Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. wrote, “Women have made up half the human race but you could never tell by the books that historians write.”
WOMEN IN HISTORY is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education of all people, regardless of age, race, or socio-economic status through the dramatic recreation of the lives of notable women in the history of the United States.
WOMEN IN HISTORY PROGRAMS include:
A - B
ABIGAL SMITH ADAMS (1744-1818) – Wife of John Adams, second President of the United States and mother of John Quincy Adams, sixth President. Known for her letters and opinions on society
MARIAN ANDERSON (1902-1995) - First African American to sing leading role with Metropolitan Opera, delegate to U. N.
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT – (1832-1888) - Seamstress, servant, teacher, Civil War nurse, and finally, author and novelist
SUSAN BROWNELL ANTHONY (1820-1906) - Napoleon of the women’s suffrage movement, mother of the 19th Amendment, abolitionist
SARA LUCY BAGBY (?? - 1903) Runaway slave put on trial under the Fugitive Slave Law and returned to owner
JOSEPHINE BAKER (1906-1975) - African American international star, civil rights activist, W.W.II heroine
IDA B. WELLS BARNETT (1862-1931) African-American educator, newspaperwoman, anti-lynching campaign, founder NAACP
CLARA BARTON (1821-1912) - Civil War nurse, founder of the American Red Cross
MARY McLEOD BETHUNE (1875-1955) African-American educator, founder of Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida; Presidential advisor; recipient of Spingarn Medal
NELLIE BLY (ELIZABETH COCHRANE SEAMAN) (1865? - 1922) - Newspaper reporter who spent time undercover in an insane asylum. Famous for her book: "Nellie Bly: Around the World in 72 Days" written in 1890
SARAH BOLTON (1841-1916) - Noted Cleveland author of biographies, poetry and a temperance novel
MARY ELIZABETH BOWSER (1839-?) - African American Union spy in the Confederate White House
BELLE BOYD (1844-1900) - Confederate spy during the Civil War
CLARA BROWN (c1800-1885) - Was a former slave from Virginia who became a community leader in Gold Rush Colorado
MARGARET "MOLLY" TOBIN BROWN (1867-1932) - Titanic survivor and a woman who was determined to break the rules of “high society”
ELIZA BRYANT (1827-1907) - African-American founder of the The Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People
ABBIE BURGES GRANT (1839-1892) - Lighthouse keeper at Matinicus Rock and Whitehead Light Stations in Maine, Commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard
C - E
REBECCA CARTER (1766-1827) - Pioneer woman of Cleveland
MARY ANN SHADD CARY (1823-1893) African American born pioneer journalist and lecturer
MARTHA "CALAMITY" JANE CANARY (1852-1903) - A lone woman in the wilds of the Rocky Mountain west
RACHEL CARSON (1907-1964) Marine biologist, science writer, and environmentalist
REBECCA CARTER (1766-1827) - Pioneer woman of Cleveland
CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT (1859-1947) - Suffragette, founder of the League of Women Voters
CASSIE L. CHADWICK (1857-1907) - Most infamous Cleveland financial con-artist
BESSIE COLEMAN (1893-1926) - First African American woman to get pilot’s license.
DOROTHY DANDRIDGE (1923-1965) - Actress, singer and dancer. Star of Carmen Jones and Porgy and Bess
ISADORA DUNCAN (1875-1929) - Mother of modern dance
AMELIA EARHART (1897-1937) - Aviatrix
RUTH ETTING (1897-1978) Ziegfield Follies star "America's Sweetheart of Song" famous for the song "Love Me or Leave Me"
F - H
DIANA FLETCHER ( circa 1830’s) - Daughter of former slave and Kiowa mother, activist, taught in black Cherokee school
MARY FIELDS (1832? -1914) - African American entrepreneur, stagecoach driver, pioneer
LUCRETIA RANDOLPH GARFIELD (1832-1918) - Wife of James Garfield, 20th President of the United States was First Lady for six months when her husband was assassinated. "Crete" returned home to Lawnfield in Mentor where her life continued in a non-traditional way
ZELMA WATSON GEORGE (1903-1994) - African American delegate to UN, opera singer, speaker and educator
EMMA GOLDMAN (1869-1940) - Russian emigrant who earned her title, “Queen of the Anarchists” as labor leader, lecturer, writer, women’s rights activist and free love advocate
JULIA BOGGS DENT GRANT (1826-1902) - Wife of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States was a determined woman who despite family objections married the man she loved. Outspoken, she also created her own plans about ending the Civil War and holding a secret Presidential Inauguration
FANNIE LOU HAMER (1917-1977) – African American sharecropper turned civil rights worker and founder of the MS Freedom Democratic Party
FLORENCE HARDING (1860-1924) - Wife of Warren Harding, 29th President of the United States the first presidential wife able to vote for her husband. Scandal plagued this First Lady throughout her life
CAROLINE LAVINIA SCOTT HARRISON (1832-1892) - Wife of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States was the first president-general of the newly formed DAR. An accomplished watercolorist she designed and painted the Harrison state china and organized the White House china collection
LUCY WARE WEBB HAYES (1831-1899) - Wife of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States was the first presidential wife to have a college degree. She did originate the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn
SALLY HEMINGS (1773-1835) - African American who sacrificed her freedom from slavery for the love of President Thomas Jefferson
REAR ADMIRAL GRACE HOPPER, USNR (1906-1992) -Computer pioneer and the oldest officer in active duty when she retired in 1986
HEDDA HOPPER (1890-1966) In the golden age of Hollywood, Hedda could make or break careers - gossip was her business and J. Edgar Hoover was her pen-pal
ADELLA PRENTISS HUGHES (1869-1950) - Founder of the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Music Settlement House
JANE EDNA HUNTER (1882-1971) - African American social worker, attorney, founder of Phyllis Wheatley Association of Clevelan
ZORA NEALE HURSTON (1903-1960) African American writer from The Harlem Group, influenced Toni Morrison and Alice Walker
ANNE HUTCHINSON (1591-1643) – She was a Puritan woman who defied the male-dominated Massachusetts Bay Colony and after banishment helped settle Rhode Island and New York.
J - L
HARRIET JACOBS (1813-1897) - African American escaped slave, author and abolitionist
REBECCA JACKSON (1795-1871) - African American eldress of the Shaker sect in Cleveland
MAHALIA JACKSON (1912-1972) - An extraordinary gospel singer and the first African-American woman to gain national acclaim for gospel music
"MOTHER" MARY HARRIS JONES (1830-1930) Irish immigrant who lost her family to yellow fever and became the self proclaimed mother and “hell-raiser” for the downtrodden American labors, especially children
SISSIERETTA JONES (1869-1933) African American international vocal prima donna of late 19th century, favorite of George Bernard Shaw and several presidents
BARBARA JORDAN (1936-1996) - African-American orator and Congresswoman
ELIZABETH KECKLEY (1818-1907) Personal maid, best friend and confidant to Mary Todd Lincoln. Wrote tell all book after leaving Mrs. Lincoln’s employ
MARIE LaVEAU (1796?-1863?) - African American Voodoo Queen of New Orleans and famous herbologist
EDMONIA LEWIS (1843-?) - First successful African
American sculptor
IDA LEWIS (1842-1913) - Heroic lighthouse keeper of Rhode Island, commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard
MARY TODD LINCOLN (1818-1882) - Wife of President Abraham Lincoln, misrepresented by popular history and maligned by her peers
JENNY LIND (1820-1887) - Swedish international opera star, brought to US by P. T. Barnum in the 1850’s
JULIETTE GORDON LOW (1860-1927) - Founder of the American Girl Scouts
CLARE BOOTH LUCE (1903-1987) - Playwright, US Congresswoman and ambassador to Italy
M - P
BARBARA MABRITY (1782-1867) - Lighthouse keeper in Key West, Florida, commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard
BIDDY MASON (1818-1891) - Entrepreneur, one of first African-American women to own land in California
DOLLEY MADISON (1772-1849) - First Lady and doyen of Washington society
FLORA STONE MATHER (1852-1910) - Cleveland philanthropist, founder of Flora Stone Mather college at Western Reserve University for women. Sponsored Goodrich House for urban children
IDA SAXTON McKINLEY (1847-1907) - Wife of William McKinley, 25th President of the United States developed a unique way of coping with her epileptic seizures during her public appearances as First Lady
SUSAN McKINNEY (1848-1918) - First female African American doctor in New York state
MARIA MITCHELL (1818-1889) - Astronomer and professor at Vassar College. First female member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
LOUISE NEVELSON (1899-1988) Russian born New York sculptor famous for her shadow box, wall sculptures and her flamboyant personality
ANNIE OAKLEY (1860-1926) - World famous markswoman from Ohio
GEORGIA O'KEEFFE (1887-1986) - Famed American artist who defied convention in both her art and her private life
ROSA PARKS (1923-2005) African-American "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" whose refusal to vacate her seat on the bus started the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
LOUELLA PARSONS (1893-1965) Hollywood gossip columnist, who dominated Hollywood's Golden Era. Louella's relationship with William Randoph Hearst and her own three marriages made her life as stormy as any Hollywood movie
ALICE PAUL (1885-1977) The woman who rescued the woman suffrage movement (1910) and made sure women got the vote
MOLLY PITCHER (1754-1832) Born Mary Ludwig, this revolutionary heroine followed the Continental Army for more than 3 years, doing what was needed to free the colonies from the tyranny of England
Q - S
ELEANOR ANNA ROOSEVELT (1884-1962) - Wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, first activist “First Lady
REBECCA ROUSE (1799-1887) - Cleveland humanitarian, temperance advocate, abolitionist, founder of Beech Brook
WILMA RUDOLPH (1940-1994) - African American Olympic Gold Medallist
BELLE SHERWIN (1868-1955) - Cleveland suffragist, President of League of Women Voters, social reformer
BESSIE SMITH (1894-1937) - African American blues singer
VALAIDA SNOW (1900-1956) - African American band leader and trumpet player
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON (1815-1902) First president of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association
BELLE STARR (1848-1889) - Confederate sympathizer and western frontier’s woman and outlaw
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE (1811-1896) - Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
ANNIE SULLIVAN (1866-1936) - Helen Keller’s teacher
T - Z
HELEN HERRON TAFT (1861-1943) - Wife of William H. Taft, 27th President of the United States, always longed to live in the White House. Known for planting Washington D.C.’s legendary cherry trees
SUSIE KING TAYLOR (1848-1912) - First African American US Army nurse during the Civil War
MARY CHURCH TERRELL (1863-1954) - African American lecturer, suffragette, civil rights leader
SOJOURNER TRUTH (Isabella Baumfree) (1797-1883) African American abolitionist and Civil War nurse, suffragette
HARRIETT TUBMAN (1820? -1913) - Underground Railroad Conductor, Army scout, African American Suffragette
ELIZABETH VAN LEW (1818-1900) - Crazy Bet, an abolitionist living in the South during the Civil War, who feigned insanity to help free the slaves and help the Union Army. Assisted in placing Mary Elizabeth Bowser in the Confederate White House.
ROSETTA WAKEMAN (1843-1864) - Posed as a male to serve in Union Army during Civil War
MADAME C. J. WALKER (1867-1919) - African American entrepreneur, millionaire and philanthropist
HAZEL MOUNTAIN WALKER (1900-1980) - African American attorney, principal, actress at Karamu
KATHERINE WALKER (1846-1931) - Lighthouse keeper at Robin’s Reef, New York. Commissioned by U.S. Coast Guard
MARY EDWARDS WALKER (1832-1919) - Prisoner of war during U. S. Civil War, writer, doctor, fashion trend-setter and the only female to receive the Medal of Honor
MAE WEST (1892-1980) - First woman to earn a million dollars in the movie business
LAURA INGALLS WILDER (1867-1957) Famed children’s author and “storyteller of the prairie”
MARY EDWARDS WALKER (1832-1919) - Prisoner of war during U. S. Civil War, writer, doctor, fashion trend-setter and the only female to receive the Medal of Honor
PHILLIS WHEATLEY (1753-1784) - First noted African-American woman poet
VICTORIA WOODHULL (1838-1927) - Ohio native who was the first woman to run for President and who was also at the center of a scandal that shocked the nation
