Biographies

One of the greatest tennis players of all time and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient for her advocacy for women in sports and LGBTQ rights, Billie Jean King won 39 Grand Slam titles in her tennis career and led the fight for equal pay in tennis.

Although best known for being the wife of famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Coretta Scott King created her own legacy.

Toni Ko, a first-generation South Korean immigrant, made a name for herself in the business world as the founder of NYX Cosmetics and now helps fund and develop other women-run brands.

Emmy nominated political and voting rights activist María Teresa Kumar has dedicated her career to advocating for inclusive political participation.

Winona LaDuke, a Native American activist, economist, and author, has devoted her life to advocating for Indigenous control of their homelands, natural resources, and cultural practices.

Beverly LaHaye has been an influential voice in American conservative politics for decades and founded the Concerned Women for America.

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress and inventor who pioneered the technology that would one day form the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems

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

Emma Lazarus is most famous for her poem, “The New Colossus,” that is engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

In a 1912 New York Times article, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee was regarded as “the symbol of the new era, when all women will be free and unhampered.”

An early star of the WNBA and a four-time Olympic gold medalist, Lisa Leslie is one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

Rachel Levine became the highest-ranking openly transgender government official in U.S. history when she was confirmed by the Senate as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health in March 2021.

Edmonia “Wildfire” Lewis is considered the first professional BIPOC sculptor in the United States and the first to achieve international acclaim.

Chef and cookbook author Edna Lewis taught the American public to appreciate southern meals in a new way.

Physicist Leona Woods Marshall Libby was one of the women who helped to create the atomic weapon.

An educator, translator, and clubwoman, Lopez helped win the vote for Californian women with her oratory and the writings she translated into Spanish.

Poet and author Audre Lorde used her writing to shine light on her experience of the world as a Black lesbian woman and later, as a mother and person suffering from cancer.

Though a high school teacher discouraged her from writing because of her poor spelling, Suzan-Lori Parks went on to become one of the most successful playwrights in the United States.

Known as the founder of the Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low created the largest and most successful organisation for girls in the world.

Autherine Lucy was the first African American student to attend the University of Alabama