Discover the Women of the Hall

Beginning her political career by assuming her deceased husband’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, she ran for and became a U.S. Senator from Maine. Margaret Chase Smith served four terms and was an advocate for a strong national defense.

Suffragist and reformer. Stanton noticed from her earliest years that women were not treated equally with men. In 1848, she and others convened the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, bringing 300 individuals together, including Frederick Douglass. Stanton determined that the right to vote was the key to women’s equality. Throughout her life and partnership with Susan B. Anthony, she wrote and argued brilliantly for women’s equality through the right to vote.

First woman graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the first woman to teach there. A talented anatomist and researcher, Sabin performed pioneering work in embryology, the lymphatic system and tuberculosis.

The first native-born American woman to be canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. After raising a family, “Mother Seton” became a Sister of Charity and worked as an educator and leader of the order. She was known for her extraordinary virtue and kindness, and incidents of miraculous healing are attributed to her.

Nurse and social reformer. After seeing many poor women in New York City damaged and dying from attempts to end unwanted pregnancies, she fought for reform. Sanger underwent arrests and imprisonment for distributing information on birth control and contraception.

One the nation’s great blues singers, Smith earned stardom from her first record 1923’s “Down Hearted Blues,” which sold two million records. The “Empress of the Blues,” made more than 160 recordings with many of the country’s finest jazz musicians.

Early suffrage leader who began as an anti-slavery public advocate, followed by a lifetime of work for women’s right to vote. Stone was a sophisticated political tactician and founded The Women’s Journal, a fascinating archive of women’s history published from 1870 to 1893.

Author and daughter of a minister, Stowe became one of the first women to earn a living by writing, publishing the best-seller Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852. Although she wrote much more, her best-seller was often acclaimed as a major factor in the drive to abolish slavery.

Scientist who made it possible to test for tuberculosis and who pioneered safe intravenous therapy. Siebert also devoted many years to cancer research.

Founder of the Malki Museum at the Morongo Reservation in California. Born on a reservation in great poverty, Saubel became determined to preserve her tribe’s culture and language, despite overwhelming odds. A learned ethno anthropologist, Saubel was a founder of this first museum run by Native Americans.

Feminist leader, writer and social activist. A founder of Ms. Magazine, Steinem also co-convened the National Women’s Political Caucus and helped create the Ms. Foundation for Women. A best-selling author, her latest works are Revolution from Within: A Book of Self Esteem for Women and Moving Beyond Words.

Athlete who set a world record and won two track and field gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. As an amateur, Stephens set Olympic, American and Canadian records in running, broad jump and discus. The small-town Missouri girl went on to become the first woman owner/manager of a women’s semiprofessional ball team and a lifetime sports advocate.

Religious leader. Schiess led the successful effort in 1974 to have women ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church in America, elevating the position of women in the Episcopal Church at all levels.

Research biologist who identified that the “X” and “Y” chromosomes determined the sex of humans, ending scientific debate as to whether sex was determined by heredity or other factors. Stevens was a biology professor at Bryn Mawr College throughout her career.

First woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (1967). She was also the nation’s first-ever discount broker and the first woman to serve as Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York.

Served as the senior woman in Congress, first elected in 1972 from Colorado. Schroeder worked to establish a national pro-family policy, promoting issues such as parental leave, child care and family planning.

Club woman and welfare worker on matters relating to child welfare, she organized a nationwide Jewish Women’s Congress as part of the 1890’s World’s Fair. It later became the National Council of Jewish Women, to which she was elected its first president.

Founder in 1962 of Catalyst, the premier organization working with corporations to foster women’s leadership. She published studies (Women in Corporate Leadership in 1990 and Women in Engineering in 1992) illustrating the barriers to women’s workplace progress and then provided samples of model corporate practices to help women advance. Her work has had a lasting impact on the composition of American corporate leadership.

For more than thirty years, Eunice Kennedy Shriver served as a leader in the worldwide struggle to enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Under her leadership, the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation aided in the creation of The President’s Committee on Mental Retardation (1961) and the development of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (1962). Shriver is credited as the founder of the Special Olympics, an organization that today serves 3 million people with intellectual disabilities in nearly 200 nations around the world.

Acclaimed Soprano who became the first woman General Director and then President of the New York City Opera, and later first woman chair of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, guiding the Center to become one of the nation’s most important institutions. She was not only directly responsible for the discovery and launch of many young performers, but was also actively involved in a myriad of humane works, including the National Victim Center and (as National Chair) the March of Dimes Mothers March on Birth Defects.

Born to a family known for its frugality and thrift, she was left at the age of 65 as the sole survivor of her immediate family, and with the funds to endow the establishment of Smith College, an institution that she hoped would provide undergraduate education for young women equal to that provided at the time for young men.

A leader in the women’s suffrage movement, Shaw was a master orator for social justice, and the first woman to be ordained by the Protestant Methodist Church. She was the first living American woman to be awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal.

An inventor of water-conservation techniques, she was also a very successful businesswoman. Her water irrigation systems are credited with being one of the factors in the development of southern California as a major agricultural region.

Best known as the woman who taught Helen Keller to read, write and minimally speak, Anne Sullivan lost her own sight to trachoma at an early age. She went on to graduate from Perkins School for the Blind in Boston and eventually receive medical treatment that restored her sight. Both Sullivan and Keller became role models for thousands of physically challenged people around the world.