Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759–1797: author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), a book that demonstrated thoughts about educational and social equality for women
Mary McLeod Bethune, 1875–1955: influential civil rights advocate during FDR’s presidency, founder of the National Council of Negro Women
Jane Austen, 1775–1817: English novelist known for her witty social commentary on marriage and romance
Margaret Sanger, 1879–1966: birth control activist, established the organization that eventually became Planned Parenthood
Lucretia Mott, 1793–1880: one of the first abolitionists and women’s rights activists, key organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention and a contributor of “The Declaration of Sentiments”
Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, 1879–1967: Commander of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), Commander of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS)
Sojourner Truth, 1797–1883: African American abolitionist and women’s rights activist, first black woman to win a case against a white man
Marie Stopes, 1880–1958: writer and activist who fought for birth control rights and sex education
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815–1902: one of the first abolitionists and women’s rights activists, key organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention, worked with Susan B. Anthony towards the cause Lucy Stone, 1818–1893: organizer of the American Woman Suffrage Association, first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree Susan B. Anthony, 1820–1906: president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association Florence Nightingale, 1820–1910: led the first team of British nurses during the Crimean War, helped established modern nursing Harriet Tubman, ~1820–1913: conductor of the Underground Railroad, women’s suffrage activist Elizabeth Blackwell, 1821–1910: first woman to receive her medical degree in the U.S. Clara Barton, 1821–1912: nurse to Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, founder of the American Red Cross Victoria Claflin Woodhull, 1838–1927: leader of the women’s suffrage movement, first woman to run for President Eva Perón, 1838–1927: former First Lady of Argentina, founder of first female political party in Argentina Hallie Quinn Brown, 1849–1949: professor at Wilberforce University in Ohio, helped found the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) Emmeline Pankhurst, 1858–1928: founded the Women’s Social and Political Union, dedicated to obtaining the right to vote for women in the UK Mary Church Terrell, 1863–1954: founder of the National Association of Colored Women, one of the first African American women to earn a degree Marie Curie, 1867–1934: Poland’s first female to win a Nobel Prize, and the first to receive the honor twice Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, 1872–1953: first female woman on a Fortune 500 company’s board of directors
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884–1962: served as First Lady for 12 years, advocate for women in politics Alice Paul, 1885–1977: advocate for the 19th Amendment, author of the Equal Rights Amendment María Teresa Ferrari, 1887–1956: first female university professor in Latin America, founded the first maternity ward at her local military hospital Beulah Louise Henry, 1887–1973: inventor of the ice cream freezer, the first bobbinless sewing machine, soap-containing sponges, and the “Miss Illusion” doll Amelia Earhart, 1897–1937: first female to fly a plane solo across the Atlantic Ocean Frida Kahlo, 1907–1954: explored feminism, LGBTQ rights, and cultural history through her unique paintings Estée Lauder, 1908–2004: one of the richest self-made women in the world, leader of her own beauty empire Dorothy Vaughan, 1910–2008: mathematician for NASA, one of their first female and Black supervisors Rosa Parks, 1913–2005: civil rights activist known for her bus boycott Indira Ghandi, 1917–1984: first female prime minister of India
Toni Morrison, 1931–2019: first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature Gloria Steinam, 1934–present: writer and women’s rights advocate, co-founder of Ms. Geraldine Ferraro, 1935–2011: first female U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Beth Brant, 1941–2015: member of the Mohawk Tribe, one of the first gay Native American writers, published poetry and essays about feminism Beatrice Medicine, 1943–2005: member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, wrote one of the first studies on the lives of Native American women Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”), 1947–2017: plaintiff in Roe v. Wade who challenged abortion laws Dr. Sally Ride, 1951–2012: first American woman in space aboard the Challenger Helen Zia, 1952–present: LGBTQ+ youth and sexual assault advocate, co-founder of American Citizens for Justice (ACJ) Angela Merkel, 1954–present: first female Chancellor of Germany, known for handling the Euro-zone debt crisis and the refugee crisis Eileen Collins, 1956–present: first female pilot and first female commander of a NASA Space Shuttle Laverne Cox, 1972–present: actress and LGBTQ+ youth advocate, first transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy Maryam Mirzakhani, 1977–2017: first Iranian and woman to win the Fields medal for mathematics skills Alexya Salvador, 1980–present: first transgender pastor in Latin America Malala Yousafzai, 1997–present: Pakistani advocate for women’s education Greta Thunburg, 2003–present: Swedish climate activist who has been leading protests and raising awareness all over the globe
Katherine Johnson, 1918–2020: mathematician whose calculations helped the U.S. send astronauts to space Mary Jackson, 1921–2005: mathematician and first African American female engineer at NASA Betty Friedan, 1921–2006: author of The Feminine Mystique, which sparked the second wave of feminism Margaret Thatcher, 1925–2013: the first female Prime Minister of the UK Argelia Laya, 1926–1997: Afro-Latina advocate for educational equality and the right to a safe pregnancy Patsy Mink, 1927–2002: elected to the House in 1964, penned the first draft of Title IX bill Coretta Scott King, 1927–2006: advocate for African American equality, leader of the Civil Rights Movement
Although the women on this list were noteworthy in the fight for gender equality, it's important to understand that not all were innocent of their own faults. For the purpose of this project, we chose to highlight the work that they did and the milestones they hit for women's rights alone.
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