Throughout her long life, Hedgeman advocated for civil rights, education, social justice, poverty relief, and women.

As the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the New York Times in 1974, Wade transformed the industry and newsrooms across the nation. 

Lillian D. Wald helped to bring health care to the residents of New York’s Lower East Side at the turn of the twentieth century.

An educator, translator, and clubwoman, Lopez helped win the vote for Californian women with her oratory and the writings she translated into Spanish.

At age eleven, Malala Yousafzai was already advocating for the rights of women and girls.

As an activist, community organizer, and executive, Tarana Burke has made quite an impact.

Chilean author and educator Gabriela Mistral became the first Latin American author to receive the Nobel Prize in literature.

Autherine Lucy was the first African American student to attend the University of Alabama

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first American to be canonized as a saint.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the senior US Representative from Florida, the first Latina elected to the US Congress, and the first Republican in congress to publicly support the passage of the Marriage Equality Act.

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the first First Lady of the United States.

US Rep Frances Bolton pursued a life of philanthropy, politics, and social reform, and was a lifelong advocate of education, healthcare, and civil rights.

Mary Adelaide Nutting had a profound impact on American nursing. She was one of the key figures in modernizing the profession and her work is still influential in the field today.

Mary Eliza Mahoney pursued a nursing career which supported these aims. She is noted for becoming the first African American licensed nurse.

Pearl S. Buck produced works of fiction and non-fiction throughout her lifetime, many of which focused on her experiences in China.

Mary Church Terrell was a well-known African American activist who championed racial equality and women’s suffrage.

Bates' work with the NAACP transformed the Civil Rights Movement.

Dorothy Height was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement.

"Goddess of Mercy!" During the Rape of Nanking (1937-38), the Chinese women refugees under Minnie Vautrin’s protection gratefully addressed her this way.

Mercy Otis Warren was a published poet, political playwright and satirist during the age of the American Revolution.