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

As an activist, community organizer, and executive, Tarana Burke has made quite an impact.

Tarana Burke

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

Elizabeth Freeman

Although it was very dangerous for African Americans to speak out against white people during the Jim Crow era, Recy Taylor refused to remain silent about sexual violence.

Recy Taylor

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

Autherine Lucy

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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Biography

Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first American to be canonized as a saint.

Biography

Muriel Siebert

Fearless Wall Street broker Muriel Siebert was known as The First Woman of Finance.

Biography

Olympia J. Snowe

Olympia Snowe was the first woman in American history to serve in both houses of State Legislature and both houses of Congress.

Biography

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Author, lecturer, and chief philosopher of the woman’s rights and suffrage movements.

Biography

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is an acclaimed journalist, trailblazing feminist, and one of the most visible, passionate leaders and spokeswomen of the women’s rights movement.

Biography

Lucy Stone

A leading suffragist and abolitionist, Lucy Stone dedicated her life to battling inequality on all fronts.

Biography

Abolitionist author, Harriet Beecher Stowe rose to fame in 1851 with the publication of her best-selling book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which highlighted the evils of slavery, angered the slaveholding South.

Biography

Maria Tallchief

Maria Tallchief was one of America's most popular ballerinas.

Biography

Julia Hunt Catlin Park Depew Taufflieb

During World War I, Julia Taufflieb turned her home into a hospital for wounded soldiers in France.

Biography

Recy Taylor

Although it was very dangerous for African Americans to speak out against white people during the Jim Crow era, Recy Taylor refused to remain silent about sexual violence.

Biography

Kimberly Teehee

Kimberly Teehee became the first Cherokee Nation delegate in the House of Representatives

Biography

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple was a child actor with curly hair and later worked as an ambassador for the US government.

Biography

Mary Church Terrell

Mary Church Terrell was a well-known African American activist who championed racial equality and women’s suffrage.

Biography

Sojourner Truth

A former slave, Sojourner Truth was an advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the 19th century.

Biography

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman escaped enslavement and helped others reach freedom.

Biography

Minnie Vautrin

"Goddess of Mercy!" During the Rape of Nanking (1937-38), the Chinese women refugees under Minnie Vautrin’s protection gratefully addressed her this way.

Biography

Maggie L. Walker

Maggie Lena Walker was one of the foremost female business leaders in the US and the first woman to own a bank.

Biography

Mary Edwards Walker

Mary Edwards Walker is the only US woman to receive the Presidential Medal of Honor.

Biography

Madam C.J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist. She rose from poverty in the South to become one of the wealthiest African American women of her time.

Biography

Mercy Otis Warren

Mercy Otis Warren was a published poet, political playwright and satirist during the age of the American Revolution.