Discover the Women of the Hall

Newspaperwoman and editor who became an outstanding novelist with the publication of O Pioneers in 1913. Cather went on to write other great novels and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922. Her well-known works include My Antonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop.

American impressionist painter who captured the soul of family life, women, children, interiors and gardens. A friend and student of the great Impressionists of Paris, Cassatt powerfully influenced American art.

Novelist whose writing evoked two different cultures, American and Asian. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth and was later the first American woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her body of work.

Poet and novelist. Brooks was the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize (Annie Allen, 1949). She was very active in the Black arts movement.

Trailblazing photographer, recording the Depression, London in the Blitz, Stalin and the Kremlin, World War II and more as the paramount photographer for Life, Fortune and other publications.

One of the world’s most preeminent artists, Louise Bourgeois’s career spanned over seven decades. Best known for her work as a sculptor, Bourgeois used a variety of materials including wood, metal, marble and latex to create works often reflective of her childhood experiences and life relationships. In 1982, Bourgeois became the first female artist to be given a retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and in 1997 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Her varied and extensive body of work has been displayed in the collections of major museums worldwide.

Undoubtedly one of the best known and best loved television comediennes of all time. The “I Love Lucy Show”, which began in 1951, is still shown in reruns in more than 70 countries around the world. She was a television pioneer who excelled both in the acting and the production aspects of television.

Poet, author and early Civil Rights advocate. Angelou’s early career was in the theater, and she co-wrote Cabaret for Freedom to raise funds for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, for which she later became northern coordinator. She raised social consciousness through writings such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman. She was a nominee for a Tony, an Emmy, and a Pulitzer Prize.

First African American singer to perform with the Metropolitan Opera. An international star, Anderson was a brilliant musician whose talents helped shatter the color barrier for other African American performers.

Author who produced the first literature for the mass market of juvenile girls in the 19th century. Her best-known work, Little Women, has appeared continuously in print since its first publication in 1868-69.