Biographies generously sponsored by Susan D. Whiting.

Biographies

Women have always played an active role in history. Explore some of the historical pioneers and contemporary newsmakers that continue to impact the world. New biographies are added regularly, so check back to discover new stories!

Featured Biographies

Motion picture star Florence Lawrence invented the turn signal and brake signal for vehicles.

Florence Lawrence

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

Ava DuVernay

Appearing in over sixty movies throughout her career, Anna May Wong was the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood.

Anna May Wong

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Jane Arminda Delano

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

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Marlene Dietrich

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

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Dorothea Dix

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

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Ava DuVernay

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

Biography

Amelia Earhart

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

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Charity Adams Earley

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.

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Mary Baker Eddy

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

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Anne Frank

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.

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Elizabeth Freeman

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

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Betty Friedan

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.

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Grace Frysinger

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

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Melinda Gates

As co-chair of the world’s largest private charitable foundation, Melinda Gates is one of the most powerful women in philanthropy.

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Sarah Moore Grimké

Sarah Grimké and her sister fought for abolition and women's rights.

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Angelina Grimké Weld

Although raised on a slave-owning plantation, Angelina Grimké Weld became an ardent abolitionist.

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Sarah Josepha Hale

Sarah Josepha Hale is best known for creating the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Her influence can also be seen in historic sites and a national holiday still widely celebrated today.

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Florence Hall

Florence Hall headed the Women's Land Army during World War II.

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Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was one of the most important, passionate, and powerful voices of the civil and voting rights movements .

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Joy Harjo

Poet, activist, and musician Joy Harjo became the first Native American United States Poet Laureate in history.

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Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was the first African American woman to publish a short story and was also an influential abolitionist, suffragist, and reformer.

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Nancy Hart

Nancy Hart made it her mission to rid the Georgia territory of British Loyalists.