Biographies generously sponsored by Susan D. Whiting.
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Women have always played an active role in history. Explore some of the historical women and contemporary newsmakers that continue to impact the world. New biographies are added regularly, so check back to discover inspiring new stories!
Featured Biographies
Biography
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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Biography
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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Biography
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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Ibtihaj Muhammad
A world-class fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad made history as the first American to wear a hijab in Olympic competition at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.
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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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Pauli Murray
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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Admiral Mary Joan Nielubowicz
Mary Joan Nielubowicz was the only woman in the Navy Nurse Corps to earn the rank of Commodore and the first non-physician to earn the role of Deputy Commander for Health Care Operations in 1984.
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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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Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi, a business leader and strategic thinker, is widely considered to be one of the top CEOs in the world for her leadership of the global behemoth PepsiCo for 12 years.
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Antonia Novello
A dedicated public health advocate, Antonia Novello made history as the first female and first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General in 1990.
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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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Biography
Biography
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (commonly referred to by her initials, AOC) is the youngest woman and youngest Latina to ever serve in the United States Congress.
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