Biographies

Internationally recognized writer Sandra Cisneros is best known for "The House on Mango Street," which has sold over six million copies.

Beverly Cleary created some of the most beloved children’s book characters of the 20th century. 

Hillary Rodham Clinton was the first woman to represent a major party in a US presidential election, the first woman to win the Iowa Presidential Caucus, first, First Lady elected to the United States Senate, and the first female senator from New York.

Alice Coachman was the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal.

An entrepreneur, advocate, and member of the Blackfoot Nation, Elouise Pepion Cobell (“Yellow Bird Woman”), fought tirelessly for government accountability and for Native Americans to have control over their own financial future.

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.

Aileen Cole Stewart became one of the first African American women to serve in the Army Nursing Corps.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

As the first African American woman to receive a Medical Degree (MD) in the United States, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler challenged the prejudice that prevented African Americans and women from pursuing medical careers.

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

Lois Curtis was one of the plaintiffs in the landmark Supreme Court case Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) that established the right of individuals with disabilities to live in the least restrictive settings possible.

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice of the United States, was one of the most influential Americans of the 1980s and 1990s.

Agnes de Mille was one of the preeminent American choreographers of the twentieth century.