A vocal leader of the 20th century women’s suffrage movement, Alice Paul advocated for and helped secure passage of the 19th Amendment.

Dr. Vera Rubin was an astronomer whose research proved the existence of dark matter.

Anna Julia Cooper was a groundbreaking educator, activist, and author who changed the trajectories of many young Black women .

Ophelia Settle Egypt was a medical social worker and women’s rights advocate who fought to make women’s and reproductive healthcare accessible to the Black communities in Southeast Washington, DC.

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, best known for co-creating Youth Pride, Inc., a job-training program helping inner-city youth, and her abortion decriminalization advocacy.

Zitkála-Šá (“Red Bird”), also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Native American musician, writer and activist who fought for women's suffrage and Indigenous voting rights in the early 20th century.

Journalist and poet Asieh Amini is a leading voice in the campaign to end stoning and juvenile executions in Iran.

Ethiopian-born supermodel Liya Kebede is a leading advocate for maternal, newborn, and child health around the world.

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 fought for abolition, women’s rights, and Native American rights.

A 2020 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant winner, Nanfu Wang uses film to explore the relationship between individuals and governments.

Elsie Robinson was a journalist, fiction writer and poet. She was best known for her nationally syndicated column, Listen, World! which was read by more than 20 million Americans between 1921-1956.

Once called America's only Coal Queen, Sarah B. Cochran was a coal industry leader and philanthropist in an era when American women could not universally vote or serve on juries.

After defending her sanity at trial in 1864, Packard campaigned to ensure the rights of the mentally ill as well as those of married women.

The first female Solicitor General of the United States and now an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Elena Kagan is a prominent legal scholar and jurist who has advocated for justice and equality since childhood.

In October 2020, Amy Coney Barrett became the fifth woman confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

As the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has made an impact in and out of the courtroom.

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

As one of the newest members of Congress, Bush pushes for progressive legislative goals that will benefit her constituents—people just like her.