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

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.

Adelina Otero-Warren

Ana Roqué de Duprey, a prolific educator, writer, and scientist, founded the first woman’s suffrage organization in Puerto Rico in 1917.

Ana Roqué de Duprey

According to Antonia Hernández, she “went to law school for one reason: to use the law as a vehicle for social change.” Decades later, she can claim numerous legal victories for the Latinx community in voting rights, employment, and education.

Antonia Hernández

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Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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

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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.

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Lucy Stone

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

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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.

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Louisa Ann Swain

On September 6, 1870, 70-year-old Louisa Ann Swain stepped up to the ballot box in Laramie, Wyoming and cast her vote in the general election. In doing so, she became the first woman to legally cast a ballot since 1807.

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Maria Tallchief

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

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Julia Hunt Catlin Park Depew Taufflieb

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

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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.

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Tina Tchen

As women around the world speak out against sexual harassment and unfair treatment, Tina Tchen continues to support the movement through her legal activism.

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Kimberly Teehee

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

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Shirley Temple

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

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Mary Church Terrell

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

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Susette La Flesche Tibbles (“Bright Eyes”)

Susette La Flesche Tibbles, an Omaha woman, spent her entire life tirelessly campaigning for Native American rights as a speaker, activist, interpreter, and writer.

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Rashida Tlaib

As a life-long Detroiter, and one of the first Muslim-Americans, as well as the first Palestinian-American woman, ever elected to the United States Congress, Tlaib advocates for issues that affect the working-class.

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Sojourner Truth

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

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Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman escaped enslavement and helped others reach freedom.

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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.

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Betsy Wade

As the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the New York Times in 1974, Wade transformed the industry and newsrooms across the nation.

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Lillian Wald

Lillian D. Wald helped to bring health care to the residents of New York’s Lower East Side at the turn of the twentieth century.

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Maggie Lena Walker

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