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

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the “Guardian of the Glades,” led the charge to protect the Everglades and reveal their rich natural heritage to the rest of the world.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Environmental health advocate Catherine Coleman Flowers is determined to battle “America’s Dirty Secret”: unequal sewage and sanitation access for rural communities and people of color.

Catherine Coleman Flowers

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.

Winona LaDuke

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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.

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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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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.

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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