry made history as the first African American woman to have a show produced on Broadway—A Raisin in the Sun.

Famously referred to as “the woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time,” author, activist, and lecturer Matilda Joslyn Gage worked tirelessly to advocate for abolition, women’s rights, and Native American rights.

Andrea Jenkins made history in 2017 when she became the first African American, openly transgender woman elected to public office in the United States.

Cecilia Chung is a groundbreaking advocate for the transgender community and those living with HIV/AIDS.

A prominent actress and the first openly transgender person nominated for an Emmy, Laverne Cox has promoted visibility and awareness on behalf of the transgender community.

Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City.

Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark was a pathbreaking psychologist whose research helped desegregate schools in the United States.

Ella Fitzgerald, known as “The First Lady of Song,” was a revolutionary American jazz singer who performed all over the world.

One of the greatest jazz pianists, composers, and arrangers of all time, Mary Lou Williams was a swing and bebop icon.

“The High Priestess of Soul,” Nina Simone was a singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist.

The first woman to run for president and the first female stock broker on Wall Street, Victoria Woodhull achieved remarkable success in finance, journalism, and politics.