Discover the Women of the Hall

These are the Inductees of the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Select any of the women to discover their stories and learn how they have influenced other women and this country.

Achievements Year Born Where Born Year Inducted Last Name
Year Born: to
Birth State or Country: or
Year Inducted: to
First Letter of Last Name: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Inductee Name Achievements Born Where Born Inducted More

Dorothy Harrison Eustis Philanthropy 1886 Pennsylvania 2011

Dorothy Harrison Eustis

Year Honored: 2011
Birth: 1886 - 1946
Born In: Pennsylvania
Achievements: Philanthropy

A philanthropist, Dorothy Harrison Eustis combined her love of animals and her passion for helping others to co-found the nation’s first dog guide school, The Seeing Eye. In 1921, Eustis began her career in Switzerland, breeding German shepherds for civic duty. She was later contacted by Morris Frank, a blind American man seeking a guide dog. After bringing Frank to Switzerland and providing him with a dog, Eustis returned to the United States, and in 1929, they established The Seeing Eye to help blind people achieve greater independence, dignity and self-confidence through the use of Seeing Eye dogs. To date, The Seeing Eye has bred and trained 15,000 dogs to assist nearly 8,000 men and women.


Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle Athletics 1905 New York 2003

Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle

Year Honored: 2003
Birth: 1905 - 2003
Born In: New York
Achievements: Athletics

In 1926, Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, setting a new time record that would stand for the next 35 years. Ederle’s accomplishment was a milestone as it expanded opportunity for other women in athletics.


Sylvia A. Earle Science 1935 New Jersey 2000

Sylvia A. Earle

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1935 -
Born In: New Jersey
Achievements: Science

An undersea explorer since age 13, Earle became an internationally recognized marine biologist, author, lecturer and scientific consultant. Denied the opportunity to participate in the U.S. Navy “Tektite Project” to study the ocean, she founded “Tektite II”, an all-female expedition that spent two weeks exploring the ocean floor. The founder of two companies to design and build undersea vehicles, she is chief scientist and consultant to oceanographic and marine research centers throughout the world.


Crystal Eastman Humanities 1881 Massachusetts 2000

Crystal Eastman

Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1881 - 1928
Born In: Massachusetts
Achievements: Humanities

One the major leaders of the women’s right to vote and equal rights movements, she was co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and author of the first national labor safety law guidelines. In 1919, she organized the First Feminist Congress, and she was one of the four authors of the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1923.


Mary Baker Eddy Humanities 1821 New Hampshire 1995

Mary Baker Eddy

Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1821 - 1910
Born In: New Hampshire
Achievements: Humanities

The only American woman to found a lasting American-based religion, the Church of Christ (Scientist). Her personal struggles led her to believe in a system of prayer-based healing. In 1908, two years before her death at 89 she started The Christian Science Monitor.


Catherine East Humanities 1916 1994

Catherine East

Year Honored: 1994
Birth: 1916 - 1996
Achievements: Humanities

“The midwife of the contemporary women’s movement,” as described by Betty Friedan. East was a key staffer on President John F. Kennedy’s first-ever Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in the 1960s. East persuaded Friedan and others to create the National Organization for Women to lead the drive to eliminate gender discrimination.


Alice Evans Science 1881 1993

Alice Evans

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1881 - 1975
Achievements: Science

Scientist who found the organism which caused undulant fever, a killer disease. Evans’s discovery led to mandatory milk pasteurization, saving countless lives worldwide. An outstanding scientist, she also advocated women entering the scientific professions.


Marian Wright Edelman Humanities 1939 South Carolina 1993

Marian Wright Edelman

Year Honored: 1993
Birth: 1939 -
Born In: South Carolina
Achievements: Humanities

Attorney and civil rights advocate who founded the Children’s Defense Fund, the nation’s strongest advocacy group for children. A passionate champion for youth, Edelman’s organization works on health care and assistance for homeless children.


Gertrude Belle Elion Science 1918 1991

Gertrude Belle Elion

Year Honored: 1991
Birth: 1918 - 1999
Achievements: Science

1988 Nobel Prize winner who spent a lifetime creating drugs to combat leukemia, gout, malaria, herpes and other auto-immune diseases. Elion’s work saved many lives, and led to the development of the first major AIDS drug AZT.


Amelia Earhart Science 1897 Kansas 1973

Amelia Earhart

Year Honored: 1973
Birth: 1897 - 1937
Born In: Kansas
Achievements: Science

The first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and the first to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. Earhart was a strong individual who inspired other women to take risks in non-traditional arenas.