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 inspiring new stories!

Featured Biographies

Octavia Butler was a pioneering writer of science fiction. As one of the first African American and female science fiction writers, Butler wrote novels that concerned themes of injustice towards African Americans, global warming, and women's rights.

Octavia Estelle Butler

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

Beverly Cleary

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

Agnes de Mille

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Patsy Mink

Patsy Mink was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress.

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Gabriela Mistral

Chilean author and educator Gabriela Mistral became the first Latin American author to receive the Nobel Prize in literature.

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Maria Mitchell

Maria Mitchell was the first female astronomer in the United States and the first American scientist to discover a comet.

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Janet Mock

Janet Mock became the first transgender woman of color to write and direct an episode of television.

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Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture

Canadian Charlotte Monture moved to the US for nursing training and served in the US Army during World War I.

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Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno became the first Latina woman to earn an “E.G.O.T.:” an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

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Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is one of the most celebrated authors in the world.

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Lucretia Mott

Lucretia Mott argued as ardently for women’s rights as for black rights, including suffrage, education, and economic aid.

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Judith Sargent Murray

A prominent essayist of the American republic, Judith Sargent Murray was an early advocate of women’s equality, access to education, and the right to control their earnings.

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As a poet, writer, activist, organizer, legal theorist, and priest, Murray was directly involved in, and helped articulate, the intellectual foundations of two of the most important social justice movements of the twentieth century.

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Mary Musgrove

Mary Musgrove become a negotiator between English and Native American communities and played an important role in the development of Colonial Georgia.

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Florence Nightingale

Nurse Florence Nightingale is best known for making hospitals a cleaner and safer place to be.

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Mary Adelaide Nutting

Mary Adelaide Nutting had a profound impact on American nursing. She was one of the key figures in modernizing the profession and her work is still influential in the field today.

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Joyce Parrish O'Neal

O’Neal has received many honors in her life, including inclusion in the Alabama Social Work Hall of Fame (2017). She was also the first African American elected to the Alabama State Personnel Board (2006 and 2010).

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Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley is a famous markswoman known for her sharpshooting.

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Miné Okubo

Miné Okubo is well known for her representations of daily life and humanity in drawings depicting Japanese American internment during WWII.

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Adelina Otero-Warren

Adelina Otero-Warren, the first Hispanic woman to run for U.S. Congress and the first female superintendent of public schools in Santa Fe, was a leader in New Mexico’s woman’s suffrage movement.

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