Discover the Women of the Hall

Mississippi sharecropper and organizer of the Mississippi Freedom Party, which challenged the white domination of the Democratic Party. Hamer succeeded in integrating the state delegation, and she was a tireless champion for poor minorities in her state and nationwide.

Physician pathologist who specialized in industrial diseases. Hamilton helped save workers’ lives by forcing reforms in the workplace and protection from dangers such as lead poisoning.

A groundbreaking playwright and essayist best known as the author of A Raisin in the Sun, which ensured a place for the Black experience in American theatre. She was the first Black woman to have a show produced on Broadway, the first Black playwright and the youngest American to receive the prestigious New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play, and the first Black American to win the distinguished Drama Desk Award.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Harris ambassador to Luxembourg, making her the first African-American women to hold the position of ambassador. She then served as the first African-American woman to head a law school, when she was appointed dean of Howard University School of Law in 1969. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter chose Harris to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and eventually Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, thus making her the first African-American woman to be appointed a Cabinet Secretary.

Began as a volunteer with the National Council of Negro Women. As its president and leader for forty years, she followed in the footsteps of her mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune. The NCNW represents organizations with more than four million members, works to create stong families as well as to assist young people and the needy.

Engineer, inventor, and business owner, Beatrice Hicks was a pioneer in gaining recognition for women engineers at a time when less than 1% of all U.S. employed engineers were women. She was a founding member and first president of the Society of Women Engineers (1950), which now has a membership of more than 16,000.

Barbara Holdridge is the co-founder of Caedmon Records, the first commercially successful project to record and distribute the works of living authors as well as recordings of past literary works by distinguished actors.

Considered by many to be one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all time, Billie Holiday forever changed the genres of jazz and pop with her unique style. Holiday began her career as a singer in Harlem nightclubs in 1931, without formal musical training. She went on to record and tour with a number of famous musicians like Benny Goodman and Lester Young, and officially began recording under her own name in 1936. Holiday, known for her deeply moving and personal vocals, remains a popular musical legend more than fifty years after her death.

In her 33 years in the Armed Forces from 1942 to 1975, Major General Holm, USAF, Retired, rose from private to two-star general. Her promotion in 1973 made her the first woman in the history of the U.S. armed forces to achieve the rank of major general. Her work to open ROTC and the military academies to women gave educational benefits and the opportunity for a professional military career to women from all walks of life.

A pioneer in international adoption, Bertha and her husband adopted 8 Korean children in addition to their own 6 children. The Holt Adoption program, later called Holt International Children’s Services, was established in 1956 to help those interested in inter-country adoptions.

A mathematics genius and computer pioneer, Grace Hopper created computer programming technology that forever changed the flow of information and paved the way for modern data processing. In 1952, Hopper was credited with creating the first compiler for modern computers, a program that translates instructions written by a programmer into codes that can be read by a computer. Hopper was the first woman to hold the rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy.

Suffragist and author of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Howe was a lecturer on religious subjects, a playwright and an organizer of a women’s peace movement. Co-founder (with Lucy Stone et al) of the New England Women Suffrage Association, she lectured and wrote extensively in support of the freedom of women to have an equal place with men in both public and private life.

Co-founder (with Cesar Chavez) of the United Farm Workers of America, the nation’s first successful and largest farm workers union. The UFW is dedicated to helping immigrant / migrant people of all ages. Huerta is known as a brilliant organizer, speaker, lobbyist, political strategist and human rights advocate.

Creative philanthropist who has used her own resources and others to create women’s funding institutions. Hunt is Co-founder of the National Network of Women’s Funds, and creator of the New York Women’s Foundation, the Dallas Women’s Foundation, and The Sister Fund, all of which provide resources to support grass roots women’s programs and projects.

Swanee Hunt is the former Director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. An internationally recognized expert on foreign affairs and diplomacy, Hunt is heralded for her trailblazing work to increase the participation and inclusion of women in peace processes around the world. She is also President of Hunt Alternatives Fund, a private foundation committed to advancing social change at local, national and global levels.

Novelist, anthropologist and folklorist who contributed greatly to the preservation of African American folk traditions and to American literature. Hurston’s best known works include Their Eyes Were Watching God and her autobiography, Dust Tracks on the Road.

Microbiologist whose landmark discovery that pathogenic bacteria communicate with each other via a system known as “quorum sensing” served as the foundation for an entire field of study and has led to drug development to interrupt the bacterial communication process.

First woman to chair the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the first African American woman to serve on the Commission. Elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for her contribution to physical science, she became an advocate for women in the areas of science, education and public policy. As Chair of NRC, she rearticulated the vision of the NRC to include reaffirmation of the basic health and safety mission of the agency.

A cosmetic entrepreneur who created, funded, and led a research foundation that has shaped a paradigm-breaking approach to medical research. The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation has created a global community of patients, advocates, and healthcare stakeholders, with significant positive impact on the treatment of autoimmune and related diseases.

The driving force behind the concept of today’s United Way, founder of the Frances Jacobs Hospital (National Jewish Hospital for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine), an educator and philanthropist.