Inspirational Women

Mary Fields (ca. 1832-1914): First African-American Woman to Carry the Mail

First African-American woman employed to carry the U.S. mail; Traveled the mail route for central Montana for more than ten years. Mary Fields was born... continue »

Inventor Beulah Louise Henry: Known as “Lady Edison”

Beulah Louise Henry (1887-1973) registered 49 patents and is credited with at least 110 inventions. She was always tinkering to improve things she could use. She moved... continue »

Jackie Ormes (1911-1986), First African-American Female Cartoonist

Ormes’ comic strips were syndicated in black newspapers in the 1930s and ‘40s, making her the only nationally syndicated black woman cartoonist until the 1990s.... continue »

Farmerettes, 1917-1919

Woman's Land Army of America Rosie the Riveter is a well-known icon used to portray how women stepped in to men’s jobs during World War... continue »

Latinas in World War II: A Little-Recognized Group

In the 1930s during the Great Depression, Americans were looking for scapegoats, and in an effort to save jobs for “real Americans” they began rounding... continue »

Maggie Lena Walker (1864-1934), First Woman to Be a Bank President

Maggie Lena Walker was born in 1864 to Elizabeth Draper, a former slave who worked at the Richmond home of Elizabeth Van Lew, an abolitionist... continue »

Sarah Winnemucca (ca. 1844-1891) Educator and Advocate for Native Americans

Documented her life as a Native American in an autobiographical book published in 1883 Spoke forcefully for her people at a time when women had... continue »

Luisa Moreno, (1907-1992), Labor Organizer

Activist in the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement (which preceded Chicano activism) Organized first National Congress of Spanish-Speaking People (1938) Luisa Moreno was born in Guatemala... continue »

Hazel Bishop (1906-1998), Research Chemist Who Made Name in Cosmetics

Hazel Bishop's intention to be a doctor ended with the stock market crash of 1929. Instead, she got a job as a biochemical technician at... continue »

Woman-Owned, Minority-Owned Construction Company Marks 108 Years and Counting

"The road to success is always under construction," aptly quotes Cheryl McKissack Daniel, President and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, a New York construction company... continue »

Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998), Writer and Highly Respected War Correspondent

Covered Spanish Civil War, World War II, and Vietnam War as well as wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua and the U.S. invasion of Panama... continue »

Stephanie L. Kwolek (1923-2014), Chemist and Inventor of Kevlar

Created the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength Worked on the team that took her creation from invention to product implementation;... continue »

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