Selected Biographies

Biography excerpts taken from The National Women's History Project.

Abigail Adams (1744-1818)
Women Rights Advocate
As a self-educated woman, Adams held well-informed strong political beliefs. Well respected, her opinions were influential in government affairs before, during, and after her husband’s term as president.

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883)
Abolitionist, Suffragist
Sojourner Truth was freed when New York abolished slavery in 1828. Already a forceful speaker for abolition, she attended a Women’s Rights Convention in 1850 and became a strong voice for women’s rights and suffrage with her famous speech in Ohio in 1852, "Ain’t I a Woman?"  

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)
Women’s Rights Activist
Stanton spearheaded the demand for equal rights for women. Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869; Stanton served as its president for 21 years. She was an eloquent speaker for her ideas and a forceful writer.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955)
Educator, Presidential Advisor
In 1904, Bethune opened a school for black girls in Daytona Beach that became Bethune-Cookman College in 1929. From 1936 to 1944, Bethune served as advisor to President Roosevelt on minority affairs. She was vice-president of NAACP from 1940 to 1955.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
Humanitarian
During the Roosevelt Administration, she used her position to promote reforms to help women, minorities, and poor people. In 1948, as a delegate to the United Nations, she worked brilliantly to win passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Helen Keller (1880–1968)
Advocate for Disadvantaged
Despite being deaf, blind, and unable to speak, Keller became an active writer and international public speaker. Her books and lectures advocating rights for disabled people helped the public recognize the potentials of people with physical limitations.

Amelia Earhart (1897–1937)
Pioneering Aviator
Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. She was the first person to fly solo non-stop from Hawaii to California in 1935 and the first to fly solo round-trip from the U.S. to Mexico.

Billie Jean King (1943-)
Tennis Star and Women's Rights Advocate
She was the first woman athlete to earn $100,000 a year, the holder of the most Wimbledon titles, as well as the first woman to coach a professional team. She has aggressively fought for equality for women athletes, for honest professionalism in tennis, and for implementation of Title IX in all sports.

Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
Anthropologist, Author
Mead received a Ph.D. from Columbia in 1929 after studying families in Samoa, New Guinea and other cultures, concluding there is no "natural" assignment of gender roles. She also investigated many western cultures and wrote books about the changing roles of women and men.

Maya Angelou (1928-)
Author/Poet
Angelou is a novelist, poet, professional stage and screen writer, dancer, editor, lecturer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. In 1993, Angelou recited an original poem at President Clinton’s inauguration, confirming her status as "a people’s poet."

Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-)
Supreme Court Justice
O'Connor became the first woman Supreme Court justice when she was named by President Reagan in 1981. In 1979, she became the first woman on the Arizona Court of Appeals.

Ellen Ochoa (1958-)
Astronaut
Ochoa was the first female Hispanic astronaut who, in 1993, served on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery. At the NASA Ames Research Center, she led a research group working primarily on optical systems for automated space exploration.

Back to Top