Biographies

Bessie Coleman soared across the sky as the first African American, and the first Native American woman pilot.

Chemist Virginia Spivey Coleman worked on the atomic weapons program during WWII.

Environmental health advocate Catherine Coleman Flowers is determined to battle “America’s Dirty Secret”: unequal sewage and sanitation access for rural communities and people of color.

Considered the Guardian of Heron Indian Cemetery, her appearance made her the third woman, and the first Native American, to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.

A hero of the American Revolution, Margaret Cochran Corbin was the first woman to receive a military pension.

Prudence Crandall bravely defied prevailing patterns of racial discrimination when she opened one of the first schools for African American girls in Connecticut in 1833.

Ann Pamela Cunningham was an early leader in historic preservation and is often credited with saving President George Washington’s estate Mount Vernon.

Lydia Darragh was a Patriot spy during the American Revolution.

Jane Delano was the superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps and inspired many women to become nurses around the world.

Marie Dietrich was one of the most popular film and music stars of the 1930s and 1940s.

Dorothea Dix was an early 19th century activist who drastically changed the medical field during her lifetime.

Although she did not pick up a camera until she was thirty-two, Ava DuVernay has made history as a writer, director, and producer.

Amelia Earhart was a record-breaking female aviator whose international fame paved the way for other female pilots.

Dr. Sylvia Earle holds the record for deepest walk on the sea floor and is a world-renowned expert on marine biology. The first woman to lead the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Earle advocates for ocean conservation and education.

Educator, soldier, and psychologist, Charity Adams Earley led the first African American women’s unit of the army on a tour of duty overseas during WWII.

Mary Baker Eddy founded a popular religious movement during the 19th century, Christian Science.

Anne Frank’s writing in her diary became one of the most recognized accounts of life for a Jewish family in Europe during World War II.

Elizabeth Freeman became the first African American woman to successfully file a lawsuit for freedom in the state of Massachusetts.

Journalist, activist, and co-founder of the National Organization for Women, Betty Friedan was one of the early leaders of the women’s rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Teacher, lecturer, and author, Grace Frysinger supported rural communities throughout her career.