Biographies generously sponsored by Susan D. Whiting.

Biographies

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

Featured Biographies

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

Marlene Dietrich

Rear Admiral Grace Hopper helped to outline the fundamental operating principles of computing machines.

Grace Hopper

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.

Charity Adams Earley

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Oveta Culp Hobby

Oveta Culp Hobby served as the director of the Women’s Army Corps and first secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

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Eleanor Holmes Norton

Eleanor Holmes Norton was the first woman appointed to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and continues to fight for DC statehood in her third decade as a congresswoman.

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Anne Crawford “Nancy” Allen Holst

The first woman to join the International Association of Fire Chiefs, “Chief Nancy” led Rode Island’s Cedar Hill Volunteer Fire Department beginning in 1931.

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Dr. Reiko Homma True

A leading advocate for culturally sensitive mental health care, Dr. Reiko Homma True is dedicated to improving mental health treatment for the Asian-American community and other minority populations.

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Grace Hopper

Rear Admiral Grace Hopper helped to outline the fundamental operating principles of computing machines.

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Etta Horn

Etta Horn was a prominent welfare rights advocate. As an activist, she worked alongside other anti-poverty organizers to improve the living conditions of low-income DC residents.

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Shirley Horn

Jazz singer and pianist Shirley Horn was one of the leading jazz musicians of her generation.

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Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe was a writer, lecturer, abolitionist and suffragist.

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Dolores Huerta

Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association, Dolores Huerta is one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century.

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Ruby Hurley

Civil rights pioneer and campaigner, Ruby Hurley is most known for her work with the NAACP in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Hurston was a world-renowned writer and anthropologist.

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Anne Hutchinson

Considered one of the earliest American feminists, Anne Hutchinson was a spiritual leader in colonial Massachusetts who challenged male authority.

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Jovita Idar

Mexican-American journalist, activist, and suffragist, Jovita Idar often faced dangerous situations, however she bravely fought the injustices in her time.

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Margaret Ives Abbott

Imagine being the first woman to win an Olympic event for the United States, but never knowing that you had done so. This is what happened to Margaret Ives Abbott.

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Mae Jemison

Astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space.

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Andrea Jenkins

Andrea Jenkins made history in 2017 when she became the first African American, openly transgender woman elected to public office in the United States.

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